Members

LAB DIRECTOR

Kristin Pauker, Ph.D. [Email] [CV]

Kristin Pauker is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Hawaii and director of the ISP lab. She received her A.B. from Dartmouth College (2002), Ph.D. from Tufts University (2009), and completed postdoctoral study at Stanford University. Originally born and raised in Hawaii, she became fascinated with exploring how a person’s immediate environment and culturally-shaped theories about race impact basic social perception, social interactions, and stereotyping in childhood and throughout development. Her research spans both Social and Developmental Psychology and has been featured in journals including Science, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Developmental Psychology. She has been the recipient of several awards, including a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, a Dissertation Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, a Board of Regents' Medal for Excellence in Research, and a Board of Regents' Medal for Excellence in Teaching. Her work has been supported by a R00 Pathway to Independence Award from NICHD, NSF, and is currently supported by a collaborative NSF grant. Dr. Pauker enjoys hiking, surfing, and exploring Oahu with her husband Jeff, son Sebastian, and her dog, Mochi.

*Note: If you want to request a recommendation letter from Dr. Pauker, please read the following guidelines: Rec Letter Guidelines.

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Shahana Ansari [Email] [CV]

Shahana Ansari received a B.A. in psychology from the University of Tampa and an M.A. in Children, Youth and International Development from Brunel University. As a Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Kristin Pauker’s Intergroup Social Perception (ISP) lab, Shahana examines the effect of social contexts on the development of race conceptions and categorizations, racial stereotyping, and racial prejudice. Shahana has particular interest in examining these questions in academic settings so as to identify effective strategies that mitigate students’ psychological barriers to academic success.

Christine Tai [Email] [CV]

Christine Tai received a B.A. in Psychology from New York University. Her interest in the development of stereotyping and prejudice led her to continue pursuing developmental research as a graduate student under Dr. Kristin Pauker. Currently, she is interested in the development of stereotypes and attitudes toward stigmatized forms of speech (e.g., accents & dialects). She also hopes to apply her research cross-culturally, in observing the role the environment plays in shaping stereotyping and prejudice.

Victoria Narine [Email] [CV]

Victoria Narine received her BA in Psychology and English from the College of William & Mary and received her MA in Psychology from the New School for Social Research. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Social Psychology under Dr. Kristin Pauker. Victoria's research interests include implicit gender bias and stereotype threat associated with gender. She's especially interested in women's experiences in male-dominated occupations and environments, such as S.T.E.M. and athletics.

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Salena Diaz [Email]

Salena Diaz received her B.A. in Psychology from Wilkes University and her M.A. in Experimental Psychology from Radford University. Currently she is pursuing her Ph.D. in Social Psychology under Dr. Kristin Pauker. She is generally interested in studying diversity and intersectionality, but more specifically seeks to study the experiences of multiracial and racially ambiguous individuals. Additionally, she is interested in how media and popular culture influence racial identity and the perceptions of various gender, racial, and ethnic groups.

RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

Celine Arnobit

Born in the Philippines and raised on Oʻahu, Celine is a sophomore at UH Manoa and is working on a B.S. degree in Psychology and a B.A. in Spanish. After graduating, she wishes to go graduate school to do research in developmental or cognitive psychology. Eventually, she would like to pursue a career that combines her love of working with children with her passions for psychology, art and music.

Haly Calventas

Aloha mai kākou! Haly was born and raised on the Kāneʻohe side of Oʻahu. She is a junior, working toward her BA in psychology. She enjoys learning about children and building relationships with youth, encouraging them to become the best that they can be. It is a passion of hers to acquire knowledge from a psychological lens. She believes acquiring knowledge helps her to better bend to the needs of students and to give of herself, to promote their growth and progression as individuals. She hopes to pursue a Masters in Teaching degree.

Alyssia Chen

Alyssia is currently a freshman at the University of Hawaii at Manoa who is pursuing a BA in Psychology and a Business degree. Her plans are to earn a Masters Degree and hopefully a PhD too. In her free time, she likes to read historical fiction and spend time with her family.

Anna Chua

Anna is a second-year BA student pursuing a double major in Psychology and Peace & Conflict Studies at UH Mānoa. Upon graduating, she seeks to work towards a postgraduate degree in counseling or social work. Her research interests lie broadly in the impacts of systemic problems within underrepresented and marginalized communities, and how social constructions such as gender, race, and class shape those issues. Having been born and raised in Malaysia, she aspires to merge her background with her current interests to practice multicultural therapy as a social worker.

Maile Griffin

Maile was born and raised in Hawaii. She is a third year Honors student earning a BS in Psychology with a minor in Japanese. Her interest in social and abnormal psychology drew her to the ISP lab and hopes to pursue a career in clinical psychology. In her spare time, she enjoys drawing while petting her dog, Momo.

