Faces of SRAP: Nohely and Lacius

The Summer Research Program has officially come to a close, but we will still be featuring a few SRAP participants on our blog. Stay tuned! 

Lacius (left) and Nohely (right) with graduate students
Elizabeth Ferguson and Chelsea Ordiway.

Nohely Najera Mora, a senior from Denver, and Lacius Caddle, a senior from Jackson, Mississippi, spent their time at the University of Wyoming in the Psychology department.

Nohely worked in Dr. Sean McCrea’s lab, studying mindsets and goal phrases.

“I’ve read a lot of articles that pertain to my research,” she says. “I think it’s really cool, because I didn’t know a lot of this stuff and I just think it’s really interesting.”

Lacius worked in Dr. Ben Wilkowski’s Psychology lab, learning the different ways that psychology and law interact.

“My project is about jury decision making,” Lacius says. “The research I’m doing is exciting because I’ve never really done research like this before.”

Nohely and Lacius enjoyed their time at SRAP, and both enjoyed learning new things while conducting research.

“It’s a good learning experience,” says Lacius. “I learned something new every day.”

Nohely agrees, saying “I hope to learn whether research psychology is something I want to do or if I still want to do clinical psychology.”

Both Nohely and Lacius have a passion for psychology and would like to study psychology after they graduate from high school.

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 Waggoner

Faces of SRAP: Emily Stone and Savanna Umberger

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.

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

Faces of SRAP: Quintoria

From: Mississippi

Quintoria Ingram, a high school senior from Mississippi, is spending her summer studying something she’s always been interested in – psychology.

“I’m researching depression and how it can affect teens,” Quintoria says. “I hope to learn the different effects that depression can have on different types of people.”

Quintoria is working under Dr. Josh Clapp, with Josh Kemp, a graduate student in the Psychology department during the six-week Summer Research Apprentice Program (SRAP).

Josh Kemp and Quintoria

Along with learning about psychology and the effects depression has on various people, Dr. Clapp and Josh Kemp want Quintoria to learn about the research process and find a passion in it.

“I want her to learn how to conduct research using actual search databases, looking through different research articles, and then how to evaluate those articles,” says Josh. “I hope she finds a passion in it and learns that research is a little more fun.”

The experience Quintoria is getting will help her in her future, as she follows her passion.

“I plan on going to Jackson State University and I want to be a therapist,” she says. “I’ve always wanted to do something along the lines of therapy.”

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

SRAP Student Spotlight: Jennifer Bieza and positive psychological outcomes of aerobic exercise

SRAPer: Jennifer Beiza

Home state: Colorado

Year in school: Junior

Plans after high school: Undecided

Jennifer Beiza enjoys critical thinking and problem solving. These skills have been an asset to her as she works in the psychology department with Dr. Ben Wilkowski, a professor in the Psychology department at the University of Wyoming. 

“My project is about the positive psychological outcomes of aerobic exercise. Usually when we think about the benefits of exercise, we think about how it affects the body.  I thought it would be interesting to see if aerobic exercise affects the mind and people’s overall well-being, instead of just their physical health, ” says Jennifer.

The idea for this project came from Jennifer herself.

“Basically, she came up with the idea,” says Sarah Crowe, a psychology graduate student working with Jennifer. “We started out by discussing different topics in psychology at a general level before delving into any one area in great detail.  It took a bit of trial and error at first, but she seemed to be especially interested in both biological psychology and research on well-being. After looking through the previous research on these topics, we noticed that there were still a lot of unanswered questions and unresolved issues in the literature. Jennifer wanted to address some of these in her own study and that’s where she came up with the idea for her research proposal. “

Jennifer is enjoying her research, and she’s excited about investigating how the two parts of her study correlate.

“I think it’s really interesting that there’s a connection between mental processes and physical activity.” says Jennifer.

Jennifer’s SRAP project involves writing a proposal for a future experiment. If Jennifer decides to participate in SRAP again next year, she hopes to be able to continue working on her research.

“She’s doing a really great job,” says Sarah.

Jennifer will be presenting her research and findings on Friday, July 19th at the University of Wyoming Union along with the other SRAP particpants.

