Hi there,
I am currently a post-doctoral researcher in the Jha Lab at the University of Miami working with Amishi Jha.
I graduated with my Ph.D. in Cognition and Brain Sciences at Georgia Tech in the Attention & Working Memory Lab working with Randy Engle.
My expertise is in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Using behavioral, self-report, pupil size, and neuroimaging methods I have studied how individuals differ on their ability to control attention. My program of research focuses on 1) how attention control relates to other cognitive abilities such as working memory capacity and fluid intelligence, 2) how to improve the measurement of attention control, and 3) brain mechanisms underlying differences in attention control.
Education
- Ph.D. in Cognition and Brain Sciences ∙ Georgia Tech ∙ 2022
- M.S. in Experimental Psychology ∙ CSU, San Bernardino ∙ 2014
- B.A. in Behavioral Neuroscience ∙ Western Washington University ∙ 2011
About me
I am originally from Bothell, WA (~30 miles north of Seattle). I will always consider Washington State as my home. I earned my B.A. in Behavioral Neuroscience at Western Washington University. This is where I found my interest in cognitive psychology, Buddhism, meditation, and contemplative practices more generally. I took a year off after college to participate in an 8-week silent meditation retreat on Shamatha and the Four Immeasurables in Phuket, Thailand with my teacher Alan Wallace.
From there I went on to do a 2 year M.A. program in General Experimental Psychology at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). At CSUSB I worked with Dr. Hideya Koshino doing research on selective attention and working memory.
I was, then, accepted into Randy Engle’s lab as a Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech. I graduated with my Ph.D. in December 2022 and worked as a post-doc with Randy for a year and a half. My research in the lab involved investigating the nature of attention control with the use of pupillometry. I made use of the R statistical programming language to analyze data in a way that is most consistent with open science and reproducibility practices. I had developed several R Packages relevant to the lab’s research.
I then went on to do a post-doc with Amishi Jha at the University of Miami in 2024 to extend the work I had done at Georgia Tech in an area that is very near to my heart, mindfulness and meditation. This has been a great opportunity for me to get involved in an area of research I am both academically and personally passionate about.
Outside of psychology, my interests include Buddhist spiritual practice (mainly influenced by the Nyingma tradition from Tibetan Buddhism and Dzogchen teachings in particular), teaching meditation and mindfulness practices, hiking, camping, riding my bicycle around town, and photography.