Emily Stone and Savanna Umberger have always had a passion
for psychology, and both plan to make a career of it.
Emily, a recent high school graduate from Orem, Utah plans
to study psychology and political science this fall when she starts college at
Connecticut College.
“I love psychology and I’m pretty sure that’s what I want to
do,” she says. “I would like to be a psychologist that specializes in eating
disorders.”
Emily is working in Dr. Walt Scott’s Psychology lab, with
Shannon Blakey, a graduate student in the psychology department.
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| From left to right: Savanna Umberger, Shannon Blakey, and Emily Stone |
“My project has to do with rape myth belief,” Emily says. “I
hope to gain a better understanding of rape culture and what we can do to
change it.”
Savanna, a senior in high school from Hanna,
Wyoming, also enjoys psychology and plans to study psychology after she
graduates high school.
When asked about psychology, Savanna says, “It’s always
interested me. I took a psychology class in high school and it just really
caught my interest from the beginning.”
Like Emily, Savanna is working in Dr. Scott’s lab, but on a
different project.
“My project is the correlation between substance abuse and
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),” she says. Savanna is interested in
understanding “why people with PTSD turn to substances and alcohol and how PTSD
develops.”
Emily and Savanna like their projects, and have enjoyed the
opportunity to study psychology and ask questions.
“Both Emily and Savanna are really learning to appreciate
that these are all phenomenon most people experience to some degree,” says
Shannon. “Having a better understanding of these associations could help us
design better ways to help these people and help them reclaim their lives.”
SRAP is a six-week, intensive research program for high school students. It is based at the University of Wyoming and is sponsored by Wyoming EPSCoR. To learn more about the program, click here, or search "SRAP" in the archives.
By Robin Rasmussen
Photo by Robert Waggener
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