Ariel Starr, PhD (she/her)
Ariel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and the director of the LCD Lab. She grew up in Seattle and feels very lucky to be living here again! In the intervening years, she received a BA in Psychology and Neuroscience from Wesleyan University and a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from Duke University before completing a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley. Outside of the lab, she likes powerlifting and watching music videos.
Sahana Sridhar — Lab Manager (she/her)
Sahana graduated in the spring of 2022 from UW with a B.S. in psychology with minors in data science and linguistics. In undergrad, she worked as a research assistant at two labs and completed her honors thesis with the LCD lab! In her free time, you can find her baking banana bread, creating an unreasonably niche Spotify playlist, or watching Normal People (again).
Bahar Sener — Graduate Student (she/her)
Bahar graduated from Emory University with a BA in Psychology and joined the lab as a graduate student in 2020. She is broadly interested in exploring how we use spatial representations and spatial language to think about more abstract domains. Outside of the lab, Bahar likes to practice guitar and watch lots of movies.
Carol Lu — Graduate Student (she/her)
Carol is a first-generation PhD student from Hawaii who joined the lab in 2022. She graduated with her BA in 2022 from Johns Hopkins University, where she triple majored in cognitive science (focal areas: neuroscience & computation), psychology, and public health (concentration: mental health). She spends her free time daydreaming about Pikachu, Paddington Bear, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and her shiba inu, Hojicha.
Ishaan Ambrish — Graduate Student (he/they)
Ishaan Ambrish joined the lab as a graduate student in 2022. He graduated from UC Santa Barbara in the spring of 2021 with a B.S. in Psychological and Brain Sciences and a B.A. in Anthropology. Ishaan is interested in researching how language and language acquisition affect cognition and the way we see the world. Outside of school, you can find them singing/writing music, watching Hindi movies, and playing video games.
Erasmo Adlai Garcia Gaitan — Research Assistant (he/him)
Erasmo is a senior pursuing a BA in psychology. His work with developmentally disabled individuals as a caregiver sparked his initial interest with cognition & development. Currently, Erasmo has found himself becoming a fan of hockey and the Seattle Kraken after attending his first live game recently. Outside of schoolwork, Erasmo likes to sightsee around Seattle (and Western Washington in general), play video games, and learn new dances.
Cassie Smith — Research Assistant (she/her)
Cassie is a third-year student at UW who is majoring in Psychology. After graduation, she plans on going to grad school so that she can continue to do research in the field. Her interests in psychology lie in both childhood development and social psychology. In her free time, she enjoys playing board games with her friends, painting, singing, and jewelry making! She also loves that since she is from the area she gets to go home and pet her dog when she has a free weekend.
Emery Park — Research Assistant (she/her)
Emery is a third year hoping to major in Psychology with a minor in Education. She hopes to attend graduate school for a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology to become a Child Psychologist. She loves dancing with her teams here in Seattle in her free time and she loves the color pink.
Michelle Wu — Research Assistant (she/her)
Michelle is a junior double majoring in Psychology and Education Studies: Early Childhood and planning to minor in Data Science. She is especially interested in developmental and cognitive psychology. She enjoys learning new things about human beings and herself. She loves watching anime and also enjoys li J-pop music. During her personal time, she makes handcrafts, like knitting, crocheting, and beading.
Stella Wang — Research Assistant (she/her)
Stella is a third-year at UW majoring in Early Childhood and Family Studies and hoping to eventually go to medical school. Her career interests include several branches of pediatric medicine. She enjoys cooking, baking, and running while listening to true crime podcasts and loves to make ultra-specific Spotify playlists and take care of her plants.
Natalie Elder — Research Assistant (she/her)
Natalie is a junior from California majoring in Psychology and minoring in Business. She is interested in how language and development affect perception specifically in early childhood. She hopes to take a gap year after graduating to gain more experience in the psychology field and to travel before attending graduate school. Although she is not sure of her intended interest, she is planning on working with children and young adults professionally. In her free time she enjoys exploring Seattle, crocheting semi functionable scarfs and crafting.
Andra MacDonald — Research Assistant (she/her)
Andra is a second-year student at the University of Washington majoring in Psychology. Before coming to UW, she attended Bellevue College for two years, earning her associate degree with a concentration in Psychology. Andra is passionate about cognitive and developmental psychology, as well as the treatment of mental health. She hopes to take a gap year after she graduates this summer to work in a research lab and gain more experience before pursuing graduate studies in psychology. Andra enjoys cooking, watching documentaries, crocheting, and drinking iced coffee in the rain.
Madeline Silvernail — Research Assistant (she/her)
Maddie is a third-year UW student majoring in psychology and minoring in English. After graduation, she hopes to attend graduate school to obtain a PhD in Clinical Psychology and work as a mental health therapist. As for right now, she has been spending a lot of time reading, frequenting Boba Gem, and cuddling with her cat, Betty.
Jasmine Yeung — Research Assistant (she/her)
Jasmine is a junior studying psychology and education. She has always been interested in early childhood experiences and their effects on the trajectory of their lives. In the future, she hopes to either do research on early childhood development or provide therapy for young children. In her free time, she likes to crochet, read, learn music theory, play piano, and spend time with the people she loves!
Wendy Lei — Research Assistant (she/her)
Wendy is a junior majoring in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy. In the future, she plans to attend graduate school pursuing a degree in Clinical Psychology. She is interested in learning about the development of humans, especially in children. It is fascinating to her to learn about how people develop and change over time and how different cultures and environments can impact the growth of individuals. In her free time, she likes to explore all kinds of food.