Human Development Program

Tenure Track Faculty 

	Patricia Alexander, Distinguished University Professor 3304F Benjamin Building (301) 405-2821 | palexand@umd.edu Specialization: Educational Psychology Lab: Disciplined Reading and Learning Research Lab
	Donald Bolger, Associate Professor 3304N Benjamin Building (301) 405-9103 | djbolger@umd.edu Specializations: Developmental Science, Educational Psychology Lab: Laboratory for the Neurodevelopment of Reading and Language
	Lucas Butler, Associate Professor 3304P Benjamin Building (301) 314-1815 | lpbutler@umd.edu Specializations: Developmental Science, Educational Psychology Lab: Cognition and Development Lab
	Natasha Cabrera, Professor 3304E Benjamin Building (301) 405-2827 | ncabrera@umd.edu Specialization: Developmental Science Lab: Family Involvement Laboratory
	Jimena Cosso, Assistant Professor 3304N Benjamin Building (301) 405-2820 | jcosso@umd.edu Specializations: Developmental Science, Educational Psychology Lab: Home Opportunities for Latine in Advancing (HOLA) STEM Lab
	Nathan Fox, Distinguished University Professor 3404D Benjamin Building (301) 405-2816 | fox@umd.edu Specialization: Developmental Science Lab: Child Development Lab
	Stephen Gibson, Assistant Professor 3304U Benjamin Building (301) 405-2816 | sgibson@umd.edu  Specializations: Developmental Science, Educational Psychology Lab: Information coming soon!
	Melanie Killen, Distinguished University Professor 3304B Benjamin Building (301) 405-3176 | mkillen@umd.edu Specialization: Developmental Science Lab: Social and Moral Development Laboratory
	Doug Lombardi, Associate Professor 3304T Benjamin Building (301) 405-3604 | lombard1@umd.edu Specialization: Educational Psychology Lab: Science Learning Research Group
	Kelly Mix, Professor 3304M Benjamin Building (301) 405-5914 | kmix@umd.edu Specializations: Developmental Science, Educational Psychology Lab: Learning and Cognition Lab
	Richard Prather, Associate Professor 3304S Benjamin Building (301) 405-2806 | prather1@umd.edu Specializations: Developmental Science, Educational Psychology Lab: Cognition and Development Lab
	Geetha Ramani, Associate Professor 3304R Benjamin Building (301) 405-8777 | gramani@umd.edu Specializations: Developmental Science, Educational Psychology Lab: Early Childhood Interaction Lab
	Rachel Romeo, Assistant Professor 3304Q Benjamin Building romeo@umd.edu Specializations: Developmental Science, Educational Psychology Lab: Language, Experience, And Development (LEAD) Lab
	Min Wang, Professor 3304C Benjamin Building (301) 405-8798 | minwang@umd.edu Specializations: Developmental Science, Educational Psychology Lab: Bilingual and Biliteracy Research Lab

PTK / Clinical Faculty

	Jennie Lee-Kim 3304 Benjamin Building 301-405-7714 | jleekim@umd.edu
	Emily Neer 2115A Benjamin Building eneer@umd.edu
	Christy Tirrell Corbin 3304 Benjamin Building 301-405-7793 | ctc@umd.edu
	Lauren Trakhman 3304A Benjamin Building 301-314-2670 | trakhman@umd.edu
	Stephanie Varner 2115B Benjamin Building svarner@umd.edu
	Olga Walker 3304-T Benjamin Building owalker@umd.edu

COE Faculty Directory

Current Graduate Students

	Gavkhar Abdurokhmonova ga2541@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Rachel Romeo
	Gelysia Anderson ganders6@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Stephen Gibson
	Ninie Asad ninie@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Jimena Cosso
	Jonah Brenner jb1998@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Melanie Killen
	Michaela Brooks mrbrooks@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: DJ Bolger
	Miaofan Chen miao922@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: Natasha Cabrera
	Yi Dai ydai1@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: Min Wang
	Jessica Sishi Fei sishifei@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: Min Wang
	Marley Forbes mforbes2@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Melanie Killen
	Lanaiah Frieson lfrieson@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Stephen Gibson
	Jannah Fusenig jfusenig@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: Patricia Alexander
	Muhammad Fusenig mfusenig@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: Patricia Alexander
	Nancy Gans ngans@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: Doug Lombardi & Patricia Alexander
	Teresa Garcia teresamg@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Lucas Butler
	Melike Hanedar mhanedar@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: Doug Lombardi
	R. Pinar Karan rpkaran@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Natasha Cabrera
	Margaret Logan mwlogan@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: Patricia Alexander
	Victoria Louis vlouis1@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Stephen Gibson
	Sivan Lurie slurie@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Geetha Ramani
	Alina Maki amaki13@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: Patricia Alexander & Doug Lombardi
	Maylee Montagut-Ascanio montagut@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: Geetha Ramani
	Clara Plutzer cplutzer@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Melanie Killen
	John Robertson jrr@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: Doug Lombardi & Min Wang
	Ellen Roche rochee@umd.edu | NACS Advisor: Rachel Romeo
	Bethany Rutkowski brutkows@umd.edu | Dev Sci  Advisor: Lucas Butler
	Ellie Taylor-Robinette ektaylor@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Rachel Romeo
	Paula Daniela Ueki Galarza dueki7@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Jimena Cosso
	Sofia Uribe suribe@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: Geetha Ramani
	Jialing Wu jialingw@umd.edu | Dev Sci Advisor: Natasha Cabrera
	Oksana Zapletina oksanaz@umd.edu |  Dev Sci Advisor: Lucas Butler
	Lucia Zepeda Rivera luciazr@umd.edu | NACS Advisor: DJ Bolger
	Xianglin Zhang xzhang55@umd.edu | Ed Psych Advisor: Min Wang

Human Development Specializations

Developmental Science
The Developmental Science specialization is designed to train students in the areas of social, cognitive, emotional, and biological aspects of human development. This specialization involves intensive research apprenticeships with faculty mentors, coursework in core courses and advanced seminars, and exposure to leaders in Developmental Science through the colloquia and professional development weekly seminar organized by the Center for Children, Relationships, and Culture, which is housed in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology.