SRAP is a six-week long intensive research program based at the University of Wyoming and sponsored by Wyoming EPSCoR.

By Robin E. Rasmussen and Kali S. McCrackin
Photo by Robin E. Rasmussen

SRAP Student Spotlight: Hailey Molden and Inspiration

SRAPer: Hailey Molden

From: Nevada

Year in School: Senior

Plans after high school: go to college, probably in california

Hailey Molden is always looking for a challenge. That’s part of the reason her favorite subject in school is science.

“Math was pretty easy for me, so I like chemistry,” Hailey says. “I don’t really like English. I like math and science, but math isn’t that hard for me so I like science the best.”

This summer, however, Hailey’s love of chemistry is being challenged by a new scientific love: psychology. She has spent the summer working with Dr.David Estes, a developmental psychologist at the University of Wyoming, and psychology graduate student Alisa Estey during her time as a SRAPer.

“My project is on inspiration,” says Hailey. “There’s not really much on it, so we’re kind of the stepping stone to that. We’re focusing on the layperson’s perspective of inspiration.”

To understand and study this perspective, Hailey is using three items from a preliminary questionnaire.

“We have a questionnaire that we gave to undergraduate students in a psychology class,” Hailey says. “There were three different questions: What is your definition of inspiration? What is a specific time you were inspired? Name two people who inspire you.”

After gathering the data, Hailey analyzed and coded the responses. For many researchers, this is the most tedious part of a study, but Hailey doesn’t agree.

“I like entering data,” she says. “It is kind of weird, but it is my favorite part.”

As Hailey finishes SRAP and prepares for her final year of high school, she is looking ahead to college and what she will study. Six weeks ago, she would have said chemistry would be her major at a university, but now she is not so sure.

“My favorite subject was chemistry, but now I’m leaning towards psychology,” Hailey says. “My mentors, Alisa Estey and David Estes, are really getting me into it.”

On Friday, Hailey will present her research at the SRAP poster session and then a presentation will follow.

SRAP is a six-week long intensive research program based at the University of Wyoming and sponsored by Wyoming EPSCoR.

By Kali S. McCrackin
Photo by Robin E. Rasmussen

SRAP Student Spotlight: Juan Estrada and Causal Attributions

SRAPer: Juan Estrada
From: Puerto Rico
Year in school: Senior
Future Plans: Attend college in Puerto Rico, studying Chemical Engineering

Laramie, Wyoming may be a long way from Puerto Rico, but Juan Estrada is enjoying the change in scenery, both in and out of the lab. This summer, Juan is working in Dr. Brett Deacon’s psychology lab, studying different mental disorders and their effects.
"For our project, we’re looking at how different causal attributions to different mental disorders, such as depression, affect the person’s pessimism, how long it’s going to take them to get better, different things like that,” Juan says.
The research that Juan is helping conduct will help researchers and scientists better understand mental disorders. The way this research is measured and interpreted is one of Juan’s favorite parts of his project.
 “It’s really cool how we’re assessing the problem because there are different causal attributions,” Juan says. “There are biological explanations, or it could be chemicals in your brain or brain deformity. It could be psychosocial, which could be negative thinking, or maybe bad social skills. Or it could be bio-psychosocial, a mix of both.”
Not only does Juan enjoy doing the research, but he’s interested in seeing how it all fits together in the end.
“I really want to see how it’s going to turn out and see if my hypotheses are right.”
While Juan wants to study chemical engineering at university, he has enjoyed his time in the psychology lab.
“I love my project! It’s really awesome.”

SRAP is a six-week intensive research program based at the University of Wyoming and sponsored by Wyoming EPSCoR.

By Robin E. Rasmussen and Kali S. McCrackin
Photo by Robin E. Rasmussen

 

SRAP Student Spotlight: Savannah Pham and depression in adults

SRAPer: Savannah Pham
Home state: California
Grade in high school: Senior
Plans after high school: Attend college in California, studying Russian

When looking at summer programs, Savannah Pham was put in a difficult spot.

