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—a drastically different environment than either Hanover, NH (Dartmouth) or Medford, MA (Tufts)—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.
Postdoctoral Scholar
Elizabeth Brey is a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Kristin Pauker. She received a PhD in psychology from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses 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? Her research in graduate school focused on different kinds of information that children use when evaluating individuals. For example, she tested children’s attention to wealth cues (e.g., clothing and possessions), and examined the judgments children make about individuals that differ in wealth. She has also conducted studies on children’s ability to use nonverbal information to make judgments about others. As a postdoc, she plans to build on this work by looking at how children use nonverbal information to make group level judgments about other children.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
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. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Social Psychology under Dr. Kristin Pauker. Her research interests center around the role of racial ambiguity in the development of racial categorizations, stereotyping, and prejudice. More specifically, she examines racial and ethnic identity choices of mixed race individuals as well as the effects of exposure to racial ambiguity on conceptions of race. She is passionate about identifying and mitigating the negative downstream consequences of these effects, particularly in academic contexts.
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.
Kendhyl Delacour
Kendhyl was born and raised in South Lake Tahoe, CA. She is a senior pursuing her BA degree in Psychology. She intends to further her education and attend graduate school to earn a Masters or PhD in forensic psychology, and ultimately work in the field of criminology. Her research interests include how social influences contribute to violence and criminal activity later in life.
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.
Rebekah Hammer
Rebekah is a senior transferring from Shoreline Community College in Seattle. She is working towards a BA in Psychology and is interested in helping children with trauma. She hopes to pursue a career as a clinical psychologist.
Jack Krizizke
Jack is currently a third year student at Hawai’i Pacific University. After earning his Bachelors of Arts Degree in Psychology, Jack plans to attend graduate school to earn a Psy.D in Clinical Psychology. In his free time, Jack enjoys hiking, traveling, and photography.
Michelle Lac
Michelle was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is currently a senior at the University of Hawaii at Manoa pursuing a Bachelors of Education (B.Ed) in Secondary Education with a focus in Psychology. Interested in social and developmental psychology and inspired by her love for working with children and teaching, she aims to continue her education in graduate school studying school psychology. On her free time, she enjoys hanging out with friends and family, hiking and traveling.
Robin Lam
Robin is currently a 4th year student pursuing a Bachelors of Science Degree in Psychology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. After graduating with his degree in psychology, he wishes to continue his education into the medical field by either applying to nursing or medical school. Robin loves being involved with his community as he helps volunteer and run different on-campus organizations such as HOSA and the Atherton YMCA.
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.
Ann Malluwa Wadu
Ann is a junior at the University of Hawaii at Manoa transferring from Montgomery College in Maryland. She is working towards a BA degree in psychology and the Certificate of Peace Studies. She is also a cadet in the Army ROTC program at UH Manoa. After graduating, Ann plans to continue her education by earning a PhD and ultimately hopes to commission in the US Army as a clinical psychologist. Her research interests include the impact of war-related trauma on children and veterans. With her limited free time, Ann enjoys the beach, hiking, and drinking bubble tea.
Thomas Oehmler
Tom is a third year undergraduate student earning a BA in psychology. He is from Pittsburgh, PA and enjoys cooking and making pottery in his free time. After graduating from UH Manoa he plans on pursuing a master’s degree in industrial/organizational psychology. He hopes that his experience in the ISP Lab will inspire his future research interests.
Coleen Salas
Bio coming soon.
Jeraldine Uro
Jeraldine was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. She is a senior at the University of Hawaii pursuing a double major- a B.S. in Psychology and B.A. in Philippine Language and Literature. In the near future, she aims to continue her education and earn her PsyD with an emphasis in family/child psychology. In her free time, she loves beach hopping and hiking with friends.
ISP LAB ALUMNI
Former Graduate/Postdoctoral Students
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 is currently a post-doctoral scholar at York University working under Dr. Kerry Kawakami.
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, Ph.D. [Email]
Cara Bellwood 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 a teaching-scholar postdoc 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 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 Manager of Health Outcomes Research at Kantar Health.
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 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 M.A. 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 is currently a Ed.S. student at Chapman University.
Victoria Floerke
Victoria Floerke was the lab manager for the ISP lab from 2012-13. She is now a Ph.D. student at 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 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.