Associate Professor
Health and Wellness Lab
Current Research Projects
Youth Participatory Action Research
I have worked with youth in the Monterey area on a few different research projects, but most recently I worked with the Gonzales Youth Council on a youth participatory action project focused on emotional and academic wellness during COVID-19. We gathered data from more than 300 middle school and high school students, and the results were used by the youth council to advocate for mental health resources in Gonzales. We are currently analyzing a follow-up survey and continuing our collaboration.
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Published work related to this project:
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Screen SPACE Wellness:
Questionnaire Development
Technology and social media are prominent in young people's lives. This project is a collaboration with
Dr. Nita Tewari and Dr. Oscar Rojas Perez to develop and test a questionnaire about screen and technology wellness among adolescents and young adults. This questionnaire is intended to have clinical and utility. SPACE is an acronym for Social, Physical, Academic, Cognitive, and Emotional Wellness.
Interracial Dialogues
To help support racial justice efforts on campus, I am a developer and co-facilitator of the IDEA (Interracial Dialogue, Equity, and Accountability) Program at CSUMB. My colleagues and I are working to evaluate and reflect on our work. We also are identifying next steps for moving the program forward. Research opportunities related to this project would be program evaluation.
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Here is our 2022 publication:
Supporting Institutional Change through Interracial Dialogue Among Campus Leaders
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Meet the Team
Major : Psychology Minor : Chemistry Interests : Mental Health Awareness, First Generation, Clinical Psychology and working with children Graduation : May 2026 Next Steps : Attending Medical School
Major: Psychology Interests: First-generation, Clinical Child Psychology, Hispanic/Latino wellness, social and emotional Graduation: Spring 2026 Next Steps: PhD Clinical Child Psychology, Pediatric specialization
Major: Psychology Minor: Human Development UROC & McNair Scholar Interests: Mental health disparities, autism spectrum, Latinx & LBGTQIA+ wellbeing Graduation: Spring 2026 Next Steps: Pursue PhD. in Clinical Psy
Major: Psychology UROC Scholar Interests: Social and developmental psy, how children understand social hierarchies Graduation: Fall 2025 Next Steps: Pursue PhD
Alumni
Major: Psychology UROC Researcher Interests: Latinx mental health, families and mental health stigma Graduation: Fall 2024 Next Steps: LMFT
Major: Collaborative Health and Human Services (public health) UROC & McNair Scholar Interests: Health disparities, poverty Graduation: Fall 2023 Next Steps: MA Public Health UCLA
Major: Psychology Minor: Service Learning and Social Justice UROC and McNair Scholar Interests: Mental health in Latinx communities Graduation: Fall 2023 Next Steps: PhD in Clinical Psychology
Major: Psychology Minors: Music, HCOM. UROC Scholar Interests: The impact of music on cognition for neurodiverse individuals Graduation: Fall 2022 Next Steps: Graduate School
Major: Psychology Interests: Youth, Educational Systems, Emotional Wellbeing Graduation: Spring 2021 Next Step: MA in School Psychology
Major: Psychology Minor: Statistics UROC & McNair Scholar, Sally Casanova Scholar Interests: Cannabis and mental health Graduation: Spring 2021 Studying for Ph.D in Health Psychology UC Merced
Major: Psychology Minor: Statistics UROC Researcher & Koret Scholar. Interests: First-generation Status & Ethnoracial Health Disparities, & Wellness Graduation: Spring 2021 Next Steps: PhD in Clinical Psych
Major: Psychology UROC Researcher & Koret Scholar. Interests: Gender Differences, Community Health & Wellbeing, & Digital Wellness Graduation: Spring 2021 Next Steps: PsyD in Clinical Psychology
Major: Psychology Interests: Clinical child psychology, social media, mindfulness Graduation: Spring 2022 Next Step: Pursue PhD
Major: Psychology Interests: immigrant and refugee mental health, PTSD, & eating disorders Graduation: Spring 2020 Next Steps: Pursue PhD
Major: Psychology Minor: Human Dev UROC Researcher Interests: Multicultural psy, child psychopathology, & ecotherapy Graduation: Spring 2020 Next Steps: PhD student in Clinical Child Psychology
Major: Psychology UROC Researcher Interests: Neuroscience, suicidal thoughts and behavior Graduation: Spring 2020 Next Steps: Pursue PhD
Major: Psychology Minor: Statistics Interests: Child trauma, assessment, MMPI Graduation: Spring 2020 Next Steps: Kent State for PhD in Clinical Psychology
Major: Psychology Minor: Pre-Law Sally Casanova Scholar Interests: Immigrant health and policy Graduated: Spring 2019 Next Steps: Pursue JD/PhD
Major: Psychology Interests: Clinical child psychology, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and CBT strategies Graduated: Spring 2019 Next Steps: Working on Psy.D. in Clinical Child Psychology
Major: Psychology Interests: Child and adolescent psychology; multicultural psychology Graduated: Spring 2019 Next Steps: Pursue PhD in Clinical Child Psychology; child life specialist
Major: Psychology Interests: Clinical child and multicultural psychology Graduated: Spring 2019 Next Steps: Obtain PhD then return to Monterey County and work with Hispanic/Latino community.
Major: Psychology Interests: Children and adolescents, child trauma, heathcare, multicultural psychology Graduated: Spring 2019 Next Steps: Pursue a PhD. in Clinical Child Psychology
Major: Psychology Minor: Cognitive Science Interests: Clinical psych, cognitive neuroscience, stress & health Graduated: 2017 (UC Merced) Next Steps: Graduate School in Experimental Psych
Major: Psychology Interests: Child and health psychology, research, ABA therapy, art therapy Graduated: May 2018 Next Steps: Interested in Counseling with a emphasis in Art Therapy
Major: Psychology Minor: Human Dev Interests: Child trauma and foster care Graduated: May 2018 Next Steps: Applying to graduate school for Clinical Psychology
Major: Psychology Interests: Health psychology, suicide Graduated: May 2018 Next Steps: Graduate student in Clinical Psychology PsyD program