 “I had to pick SRAP over the Naval Academy Summer Seminar and at first I was really bummed,” Savannah says. “But now I feel like this is such a good experience because you actually get hands-on research experience and much more experience than most high school students get.”

That hands-on research experience is exactly what Savannah is getting this summer while being in the SRAP program. Savannah’s work in the psychology department involves understanding depression knowledge and experiences associated with depression among a sample of baby boomers residing in rural communities.

“I’m researching older adults and their knowledge and perceptions and personal experience with depression,” she says. “What I do is go through all the interviews, and I search for the main themes within them and then I try to develop those themes.”

Savannah’s mentor, Katie Kitchen Andren, is a graduate student in the psychology department. Katie had previously conducted a study of older people and depression for her thesis, giving Katie and Savannah ample data to work with.

“We obtained a lot of data from these interviews, so that’s what Savannah’s been taking a look at, to really understand this particular group of soon-to-be older adults and their knowledge about and experiences with depression,” says Katie. “This type of research, the qualitative approach, is really great for understanding personal experiences and attitudes at a deeper level.”

Having the opportunity to study and analyze data has given Savannah a unique chance to grow her enthusiasm in science.

“I just think anything with science is really interesting.”

For Savannah, SRAP has been a unique opportunity to work in the science field, and will give her a great experience to put on her resume.  

SRAP is a six-week intensive research program for high school students. It is based at the University of Wyoming and sponsored by Wyoming EPSCoR.

By Robin E. Rasmussen and Kali S. McCrackin 

SRAP Student Spotlight: Quentin and Questions of Cultural Identity

SRAPer: Quentin Cui

Home State: Florida

Year in School: Senior in High School

Future Plans: Attend a university, Johns Hopkins perhaps, and earn a degree in pre-med

Most high school seniors are thinking about the future and their plans for higher education. Quentin is no exception, but his plans for the future go beyond his undergraduate degree.

“I really want to join the Peace Corps or Doctors without Borders after medical school or after undergraduate school,” says Quentin. “I can only think that a medical degree would help me with that.”

Right now, Quentin is looking for experiences that will help him help others. SRAP, he says, is one of those opportunities.

“I started looking online for summer programs and people had made lists of summer programs and posted them on Google,” Quentin says. “So, I opened one of those lists, clicked through it and the best one I saw was SRAP.”

His first two weeks in the program have not left him disappointed and for the next month he will continue to work with his mentors, Dr. Walt Scott and second-year graduate Stephanie Bachtelle, from the UW Psychology Department on his project about cultural identity.

“We’re going to be studying how Native American youth identify themselves, whether as more western or more Native American, and how that will affect their goals and what they plan to do,” Quentin says.

To do so, Quentin is going through surveys that Dr. Scott has been collecting from youth on the Wind River Indian Reservation since 2001.  

“We’re interested in whether differences in cultural identity as reported on the self-report measure predict the kinds of goals kids are thinking about for the future,” Dr. Scott says.

For Quentin, the most intriguing aspect of this research is realizing that every person is unique.

“I’m most interested in the idea that basically, one construct of psychology can’t really be directly applied to everybody,” Quentin says. “I would say that everybody is a little bit different.”

As a soon to be high school senior, important decisions are right around the corner. But for Quentin, with his unique perspective, respect for diversity and motivation, he is sure to reach his goal and make a difference in the world.
SRAP is a six-week intensive research program for high school students. It is based at the University of Wyoming and sponsored by Wyoming EPSCoR.  



By Kali S. McCrackin
 

SRAP Student Spotlight: Kaycee and Bilingual Decision Making

SRAPer: Kaycee Perez

Home State: Wyoming

Year in School: Freshman in college

Future plans: Attend the University of Wyoming to study Physical Therapy

 

Seeing the different types of science is one of Kaycee Perez’s favorite parts of the STEM fields. As a second year SRAPer, Kaycee has experience d differences in science fields as she has worked in both pharmaceutical research and now in psychology. While last year she was studying diabetes, this year she is focused on language.

