Emily Olivon
Emily finished her masters degree
in Applied Developmental Psychology in 2024. She received her B.A.
in Psychology from Virginia Tech and minored in strategic
communication as well as sociology.
Negar Fatahi
Negar finished her PhD in Applied
Developmental Psychology in 2023. Previously, she received her BA
in psychology and social behavior from the University of
California, Irvine. She later received an MA from New York
University in general psychology, with an emphasis on child
development. She previously worked with the New York Department of
Education to assess social and emotional readiness inside
classrooms and to provide data to policy makers who were
implementing an expansion of the Free Pre-K for All program. Her
research interests include social and emotional development within
the school context and social-emotional teaching inside
classrooms.
Kara Poorbaugh
Kara Poorbaugh completed her
masters degree in Applied Developmental Psychology in December
2022. She was a hair stylist and salon owner prior to Attending
American University where she received her B.A. in Psychology.
While completing her B.A. she volunteered and interned with
organizations in the mental health field. This included HOPE
Multiplied which mentor and advocate for vulnerable youth in the
Arlington, VA area and Capital Clubhouse Inc. working along side
and in a community helping to promote health and wellness for
people with mental illness. Kara is interested in social-emotional
development and the interactions of children with teachers,
caregivers, and parents.
Kara Watrud
Kara completed her masters degree in Applied Developmental
Psychology in December 2022. She received her B.A. in Psychology
from Christopher Newport University. As a research assistant at
CNU she studied memory enhancement and recall through word type
and misspellings. Prior to joining the program, Kara worked as a
Pre-K teacher in Denver, Colorado for several years. Kara is
interested in social-emotional developmental in early childhood as
well as daycare and stay at home parent care in regard to
cognitive and social development.
Elpiniki Marchesini Bachmann
Elpi finished the doctoral program
in 2020. Prior to that, Elpi earned her masters degree in School
Psychology from George Mason. She completed her undergraduate work
at Virginia Tech, where she majored in Psychology and minored in
Biology. Her research interests include promoting whole-school
improvement, specifically through promoting positive relationships
across the classroom and the implementation of social-emotional
curricula.
Laura Stokes
Laura earned her degree in 2020. She completed her undergraduate
degree at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA where she majored in
Marketing and Psychology. She obtained her master's degree in
Psychology at Mason. Prior to entering graduate school, she was a
scientific research analyst at Tulane's A.B. Freeman School of
Business. Laura focuses her research on teacher professional
development and classroom quality.
Gullnar Syed
Gullnar graduated in 2020 from the MA program. Previously, she
received a B.S in Psychology and a minor in creative writing from
Virginia Commonwealth University. Before that, she worked as a
Research Technician in the Motor Development lab at VCU, studying
motor and cognitive development in both typical and atypically
developing infants. Her research interests include parent-child
interactions and emotional development in infants and toddlers.
Xiaozhu An
Xiaozhu finished her doctoral degree in 2019. Prior to the doctoral
program, she completed her MA from Mason in 2014 under the direction
of Dr. Johannes Rojahn. She earned her B.S. in Psychology at Qingdao
University, China. Her research focuses on teacher-student
interactions, classroom quality, and inclusive education.
Alexa Roth
Alexa completed her doctoral
degree from George Mason in 2019. She received her MA in
Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia
University and BA in Psychology at Emory University. She has
also served as a Special Education teacher in both
elementary and high school settings. Alexa's research
interests include children 's social and emotional
development within the school setting, specifically for
children from low-income communities.
Reba Troxler
Reba completed her doctoral degree
in 2019. Her background is in the areas of psychology, sociology
and family studies. Her research interests include
social-emotional development, school readiness, and at-risk
populations, as well as the use of Item Response Theory methods in
research.
Qingyuan Xie
Qingyuan completed the master's
program in 2019. She received her B.S. in psychology at
Washington State University. With previous experiences working
with preschoolers, her research interests include emotion
regulation and its impacts on children's academic outcomes in
classroom settings.
Christina Nguyen
Christina finished her masters in
December of 2018. She received her Bachelor's degree at Penn State
with a major in Psychology. After her undergrad program, Christina
worked as a Research Assistant for Johns Hopkins University, where
she worked with students in Baltimore City School Districts who
were enrolled in the PATHS to PAX Plus! Program. Her research
interests include teacher-student and parent-child interactions
and how they affect children 's social and emotional growth, as
well as how children learn language.
Ashley Clark
Ashley finished her masters in
December of 2018. Prior to that, she graduated from GMU with a
bachelor's in psychology. Her interests involve the effects of
attachment on young children's behavior developed.
Ashley Wood
Ashley finished her masters in
December of 2018. Previously, Ashley graduated George Mason
University with a BS in Psychology. She has done work doing
observations of emotional development and regulation in the
classroom.
Lucy Stillerova
Lucy finished her PhD in 2018. She received her MA in Psychology
from University of St. Cyril and Methods in Slovakia. Her research
interests are student-teacher interactions and children's social and
emotional development.
Katie Orth
Katie completed the master's
program in 2018. She completed her undergraduate work at
Longwood University where she majored in Psychology and Social
Work. Katie's research interests include social and emotional
development, emotion regulation, and early interventions for
children experiencing developmental delays particularly in the
school environment.
