About Me
*Searching for a postdoctoral researcher position!*
I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow working with Dr. Julia Spaniol in the Memory and Decision Processes Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University. Prior to my current position, I graduated in 2023 with a PhD in Developmental, Cognitive, and Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of Houston. Working with Dr. Benjamin Tamber-Rosenau in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention Lab, my dissertation research examined the emotional attentional blink (emotion-induced blindness)—more specifically the limits of the emotional attentional blink and the ability of emotion to capture temporal attention. I also graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida in 2017, where I completed my undergraduate honors thesis on emotional capture in the attentional blink in the Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention with Dr. Andreas Keil.
My broad research interests include attentional capture, the interactions between goal-driven and stimulus-driven attention, effects of emotion and motivation, and age-related differences in cognitive processes. I also enjoy merging methods from outside fields in order to answer questions in cognitive science, such as gait pattern changes while dual-tasking and the effects of advertisements on attentional processing. My goal is to come up with research projects that can bridge the gap between basic cognitive science research and real-world scenarios.
Aside from research, my hobbies include anything art-related, such as painting, digital art, graphic design, and other crafting projects. I also spend time trying to make a difference in my community—I was a founding member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Graduate Students (DEIGS) committee at the University of Houston and served as a representative to relay information between DEIGS and the faculty diversity committee. I am also a fan of Hozier (stream Unreal Unearth), love Hamilton, and have a cat named Lola!