“My project is focusing on if being bilingual has an effect on whether when you’re a juror, that affects your verdict,” says Kaycee. “I think the most interesting part is just seeing if being bilingual actually does have an impact on your decision making,” says Kaycee.
The idea for Kaycee’s project came from her mentor, graduate student Victoria Estrada, who had extra data from her thesis. 
“When I presented it to Kaycee, she was on board with it”, says Victoria. “She was like ‘Oh, this could be interesting’.”
Victoria and Kaycee will also be branching out to other participants to get more up to date data.
"We are going to try to run an extension project using online participants and look at whether people are more willing to help either monolingual English or monolingual Spanish speakers; we are looking to see if people are biased against monolingual Spanish speakers,” says Victoria.
 This project is vastly different than the one that Kaycee worked on last year, and she is enjoying the change of focus.
“I’m most looking forward to being with a different department. Last year I was with pharmacy and psychology is a lot different than that,” says Kaycee.
At the end of the program, Kaycee will get the opportunity to see all of the different projects her fellow SRAPers have been working on. SRAP students are placed in many different departments, including molecular biology, botany, chemical engineering, geography, electrical and computer engineering and more.  Each student will have the opportunity to present their research and findings during a formal presentation on July 19^th.

SRAP is a six-week intensive research program for high school students. It is based at the University of Wyoming and sponsored by Wyoming EPSCoR.

 

By Robin E. Rasmussen and Kali S. McCrackin
Photo by Robin E. Rasmussen

On a mission to make a difference: Wyoming EPSCoR’s Project Coordinator

 Earlier this year we started a series of blogs about the EPSCoR office. The follow is part four of the series and focuses on Project Coordinator Rick Matlock. 

Rick Matlock has been with Wyoming EPSCoR since 2002.

Raging snow storms and a rural setting were not exactly Rick Matlock’s idea of a great college experience. Rick, who today is the Project Administrator at Wyoming EPSCoR, could not wait to leave Laramie and its winters behind.

“When I first moved here, I lived in the dorms,” Rick said. “I moved up here from New Mexico and the blizzards were just enormous the first couple of years. I just despised it. And, it was a small town, with absolutely nothing to do. I just despised that too.” Rick laughs at this now and adds, “But the way to live in Laramie is to accept your surroundings and to be part of the outdoor scene.”

And that is exactly what Rick has done. While today he enjoys snowboarding, snowshoeing, hiking and fishing in the surrounding mountains, those activities were not what brought him to the University of Wyoming. He came instead to pursue a degree in psychology, in order to reach his goal to help people.

“When I first got out of high school, I wanted to be a helping-people-person,” Rick says. “I wanted to help the seriously mentally ill and depressed.”

After finishing his degree, Rick worked in the medical field in a variety of areas including an inpatient psychiatric unit, a home for at risk youth and the local crisis center. While these experiences were rewarding, each in their own way, they also took their toll on him and after almost twelve years, Rick found himself  burnt out.

“I kind of found out that this wasn’t really my calling,” Rick says. “So, I decided to try to put my psychology degree to use somewhere else.”

He came to UW and worked at the graduate school administrative office wanting to start into academic advising.

“I enjoyed that experience,” Rick says. “But then the job opened up to run the undergraduate program here at EPSCoR and I decided to take it.”

Rick is in charge of EPSCoR programs, such as our Undergraduate Research Fellowships and Undergraduate research day, which support students going into the science fields, but he makes sure things run smoothly for our grant projects.

“What I do now is, I administer or organize the various aspects of the EPSCoR goals,” Rick says. “It is making sure that everything is staying on track, making sure the EOD (education, outreach and diversity) components are coming together, and making sure we stay on track with the budget.”

While he is no longer helping people in the way he originally set out to do, he is helping to make a difference in the lives of future scientists through his work with our undergraduate programs. This work is inspiring for several reasons.

“The most rewarding part is working with a diverse group of people,” Rick says. “I am able to work with scientists I wouldn’t ever normally meet and I get to work with a lot of great students through undergraduate research. I am amazed by all the different things the students are doing.”

As a student in college, Rick couldn’t imagine ever saying this, but today he loves living in Laramie. “It’s got the best of everything, essentially.” 

By Kali S. McCrackin

Photo by Leah Yetter