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

Juliette Hamlen, Undergraduate Research Assistant

Juliette Hamlen is a rising third-year undergraduate student from Massachusetts studying Public Policy and Statistics. With previous experience working at a Children’s Advocacy Center and mentoring elementary school students in Charlottesville, Juliette is always seeking new ways to engage with youth in the community. She enjoys indoor cycling and is trying to cook more meals in her new apartment (any suggestions are welcome!).

Mary Roper, Undergraduate Research Assistant

Mary Roper is a rising fourth-year undergraduate student at UVA studying Youth and Social Innovation and Psychology. Informed by her coursework and experience engaging with youth in the Charlottesville community, she is fascinated by the ways schools impact how children grow and, more specifically, how children develop emotionally and socially into adults prepared to both connect with others and steward their own identity. Hoping to teach post-grad, Mary is excited about the interactions between the Social Development Lab's research and her work with youth in the future.

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

Asia Harford, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

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, Lehigh 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

Destiny Jones, Columbia University

Allison Ward-Seidel, University of Virginia

Tashia Abry

Eliza Averbach

Maggie Graney

Byung Lee

Mollie Lubetkin

Catherine Lim

Courtney Newman

Katherine Pan

Dylan Powell

Naomi Rader

Julie Thomas

Michelle Yoon

Lab Mascots