Ka‘iuonalani Lewis

Kaʻiuonalani was born and raised in Hawaiʻi. She is a senior at UH Mānoa pursuing her BS degree in Psychology. She plans to continue her education in graduate school doing research in social psychology and working towards her Masters or PhD degree.

Shaira Padron

Shaira was born and raised in Kalihi. She is currently a junior at the University of Hawaii pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and a Minor in Public Health. After graduating, she hopes to work as a Registered Behavior Technician and continue school to pursue a career in public health or clinical psychology. She enjoys watching documentaries and trying out new boba places on the island.

Gabrielle Quast

Gaby was born and raised in San Diego, California and is a first year, full time student working towards her BA in Psychology. She intends to also get a Masters in Education while at the University of Hawaii at Manoa so she can fulfill her dream of becoming a School Psychologist. Her main passion is to help children in poor socio-economic societies and to give them the help they need and deserve. In her free time, she loves to go to the beach, explore the island, and have fun adventures with friends.

Mei Shimizu

Born and raised in Japan, Mei moved to Hawaii when she was in sixth grade. She is now a Sophomore at UH Manoa pursuing B.A. in Psychology. After graduating with her degree in Psychology, she wishes to continue her education by earning a PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. She is interested in learning how one's biases and implicit assumptions can modulate human motivation within the social paradigm.

Kylynn Silva

Kylynn is a sophomore undergraduate student working towards a BS in psychology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is from Colorado and loves going skiing when she is back home. She plans to continue her education in graduate school by doing research in either child development or sports psychology.

Kyani Uchimura

Born and raised on O'ahu, Kyani is a first-year student at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. She is currently pursing a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Psychology and Sociology, and plans to further her education by earning a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Working in the ISP lab allows her to mesh her interests in both majors, and gain experience and a better understanding in Social Psychology. Her interests include feminist psychology and parent-child relationships.

Jessica Delos Reyes

Jessica was born and raised on O'ahu and is currently a senior at UH Manoa, pursuing a BS Psychology degree. After graduating, she wants to continue on in her education and earn a Ph.D. degree. She loves working with children and hopes to find a career that will allow her to explore questions in child development. She also enjoys video editing and playing instruments in her free time.

Alexandra Elefteratos

Alex was born in the Netherlands but moved to the states when she was 2, only recently having moved to Hawaii in December of 2019. She is a senior at UH Manoa who is pursuing her BA in psychology with a minor in sociology with hopes of staring her PsyD in Fall 2021. There are many subfields of psychology that interest Alex, but she was drawn to the ISP lab due to her passion for abnormal and social psychology. Additionally, Alex hopes to become a clinical psychologist within the American prison system and has plans to help reform the mental health care system for inmates.

Jenalyn Agena

Jena is born and raised on O’ahu. She is in her third year working to receive her BA in Political Science and Psychology. She would like to continue her education by going for her Masters and maybe even a Doctorate. Her interests lie in understanding why individuals are the way they are and how that translates into the workplace. In her spare time, she enjoys anything outdoors, reading, and crime shows.

Deray Parker

Deray was born and raised on O’ahu and recently graduated from UH Mānoa with a B.A. in Psychology and B.A. in French. He plans to continue his academic career with a Master’s in Industrial-Organizational Psychology focusing on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion through Human Resources or People Operations. Deray enjoys traveling, going to the beach, learning new languages, and trying new recipes from the New York Times Cooking app.

ISP LAB ALUMNI

Former Graduate/Postdoctoral Students

Elizabeth Brey, Ph.D. [CV]

Elizabeth Brey was a postdoctoral fellow in lab from 2016-2020. She received a PhD in psychology from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focused on the causes and consequences of children’s group-level biases. How do young children learn stereotypes about different groups despite living in egalitarian communities? How do children’s group-level stereotypes affect negatively stereotyped children? As a postdoc, she was funded by a postdoctoral NSF grant and a NRSA from NIH, where she examined how children use nonverbal information to make group level judgments about other children. Elizabeth is now working as an Applied Research and Evaluation Advisor at Education Northwest.

Chanel Meyers, Ph.D. [Email] [Website]

Chanel Meyers received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from UH Mānoa in 2018. She graduated from Western Oregon University and was born and raised in Hawaii. Her research interests are broadly in race perception and cultural psychology. Specifically, multiracial group members and issues that pertain to this population, including, but not limited to: well-being and inter/intra-group relations, self-identity, and perception. She is also interested in how environment and culture interact within these issues in all populations. Chanel completed a postdoc at York University working with Dr. Kerry Kawakami and will be starting as an Assistant Professor at Whitman University this Fall 2020.

