AV������

Pronouns:

She/her

Department:

Psychology

Courses currently teaching:

Infant Cognition in the Fall and a Graduate Student Writing Workshop in the Spring.

Degrees held:

Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from UC San Diego and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Boston University

What are your research interests?

I study how babies and children learn to make sense of people—their emotions, relationships and choices. My work asks questions like: When do kids start to care that someone is empathetic? How do babies use surprise as a cue to learn something new? And how does curiosity shape the way they explore? At the heart of it, I’m trying to uncover the “first drafts” of human social reasoning—the building blocks that eventually allow us to care about fairness, friendship, and morality. Since babies can’t exactly fill out surveys, we get creative: using their eye gaze and reaching behaviors as windows into what’s going on in their minds.

What do you enjoy most about teaching?

This fall I’m teaching a seminar on infant cognition—basically, how babies make sense of the world before they can even talk and methods developmentalists use. In the spring, I’ll be leading a graduate writing workshop. What I love most about teaching is helping students see that big scientific questions can be broken down into clear, testable ideas, and that they can ask those questions themselves. Whether it’s an undergraduate realizing that babies notice things adults miss, or a graduate student realizing that a blank page is actually a gift, I enjoy showing students that science is both rigorous and deeply human.

Why did you choose AV������?

AV������ struck me as the best of both worlds: a place where I can do ambitious, cutting-edge science while still being part of a close-knit community. I loved the idea of starting my lab here, where local families can bring their babies in to be “tiny scientists for a day,” and students can roll up their sleeves and help uncover how young minds work. It’s rare to find a university that combines research excellence with such strong student engagement, and that balance felt like the perfect fit.

Also, seasons are cool too.

What was your previous institution?

UC San Diego