Current Lab Members 

Bhavya Vyas is from Louisville, KY. She is a freshman double majoring in Psychology and Neuroscience and minoring in Biology and Statistics on the pre-med track. After undergraduate, she hopes to go to med school, and one day, be a psychiatrist. In her free time, she loves reading, cross stitching, embroidering, and hanging out with her friends.

Elizabeth Shaf is from Charleston, West Virginia. She is a junior majoring in Psychology in the Psychology Scholars program and minoring in Spanish. She plans to pursue a doctorate in Occupational Therapy after graduating from the University of Kentucky.

  Mya Welch is from Cleveland, Ohio. She recently graduated from UK with her Bachelor’s in Psychology and is currently taking a gap year before applying to grad school, where she hopes to pursue her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She loves running and going hiking with her dog.

Kelsi Pennington is a sophomore from Flat Gap, Kentucky. She is majoring in Psychology with a double minor in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science. After graduation she plans to pursue a career as a Physician Assistant.

Sanjana Rahman is from Frankfort, Kentucky. She is a third-year majoring in Psychology on the Pre-med track. She hopes to attend medical school to become a pediatrician in the future. In her free time, she likes to play tennis, read fantasy books, and hang out with friends.

Jana Shelley is from Hopkinsville, Kentucky. She is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Family Science. After undergraduate, she plans to obtain her doctoral degree in Human Development and Family Sciences, and further her career researching children’s academic testing protocol. 

Sarah Templeman is from Louisville, KY. She is a junior psychology major with a minor in criminology. Along with going to school full time, she works two jobs that occupy a lot of her time. Outside of that, she enjoys reading, doing yoga, listening to and/or playing music, and spending time with friends.

Ash Pechon is a senior from Hurricane, West Virginia. She is double majoring in Psychology and Sociology with minors in Criminology and Philosophy. After college, Ash plans to continue her education and pursue a PhD in Psychology. 

 Sara Corman is a senior Psychology major. She is married with 2 children and has returned to school after 15 years. She is planning to get her MSW at UK (hopefully) beginning in the fall. Her main career goal is to become a sports psychologist, but along the way she plans to use her MSW as a therapist.

Kat Brown is from Clearwater, Florida and she is a graduate student who entered the Developmental Social Health PhD program in Fall 2022. She has many research interests including improving mathematics education with teacher feedback, technology, and understanding the student experience. Kat hopes to one day become a professor at a teaching-focused university. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her cat, reading, playing tennis, going to community events, and cooking. 

Julie Shirah is a graduate student who entered the Developmental, Social, Health Psychology PhD program in Fall 2020. She has many research interests relating to cognitive development. She graduated with her Master’s in Experimental Psychology in May 2022, which investigated the role of activating prior knowledge and providing feedback in math performance. For her dissertation she is interested in contextualizing math problems.

Alana Lancaster is a senior from Louisville, KY. She is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Criminology, and plans on attending graduate school for Clinical Psychology. She hopes to eventually become a pediatric therapist. In her free time, she likes to read, spend time with her friends, and visit her family and two dogs.

Ryley McGuckin is from Carleton, Michigan. She is a sophomore majoring in Psychology with a minor in Criminology on the Pre-med track. She is also a part of UK Dance Ensemble. After graduation, she plans on either taking some time off before Med School or diving right into it.