The goal of the program is to train students for research careers in academic or applied areas of child development; graduates have obtained positions as university professors and research scientists. The program encourages engagement in collaborative research with faculty and students in a wide range of developmental science areas. In addition to coursework, students enroll in a one-credit weekly colloquia series and professional development seminar which hosts invited speakers from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan universities, institutes, and research "think tanks," as well as provides for professional development sessions on various topics such as conference preparations, dissertation projects, grant writing, and career options.

Specific topics investigated include peer relationships, parent-child relationships, attachment, emotional development, developmental neuroscience, social-cognitive development, moral judgment, motivation, social goals, intergroup attitudes and relationships, prejudice, linguistic development, play, cognitive development, parent-child discourse, father involvement, early childhood policy, civic engagement, and cultural influences on development.  

Educational Psychology
The Educational Psychology Specialization is a nationally-ranked and internationally-recognized program of study in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology. 

The goal of the Educational Psychology specialization is to train students in the processes involved in learning across the life span and competent functioning in educational settings. Based on a mentorship model, students work closely with faculty on research and scholarship. Specific topics of research include cognitive development, as it relates to language, mathematics, and reading, social and academic aspects of motivation and self-regulation, and parent, teacher and peer relationships as they relate to school success. Students take courses and advanced seminars on cognition, motivation, learning, language, social influences on learning, and cognitive neuroscience.  Advanced training in quantitative methods is also a specific focus of the specialization.

Educational psychology faculty and students meet bi-weekly as part of a research seminar series that focuses on the discussion of ongoing student and faculty research. The seminar also includes professional development topics such as how to publish and present research, grant writing, job search advice, and networking skills.  

While completing their Ph.D., graduate students are also able to pursue concentrations in quantitative methodology, as well as in interdisciplinary areas such as neuroscience and cognitive science and language science.

The doctoral program provides students with core courses and research experience relevant to the social, cognitive, affective, linguistic and neurophysiological aspects of human development from birth through adulthood. Core courses include: History and Systems of Human Development, Language Development, Cognitive Development and Learning, Social Development and Socialization Processes, Psychophysiological Processes, and Research Methods; students also are required to master intermediate-level statistics.

Students also receive close mentoring in developing their research capabilities and agendas through Research Apprenticeship experiences. As part of this apprenticeship experience, all Ph.D. students are required to complete a first-year research project. Students in the general program are welcome to participate in the colloquium series offered by the Developmental Science and Educational Psychology specializations. The required comprehensive examination consists of a portfolio of the student's research reviewed by three faculty members.

Please refer to the 

EDHD Doctoral Handbook 2023

for more information on program requirements.

Take advantage of research opportunities offered through the labs and centers affiliated with the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology (HDQM) at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Advising
Academic advisement for graduate students is provided by the graduate faculty in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology (HDQM). For general advising information, please contact HDQM-gradcoordinator@umd.edu.

Graduate Policy
Graduate students in the College of Education are responsible for meeting University and the Graduate School policy, and for meeting Program requirements. The Graduate Catalog  is the official listing of Policies governing graduate education at the University of Maryland. The schedule adjustment policy is available from the Office of the Registrar and provides information on adding and dropping courses, penalties, and refund schedules.

Handbooks and Guidelines
The program handbooks provide information about the Masters and Doctoral programs. The handbooks cover topics such as overviews of the programs, milestones, and course requirements.

EDHD Doctoral Handbook 2023

Forms
Graduate students must submit various forms at specific points as required by the Human Development program and as part of the Graduate School process. The Graduate School offers university-level forms, and the College of Education offers college-level forms. To determine the form required by the Human Development program, please refer to the Graduate Student Handbooks.

Templates and Formatting Guidelines for Thesis and Dissertation  
Dissertations are to be submitted to the Graduate School in electronic format after final approval of the dissertation by the Dissertation Examining Committee.  The University of Maryland Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) website or the University of Maryland Thesis and Dissertation Style Guide include details of this process.

Dissertations submitted to the University through the ETD process will also be deposited in the UM Library's online electronic archive, DRUM (Digital Repository at the University of Maryland). This is a free public archive of academic work by University faculty and graduate students.

Study Fellowships and Awards
A variety of fellowships and awards are available to prospective and current graduate students. Opportunities to apply for these awards are announced through the University, the College of Education, and the Department.

For applicants interested in obtaining a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Human Development, please click here.
 

For applicants interested in obtaining a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in Human Development, please click here. 
 

For applicants interested in obtaining a Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree in Human Development, please click here. 
 

For applicants interested in an Off-Campus Cohort, Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree in Human Development, please click here.