About Me

I am a Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Student at Texas Tech University, where I study human-animal interaction and youth behavior in Dr. Jason Van Allen’s Examining Nutrition, Exercise, and Rest in Growing Youth (ENERGY) Lab. I graduated with a BA in Psychology from Tufts University in 2022. At Tufts, I was a research assistant in Dr. Megan Mueller’s Tufts Pets and Well-Being (TPAW) Lab and for the Tufts Initiative for Human-Animal Interaction (TIHAI). During my time at Tufts, I was also the research coordinator for the Children’s Television (CTV) Project. At Tufts, I worked on research related to effects of dogs on applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy sessions, the impact of pet dogs on adolescents with social anxiety, and the effects of dogs on the activity levels of children.

I am broadly interested in the impact that companion animals have on the humans that live with them. Specifically, I am interested in the impact of the emotional bond and interactions with animals as well as attitudes toward animals on mental health and well-being. Additionally, I focus on the impact of companion animals on youth behavioral health outcomes as well as the measurement of constructs related to human-animal interactions.

In my spare time, I enjoy running, cycling, baking, and watching soccer (Eintracht Frankfurt, LAFC), baseball (Dodgers), and professional cycling.