Postdoctoral Fellows:

Alice Ann Howard Gola, Ph.D.
Dr. Gola received a B.S. in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received her Ph.D. in developmental psychology at the University of Connecticut. Her research at the CDMC focused on investigating how the language and features of screen media influence very young children’s social and cognitive development. She is currently a Research Specialist at MANILA Consulting Group, Inc.

Jennifer Kotler, Ph.D.
Dr. Kotler has been studying the influences of media on children for the past twelve years. She received her Ph.D. in Child Development from the University of Texas at Austin where she spent her time as a researcher at the Center for Research on Influences of Television on Children. She subsequently received post-doctoral training at Georgetown University where she coordinated the Children and Media Project, which assessed children's learning from educational television. She is now Assistant Vice President of Domestic Research, Education, Research and Outreach at Sesame Workshop.

Tiffany Pempek, Ph.D.
Dr. Pempek received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her research interests focus on the impact of media on development and the cognitive processes involved in children's media use. Her work centers around understanding the attentional processes employed in children's media use as well how this knowledge informs our general understanding of the development of the attention systems early in life. Dr. Pempek's primary research goals are to understand media use in two specific domains: very early development and children's health issues. She is now assistant professor of psychology at Otterbein College.

Doctoral Graduates:

Amanda Exner, M.P.P., Ph.D.
Dr. Exner earned a Masters in Public Policy at GPPI and her Ph.D. in the Human Development and Public Policy track of the Psychology department at Georgetown University. Her main research focus was on the effects of exergames (i.e. video games that require gross motor activity) on adolescents' physical, cognitive, and social health.. She is now a post-doctoral research fellow at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Alexis Lauricella, Ph.D.
Dr. Lauricella earned her Ph.D. in the Human Development and Public Policy track of the Psychology department at Georgetown University. She developed an interest in developmental psychology and media through her undergraduate work at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and her experience at Sesame Workshop. She is now a post-doctoral fellow for Dr. Ellen Wartella at Northwestern University.

Graduate Research Assistants:

Christina Baker
M.A., Psychology, Catholic University

Gina Dyson
M.A., Communication, Culture and Technology
Now Service and Operations Manager at Laureate Education

Rob Ellis
M.A., Communication, Culture and Technology
Now Lead Web Developer for Carnegie Institute of Washington
and law student at American University

Edward Gonzales, Jr.
M.A., Communication, Culture and Technology

David Huffaker
M.A., Communication, Culture and Technology
Ph.D., Northwestern University
Now employed at Google

Eliza Jacobs
M.A., Communication, Culture and Technology
Ph.D., Temple University
Now employed at PBS

Katherine Jacobs
Ph.D in Psychology from Georgetown University
Now Vice President and COO of the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group

Abby Jenkins
M.A., Communication, Culture and Technology
Now at Communication's Associate at
Women’s Learning Partnership, Bethesda, MD

Sean Lai
M.A., Communication, Culture and Technology

Brian Mahler
M.A., Communication, Culture and Technology

Katherine J. Murray
M.A., Communication, Culture and Technology

Katrina Pariera
M.A., Communication, Culture and Technology

Robert Ramsey
M.A., Communication, Culture and Technology

Jennifer Wells
M.A. Communication, Culture and Technology
Now Senior Manager for Product Development at PBS Interactive Businesses

Kirk Willard
M.A, Communication, Culture and Technology

Sean Zehnder
M.A., Communication, Culture and Technology
Now pursuing Ph.D. at Northwestern University

Undergraduate Research Assistants:

Natasha Bimbau
B.A., Psychology

Adrienne Bramlett
B.A., Psychology

Emily Conger
B.A., Psychology
MPP, Georgetown Public Policy Institute.

Kevin Englert
B.A., Psychology

Melissa Friedman
B.A., Psychology
Now pursuing Ph.D.

Lizann Gallagher
B.A., Psychology

Samantha Goodrich
B.A., Psychology
Now pursuing a PhD in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Connecticut

Phillip Hammack
B.A., Psychology
Ph.D at the University of Chicago
Now an assistant professor in social psychology at UC Santa Cruz

Matthew Hammar
B.A., Psychology
Now Assistant Vice President & Senior Training Consultant at
The Bank of New York Mellon in Pittsburgh

Christine M. Hluchan
B.A., Psychology and Government

Alison Kuhl
BA, Psychology

Laura Phillipe Larson
B.A., Psychology
Now pursuing a Masters Degree in Religious Studies at Yale Divinity School

Mickey Lee
B.A., Psychology

Christine Paces
B.A., Psychology

Georgia Papatheodorou
B.A., Psychology

Marta Perez
B.A., Psychology and Biology
Now pursuing a Medical Degree at Vanderbilt

Michael Riboli
B.A., Psychology

Kristin Savoye
B.A., Psychology
Now Manager at Compensation at Time Inc in New York City

Mollie Schmitz
B.A., Psychology
Now instructor at The Auburn School

Erin Shockey
B.A., Psychology

Alex Verdaguer
Finishing his B.A. in Psychology

Jessica Walsh
B.A., Psychology
Now pursuing a Masters of Education and Human Development at George Washington University in Early Childhood Special Education

Yevdokiya (Dussy) Yermolayeva
B.A., Psychology
Now pursuing a PhD in developmental psychology at Carnegie Mellon University.

Past Staff:

Lisa Alvy
B.A., Psychology
Now pursuing a Ph.D. at University of Illinois Chicago

Jessie Connell
CDMC Research Assistant
Now pursuing a Ph.D. in Family Social Science at University of Minnesota

Bonnie Strong
CDMC Administrator
M.A., Communication, Culture and Technology
Now Knowledge Management Consultant at International Resources Group in Washington, D.C.

Gabrielle Strouse
CDMC Research Assistant and Lab Manager
Ph.D in Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University

Amanda Terry
CDMC Research Assistant

Kimberly Charis
CDMC Research Assistant
M.S., Social Policy and Law
Now Project Associate at the National Association of State Boards of Education in Arlington, VA