Wes-CAPS

Liz, a Neuroscience major, has spent most of her life living in Florida. She knew immediately that Wesleyan was the university for her when she laid eyes on Foss Hill. Liz has many roles in the CAPS lab, including Lab Manager, and she helps keep the lab running smoothly. Her research interests include self-esteem, cognitive processing of social relationships, and clinical assessment. In her free time, she plays and teaches piano, and she is a church pianist. After Wesleyan, Liz plans to go to medical or graduate school and continue studying neuroscience.

Ell is a Psychology major from central Massachusetts. For her senior thesis, she developed and standardized a stimulus set of scenes from films for use in mood induction studies. This spring, she was selected as the recipient of the Neubauer Family Scholarship from Widener University in Philadelphia where she will begin study for her doctorate in clinical psychology in the fall. The award was based on her proposal to design and implement a sign language program in elementary schools to improve hearing children’s literacy. Ellen looks forward to becoming a Philly Cheesesteak connoisseur!

Katie is a Psychology major from New Jersey. She was a Hughes Scholar in the CAPS lab for the Summer 2010 and she is researched attentional biases in relation to depression, borderline personality disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder for her senior thesis. Outside the lab, she is on the Editorial Board of Mind Matters, Wesleyan’s undergraduate psychology journal, and a core member of Terpsichore dance group. Next fall, Katie will join the research team of Dr. Sara Bolt as she begins study for her doctorate in school psychology at Michigan State University.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Sandy was raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti until 2005 when she and her family moved to Miami. She is currently working in the CAPS lab as a Research Assistant helping to compile a library database of relevant literature. Sandy is interested in molecular biology, psychology, and writing. Although her plans for life after Wesleyan constantly change, she consistently plans to ultimately return to her parents’ native country and make it a better place.

Baomie is a Psychology and Economics major from sunny Mesa Arizona. A recipient of a Quantitative Analysis Fellowship for Summer 2010, Baomie has used multivariate statistical procedures to study the relation of trauma and early childhood experiences to psychopathology. In her free time, she works four part-time jobs on campus and enjoys trying out foreign languages. Baomie’s plans for the future include pursuing a stint in the peace core, and eventually attending law school. Or, maybe she will open a crepe cart on Pine Street.

Jeremy is a College of Social Studies and College of the Environment major. After training in the CAPS lab to assess PTSD symptoms, he traveled to Uganda and interviewed former child soldiers. His senior thesis examines how informal authority structures (gangs, religious and cooperative economic groups) in transnational displaced communities serve social order and disorder, and the mechanisms through which collective and individual histories of trauma influence social adaptation and productive conceptions of the past. In the CAPS lab, he is researching the relation of PTSD, functioning, and social integration in displaced refugees.

Aaron is a senior Psychology major. In the lab Aaron helps to run studies, programs experiments using Psyscope, and helps to recruit research participants from the community. When not in the lab, Aaron enjoys playing softball and visiting friends around campus. After Aaron graduates, he is planning on attending medical school, where he is interested pursuing interests in oncology and pediatrics. But for now, Aaron is obsessed with getting our Psyscope Button box fully functional.