Applied Social Psychology Students
Julia Brasileiro, MPH
Julia is a PhD student and member of the Teen Health Lab in the Applied Social and Community Psychology program at North Carolina State University. She holds B.A. and MPH degrees in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her research focuses on understanding how psychosocial factors intersect with adolescent sexual health. In addition, she is interested in using behavioral and implementation science theories to adapt and implement programs to improve adolescent sexual health and wellbeing.
Whitney Becker
Whitney entered the program in Fall 2020 after spending six years as an elementary school educator. She holds a B.A. in elementary education and an M.A. in education with a concentration in literacy. It is her experience in the classroom that led her to an interest in research related to mindsets, specifically failure mindsets and mental health as well as the role of relationships as they pertain to mindsets.
G. Perusi Benson
Perusi Benson entered the Applied Social and Community Psychology program in Fall 2019 after graduating with a BS in Psychology from UNC Chapel Hill in 2016. They are a graduate research assistant in Dr. Vanessa Volpe's Black Health Lab. Their research interests include increasing health care access and utilization for Black transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals and communities through collaborative and equitable research practices.
Alexis Briggs, M.A.
Alexis entered the program in Fall 2019 and is a member of the Hope Lab. Originally from Virginia, Alexis received dual bachelor degrees in Psychology and African American Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University in Spring 2017, and a master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling from Boston College in Spring 2019. Alexis’s research interests include processes of liberation and development for Black youth.
Abbey Collins
Abbey Collins (she/her) entered the Applied Social and Community Psychology program in Fall 2022 and is a graduate research assistant in Dr. Volpe’s Black Health Lab. She is also a graduate teaching assistant, currently working in an Intro to Psychology course. She completed her B.A in Psychology at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Abbey uses an intersectionality lens to study how multilevel racism impacts the bodily stress responses of Black individuals in the United States. Specifically, she is interested in the impact of racism on the cardiac functioning of Black individuals and wants to use research to inform culturally relevant and effective interventions.
Jeffrey Hurst
Eva McKinsey
Eva entered the program in 2019. She completed her undergraduate degree in political science at Colorado College and her master’s degree in psychology at NCSU. Her current research focuses on tools and interventions that have the potential to shift people away from punitiveness and toward more transformative forms of justice. Some of her most recent work and publications explore the impact of trauma education, growth mindset messaging, and race on criminal legal-related attitudes held by the public and legal professionals.
Courtney Wade, M.Ed.
Courtney (she/they) entered the program in 2019 after obtaining their M.Ed. in Counseling from NC State University and working in community and correctional mental health settings for over five years. Courtney's current work is grounded in Disability Justice, Transformative Justice, and abolitionist movements. They focus on cultural strategy, collective access, and digital design justice. They also founded the Disability, Autistic, Mad, & Neuroqueer (DAMN) Solidarity Project.
Anitra Alexander
Anitra entered the Applied Social and Community Psychology program at North Carolina State University in Fall 2021 and is a member of The Hope Lab. Anitra obtained a B.S in Psychology from Texas A&M University and an M.S. in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management with an emphasis in Youth Development from Clemson University. In her research, Anitra is interested in examining the lived experiences of Black adolescents and the psychological and sociological factors that impact healthy community engagement, including racism and discrimination.
Sydney Earl
Sydney (she/her) entered the Applied Social and Community Psychology program at North Carolina State University in 2021 after completing her B.S. in Psychology at Brigham Young University. Sydney is a member of the Mindset Lab and is broadly interested in mindsets and their overlap with obesity- and diet-related health outcomes and health disparities. Sydney ultimately plans to use her research to inform policy and interventions that can effectively disrupt inequity and help people everywhere live healthier lives.
Jordyn McCrimmon
Jordyn(she/her) entered the Applied Social Psychology program in Fall 2021. She has a B.A. in Psychology and a M.A. in Psychological Science from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Broadly, she is interested in improving aspects of adolescent sexual health and wellbeing. She hopes to design interventions tailored to fit the needs of individuals from marginalized communities. Jordyn is working with Dr. Laura Widman in the Teen Health Lab.
Julia Ross
Julia Ross entered the Applied Social and Community Psychology program in Fall 2021 and is a graduate research assistant in Dr. Volpe’s Black Health Lab. She completed her B.S in Psychology at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Julia uses an intersectionality lens to study how racism and sexism impact Black women's health. She is also interested in utilizing a strength-based approach when researching how coping with racism relates to eating behaviors in the Black community.
Shannon O'neal
Shannon (he/his/him) is a second-year Ph.D student in the Applied Social and Community Psychology program. Shannon earned a B.A. in Psychology from N.C. State in 2014. In 2016, Shannon moved from Raleigh to Bangkok, Thailand where he was language lecturer at Chulalongkorn University. With training in school psychology, Shannon is now a Project Manager and Research Assistant with Helps Education Fund. HEF is a non-profit that provides evidence-based academic interventions to underserved students through community-engagement. Shannon's current research focuses on implementation and evaluation of virtual interventions and the impacts of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other areas of interest include mindfulness, impulsivity, and community-level interventions.
Abbey Collins
Abbey Collins (she/her) entered the Applied Social and Community Psychology program in Fall 2022 and is a graduate research assistant in Dr. Volpe’s Black Health Lab. She is also a graduate teaching assistant, currently working in an Intro to Psychology course. She completed her B.A in Psychology at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Abbey uses an intersectionality lens to study how multilevel racism impacts the bodily stress responses of Black individuals in the United States. Specifically, she is interested in the impact of racism on the cardiac functioning of Black individuals and wants to use research to inform culturally relevant and effective interventions.
Meghan Moore
Meghan (she/her) entered the program in Fall of 2022 after completing a B.A. double-majoring in Psychology and Sociology from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Originally from Ohio, Meghan currently works in Dr. Burnette’s Mindset Lab. She is broadly interested in researching how growth mindsets can be leveraged to predict health attitudes and behaviors. She will also serve as the Social Behavioral Health Group student representative for the 2022-2023 year.