Ashley Morris Biddle, Ph.D. [Email]

Ashley Morris received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from UH Mānoa in 2017. She has a B.A. from Wellesley College and an M.A. from UH Mānoa. Her research focuses on social-cognitive development of preschool-aged children. Specifically, she is interested in how children learn to seek information from the world around them (e.g., parents, peers, media). She has worked on projects about parent-child conversations about autobiographical memory, early development of infants at risk for developing autism, and Native Hawaiian parental beliefs about young children's learning. Her future research plans include looking at how parent-child conversations may work together with media to encourage children to engage in science topics. For more information, please click here. Ashley is currently a faculty member at Leeward Community College.

Cara Bellwood Ray, Ph.D. [Email]

Cara Bellwood Ray received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from UH Mānoa in 2017. She received a B.A. in Psychology from Whitworth University and M.S. in Psychology from the University of Oregon. Generally, she is interested in how attending college affects the developmental stage of emerging adulthood. Cara is currently an Instructional Associate at Linfield College.

Heather Zezeck, M.A. [Email]

Heather Zezeck received her M.A. from UH Mānoa in 2017. Heather examines social influences on educational achievement with two specific interests: the relationship between sense of belonging and college retention and the impact of psychological stressors on the predictive validity of standardized tests.

Megan Carpenter, Ph.D. [Email] [Website]

Megan Carpenter graduated with her Ph.D. from the UH Mānoa Social Psychology Program in 2015, and served as a research coordinator with the ISP Lab from 2014-15. Megan’s research interests center around interpersonal relationships, attraction, and perceptions of gender norms. Megan is currently an Assistant Professor at St. Lawrence University.

Colleen Carpinella, Ph.D.[Email]

Colleen M. Carpinella was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Intergroup Social Perception Lab from 2014-15. Broadly, she is interested in how intersecting social identities (e.g. race and gender, gender and partisanship) bias person perception. Colleen is now a Customer and Market Insights Manager at Thermo Scientific.

Amanda Williams, Ph.D. [Email]

Amanda Williams was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the ISP Lab from 2013-14. To date her research has focused on (1) the development of (implicit) social cognition and (2) visual attention during person perception. Amanda is currently a Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Bristol. For more information please click here

Other lab affiliates

Leah Morse

Leah was a RA in the ISP lab from 2017-2019. She is currently in the PsyD program at Chaminade University.

Angelica Leon

Angelica was a RA in the ISP lab from 2017-2018. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. program in social-organizational psychology at teacher's college, Columbia University.

Rochelle Coloma

Rochelle was a RA in the ISP lab from 2017-2018. She is currently a paraprofessional and registered behavior technician in the process of applying to medical schools.

Deja Thomas

Deja was a RA in the ISP lab from 2017-2018. She is currently working as a Research Assistant at Pew Research Center.

Maria Garay

Maria was a RA in the ISP lab from 2016-2018. She is currently a Ph.D. student at Tufts University.

Marina Matsui

Marina was a RA in the ISP lab from 2016-2018. She is currently a clinical psychology graduate student at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa.

Kayla Uyeda

Kayla was a RA in the ISP lab from 2016-2017. She is currently studying for her Masters of Science in Counseling Psychology for School Counseling at Chaminade University.

Sakaria "Sai" Auelua-Toomey

Sai was an honors student in the ISP lab from 2015-16. Sai was selected as a 2017 Luce Scholar and is a Ph.D. student in Psychology at Stanford.

Nicolyn Charlot

Nicolyn was an honors student in the ISP lab from 2014-15, and won an Honors Thesis Prize. Nicolyn is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Western Ontario.

Adrienne Chong

Adrienne Chong was the lab manager for the ISP lab from 2014-15. Adrienne is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Kesha Unciano

Kesha was a RA in the ISP lab from 2014-15. Kesha received her M.A. in Communicology in 2017 from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Jamie Tagomori

Jamie was a RA in the ISP lab from 2013-15. Jamie received her Ed.S. in 2018 from Chapman University.

Victoria Floerke

Victoria Floerke was the lab manager for the ISP lab from 2012-13. She received her Ph.D. in 2020 from Tufts University.

PROSPECTIVE PH.D. STUDENTS AND UNDERGRADUATES

We are looking for highly motivated Ph.D. and undergraduate students to get involved in the lab. Dr. Pauker will NOT be considering graduate student applications for the upcoming year. If you are a college student home for the summer interested in working in our lab as a research assistant, please e-mail us. If you are an undergraduate student at UH Manoa interested in working in our lab as a research assistant, please fill out an application and e-mail it to us along with your resume/CV.