Naomi Aguiar, Ph.D. Dr. Aguiar received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Oregon.  Her research focuses on children’s concepts of virtual characters and social robots, and how these concepts change over the course of development and through experience with these technologies.  She is also interested in children’s experiences of fully immersive virtual environments, and their concepts of the characters that inhabit these spaces.

Marisa Putnam, M.P.P. Marisa is a National Science Foundation Research Fellow and third year doctoral student in the Children’s Digital Media Center and holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University. Her current research examines how children’s parasocial relationships with digital media characters influence children’s health and STEM learning outcomes. Her dissertation work focuses on how children’s parasocial relationships are associated with gender and stereotypes in the context of learning early STEM concepts.

Undergraduates

Audra Fitzgerald Undergraduate Research Assistant

Audra is a senior at Georgetown University planning to major in either Psychology or Linguistics. Outside of the CDMC, Audra is a sister of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and pursues her love of languages through studying Spanish, French, and Italian. She hopes for a career that can incorporate her passion for Psychology with her other academic interests.

Marie Frolich Undergraduate Research Assistant

Marie is a senior at Georgetown University majoring in Psychology and minoring in Biology. Outside the CDMC, Marie is the president of Georgetown’s club softball team and a sport-loving member of Hoya Blue, the official student section for Georgetown sports. In the future, Marie hopes to pursue a career in physical therapy.

Angella Liu Undergraduate Research Assistant

Lena Deb Summer Research Assistant

 Lena is a rising junior at Georgetown University majoring in Economics and minoring in Business Administration. Outside the CMDC, Lena is a Teaching Assistant in the Biology department. She enjoys playing tennis, dancing for GU Jawani, and spreading kindness as a member of GIVES (a random acts of kindness club) on campus. She will continue her studies at Georgetown School of Medicine as a member of the class of 2023.

Elizabeth Fantini Summer Research Assistant

Elizabeth is a rising senior at Syracuse University majoring in Psychology and minoring in Chemistry.  At Syracuse she is the Captain of the Women’s Club Soccer Team, a Research Assistant at the Integrated Healthcare Lab at the Syracuse VA Hospital and the upcoming Wing Commander for the Air Force ROTC detachment.  In the future Elizabeth hopes to pursue a career as an Air Force physician.

Katharine Shambaugh Summer Research Assistant

Katharine is a rising junior at Smith College double majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology. Aside from her summer involvement with CDMC, Katharine works as a Research Assistant for the Beery Lab at Smith College studying behavioral neuroscience, and is a member of Psi Chi. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career as a clinical psychologist.

Molly Viedermann Summer Research Assistant

Molly is a rising Sophomore at Georgetown University and plans on majoring in Psychology. Outside of the CDMC, she work at Georgetown’s on campus daycare, Hoya Kids, as well as Georgetown’s Office of Residential Living. M0lly hopes to pursue a career that can incorporate her interests in psychology with her passion for working with children.

Lauren Webb, MA Summer Research Assistant

Lauren graduated from Georgetown University in 2015 with a BA in Psychology.  She recently graduated with a MA in Psychology from American University, where her work focused on children with anxiety disorders and feeding disorders.  In the fall of 2017, Lauren will attend the Clinical Psychology PhD program at Hofstra University in New York, where she will specialize in cognitive behavioral treatment for children with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorders.

Volunteers

Charlotte Wright Research Assistant

Charlotte is a recent graduate of Georgetown University, with a major in Psychology. She is currently applying to graduate schools to pursue a career in Industrial and Organizational Psychology.