Our Team

Faculty, Staff, and Post Docs

**Sara Rimm-Kaufman,** Professor

Sara Rimm-Kaufman is the Commonwealth Professor of Education at the University of Virginia. She has spent 20 years studying social and emotional learning and teaching students about learning and development. Her research examines the evidential basis for educational practices designed to foster students’ social and emotional skills.
Read more about Dr. Rimm-Kaufman’s work here.

**Shereen El Mallah,** Research Assistant Professor

Shereen El Mallah’s research endeavors have focused broadly on advancing the science and practice of social emotional learning by addressing the developmental and sociocultural factors that may contribute to the feasibility, receptiveness, and sustainability of school-based programs.

Jasmine Truong, Research Specialist

Jasmine Truong is a Research Specialist in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia. She is interested in utilizing qualitative research methodologies to measure and evaluate programs. Specifically, Jasmine strives to work with communities that are often marginalized -- her work focuses on using equity-centered and community-driven research practices to address the inequities that exist in health and education systems.

Students

**Allison Rae Ward-Seidel, IES Pre-doctoral Fellow, EP-ADS**

Allison is studying equity in social emotional learning initiatives and schoolwide models of school climate improvement. She is particularly interested in researching school climate that facilitates transformative SEL skills with students *and* educators. Before coming to UVA, Allison taught 1st & 4th grades and researched racial equity in school discipline and restorative practices.

Asia Harford, Undergraduate Student, Political & Social Thought

Asia Harford is a rising fourth year student at the University of Virginia double majoring in Political and Social Thought and African and African American Studies. Her interests in research include understanding how disparities in public education policy impact youth development for minority students. Asia’s role as a research assistant for the Education School at the University of Virginia has led her to focus on social-emotional learning (SEL) and its impact on youth understanding of respect inside and outside of the classroom.

Destiny Jones, Undergraduate Student, Psychology

Destiny Jones is a second year undergraduate student from Richmond, Virginia, double majoring in Psychology and Media Studies at the University of Virginia. She works as a research assistant in the Social Development Lab, where she studies the importance of social and emotional learning (SEL) in adolescent growth and development. Destiny's ultimate career goal is to have a career in the media industry, where she hopes to promote more diverse and accurate representations of Black women.

Collaborators

**Eileen Merritt,** Virginia Tech University

Eileen Merritt is a Research Scientist at Virginia Tech University. She led science curriculum and measure development for Connect Science. Her research focuses on understanding effective pedagogies that help connect students and teachers to the natural world and develop their agency as environmental stewards.

**Tracy Harkins,** Harkins Consulting LLC

Tracy Harkins works nationally guiding educational change by providing service-learning professional development and resources to engage and motivate student learners. Prior to starting her own consulting firm, she was the Executive Director of KIDS Consortium, a non-profit that developed an award-winning service-learning educational model.

Jason Downer, University of Virginia

Dr. Jason Downer is a licensed clinical psychologist, professor, and Director of the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning at the University of Virginia. He investigates the identification and understanding of classroom contributors to students’ achievement and social-emotional learning from prek-12, specifically through the development and evaluation of classroom-focused interventions.

Lia Sandilos, Lehigh University

Lia Sandilos is an assistant professor of school psychology at Lehigh University and previously worked as a postdoctoral research associate in the Social Development Lab. Lia studies ways to improve teacher-student relationships and teacher instructional effectiveness by examining the effect of quality interactions and instruction on key educational outcomes, and identifying ways to support teachers’ emotional well-being.

blob — Celine Thompson

Prior to joining the team, Celine was an Assistant Professor at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She received her Ph.D in 2012 from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education in Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development. Celine likes to spend her free time crafting, playing with her nephews, and trying out new potential hobbies.

A Few of Our Social Development Lab Alumni

Alex Allen, Boston University

Claire Baker, Columbia University

Alison Baroody, San Francisco State University

Laura Brock, College of Charleston

Claire Cameron, University of Buffalo

Iris Chiu, Taiwan National University

Frances Coolman, University of Virginia

Tim Curby, George Mason University

Melissa Storm Edmiston, American Institute of Research

Lauren Decker-Woodrow, Westat

Ashley Hunt, McREL International

Grace Kegley, University of Virginia

Candace Lapan, Wingate University

Ross Larsen, Brigham Young University

Micela Leis, Center for Creative Leadership

Rebecca McGregor, University of Pittsburgh

Eileen Merritt, Arizona State University

Lori Nathanson, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence

Erin Ottmar, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Christine Patton, Jumpstart

Carol Paxton, Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit

Theresa Pfister, WestEd

Kathleen Rudasill, Virginia Commonwealth Unversity

Lia Sandilos, Temple University

Brook Sawyer, Lehigh University

Will Simpson, University of Maryland

Beverly Sweeney, University of Virginia

Krystal Thomas, SRI International

Nadia Ventura-Abbas, University of Virginia

Emily Vislosky, WestEd

Shannon Wanless, University of Pittsburgh

Daniel Yonas, Columbia University

Tashia Abry

Eliza Averbach

Maggie Graney

Byung Lee

Mollie Lubetkin

Courtney Newman

Naomi Rader

Julie Thomas

Michelle Yoon

Lab Mascots