Liz Berke
Liz graduated with her PhD in 2016 and also earned an MA in Applied
Developmental Psychology and a BCBS certificate. She received her
B.S. in psychology from James Madison University and worked for 2
years at The Ivymount School in Rockville, MD, in the Autism
Program. She has interned at the federal Department of Education
Institute of Education Sciences. Her interests include special
education, student-teacher relationships, and public policy.
Rebecca Ullrich
Becca is a graduate of the MA
program in 2015. Prior to that Becca eared a BS in Human
Development from Virginia Tech in 2010. At Virginia Tech, she was
an undergraduate research assistant helping to investigate
parenting and emotion regulation in young children. Becca's
research interests generally include child development in the
context of pre-K classrooms. She is particularly interested in the
benefits of inclusion of children with special needs in inclusive
classroom settings.
Lydia Wattigny
Lydia graduated with her master's in the Applied Developmental
Psychology in December of 2015. Prior to that, she graduated Cum
Laude from University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2014 with a BS in
Psychology. Lydia became interested in child development after
volunteering as an intern and therapist at the Therapy Center of
Acadiana, which focused on working with children who have
developmental disorders to help prepare them for typical school
settings. Her research interests include helping children with
special needs improve their organizational and functional skills so
that they can join children their own-age peers in a typical
classroom setting.
Natalie Williams
Natalie graduated from the undergraduate honors psychology program
in May of 2015. She volunteered as a research assistant on GMU's
TASSEL project which looked at teachers' roles in preschoolers'
development of social and emotional competence. She went on to
Syracuse University's doctoral program.
Guifeng Xu
Guifeng graduated
from the masters program in 2014. Previously, she had earned her
medical degree from Huazhong University of Technology and Science in
Wuhan, China in 2006 and her masters degree in public health (MPH)
from Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, China in 2009. She has
gone on to work on assessment and therapy for children with
developmental behavioral disorders.
Craig S. Bailey
Craig graduated with his doctorate in 2014.
Craig's research focus while at George Mason University was on
social-emotional learning and social-emotional teaching practices
in the preschool classroom. Craig's work also emphasized
integrating technology into the preschool classroom by providing
teachers with easy to use, research supported tools they can use
to enhance their classrooms.
Alexandra Davidson-Palmer
Alexandra graduated with her MA in 2014. She graduated Summa Cum
Laude from Wake Forest University in 2012 with a BA in Psychology.
Her interests in children's development in classrooms was prompted
after volunteering at a preschool and observing the students over
the course of several years. Her research interests include the role
of student-teacher interactions in promoting children's development.
Emily Spencer
Emily graduated with her MA in 2014. She received a BS in Psychology
from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005. She
was commissioned as an officer in the Army in August 2005. In 2009,
she received a Masters in Applied Forensic Services from The Chicago
School. Emily is interested in studying the effects of continuous
geographical displacement, particularly on socio-emotional
development, during early childhood.
Abby Carlson
Abby is a 2013 graduate of the ADP program having received her
doctorate in 2013. Presently, she works for Apple Tree Public
Charter Schools in Washington, DC. She received her BS in Psychology
from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has worked in numerous
areas of early childhood education over the years, developing an
interest in cognitive development and predictors of academic
achievement. Abby's research interests include the development of
fine motor skills, visual-motor integration, working memory and
their contributions to academic achievement.
Mike Widerman
Mike received his B.A. in psychology from McDaniel College in 2008
before working for the Research Institute on Aging as a Research
Assistant for a year. His thesis examined how music affects
students' sustained attention during deep and surface level
studying. He graduated from our MA program in 2013.
Matt Willis
Matt
is a returned Peace Corps volunteer who served in Namibia from
2005 to 2007. He received his BS in mathematics from James
Madison University and
his MA from the ADP program in 2013. His thesis
investigated possible effects of facial mimicry on mood and
empathy.
Noora Hamdan
Noora is a 2013 graduate of the ADP masters program. Originally from
Northern Virginia, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from James Madison
University with a BA in 2011. She went on to a doctoral program in
psychology.
Helyn Kim
Helyn graduated from the University
of Virginia in 2007 with a B.A. in psychology and a Masters of
Teaching in the Early Childhood & Developmental Risk program.
Helyn graduated from our MA program in 2012 and returned to the
University of Virginia for her doctoral degree.
Lauren Royster
Lauren graduated graduated from our MA program in 2012. As an
undergraduate, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Christopher
Newport University with a BS in Psychology. During her studies,
Lauren developed a strong interest in research methods and
statistics and in exploring how teachers in various contexts help
foster positive development in preschoolers.
Catharine Chavez
Catharine Chavez graduated with MA in 2011. She originally
transferred to George Mason University as an undergraduate from Abo
Akademi University, Finland in 2008. At Mason, Catharine was
selected to participate in the Undergraduate Apprenticeship Program.
She received her B.A. in psychology in January 2010. During her time
at Mason she gathered data in Head Start classrooms and conducted a
secondary data analysis for a study on social interactions in pre-k
classrooms.
Taylor (Edwards) Powell
Taylor earned her MA from Mason in 2010. As an undergraduate, she
studied at the University of Mary Washington, earning a B.S. in
Psychology. While at Mason, Taylor was interested in developmental
disabilities, classroom relationships, and childhood temperament.