Lab Members
Colleen R. O'Neal is lab director of the Emotions, Equity, and Education Lab and assistant professor of School Psychology in the College of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park (Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education).
Her primary research goals are to identify resilience processes among refugee, immigrant, and ethnic minority students with a focus on emotions and stress, and how to turn resilience processes into preventive interventions. She conducts research asking: (1) HOW stress impacts ethnic minority student mental health and academic functioning, (2) WHAT socioemotional learning (e.g., emotion engagement), motivation (e.g., grit), emotion regulation and relationship-based protective factors prevent the negative impact of stress on academic functioning, (3) WHO benefits from supports in the face of stress, and (4) HOW to promote socioemotional and systemic change via preventive interventions, with one of the goals being to facilitate emotionally supportive and culturally responsive schools.
Dr. O'Neal earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Long Island University in 2000 with NIMH predoctoral fellowship support studying emotions among minority youth facing community violence. She then completed an NIMH postdoctorate in Mental Health Statistics at NYU focused on multilevel, longitudinal analyses of change and psychometrics. She received her B.A. in Psychology at Cornell University and a master's degree in Child and Family Studies at Auburn University. Her work has been published in venues such as School Psychology International, School Psychology Quarterly, Child Development, Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, and Development and Psychopathology. She recently completed minority stress and emotions research supported by a Brain and Behavior Foundation Young Investigator Award, a Fulbright Scholar Award, and a Fulbright New Leaders Group Award.
Shannon Martin (she/her) is a fifth year doctoral student in the School Psychology program. Coming to the program as a nationally certified school psychologist, Shannon has more than 7 years of experience as a school psychologist in elementary and secondary public school settings. That experience informed her research interests which include multicultural competencies and anti-racist attitudes and behaviors in teachers, participatory culture-specific consultation between schools and community entities, and mindfulness practices as intervention -- each with the broader goal of supporting resilience processes in K-12 settings for students with marginalized identities. Shannon is also a yoga practitioner and teacher, and received her B.A. in English Writing and B.S. in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh, along with her MS.Ed and Advanced Graduate Certificate from the City University of New York, Brooklyn College.
Hayley Weinberg is a fifth year doctoral student in the school psychology program. Her research interests include the relationship between language abilities and emotion regulation skills in elementary school students. Hayley received a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from the University of Rochester and an M.A. in Psychology from Boston University.
Stephanie Cerrato (she/they) is a fourth year doctoral student in the School Psychology program at UMD. Her research interests include resiliency, mental health outcomes, and ethnic identity in students with marginalized identities. More specifically, they are interested in risk and resiliency factors related to disordered eating for Latinx women. Stephanie received a BA in Psychology from William & Mary and an M.A. in School Psychology from the University of Maryland.
Anjali Sheth (she/her) is a third year doctoral student in the School Psychology program at the University of Maryland. She earned her B.S. in Neuroscience at Temple University in Philadelphia. Her research interests surround adverse experiences and their impact on youth's social-emotional development and their academic performance. She is also interested in culturally relevant research and interventions that support South Asian youth and families.
Bridget Moran (she/her) is a second year doctoral student in the School Psychology program at UMD. She received a B.A. in Psychology and Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies from the University of Virginia then worked as a bilingual 5th grade teacher. Her research interests include school-based interventions that support socioemotional learning development and bilingual education. She is also interested in school and family-based interventions that address the impact of problematic social media usage on adolescent mental health.
Jessica Felix is a second year doctoral student in the School Psychology program. She has been a Nationally Certified School Psychologist for the last 9 years with public school experience at the early childhood, elementary, and middle school levels. Her research interests relate to the effects of resiliency factors on academic achievement. Jessica earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park, Magna Cum Laude, and her Masters of Arts and Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in School Psychology from Towson University.
Astrid Mendoza is a junior undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research interests include investigating factors related to self efficacy and resiliency within Latinx, immigrant, and undocumented populations. Astrid currently hopes to pursue a career in counseling psychology or school psychology.
Sarah Zimmerman (she/her) is a first year doctoral student in the School Psychology program at UMD. She’s from St. Louis, Missouri and earned her Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology from Duke University. Her research interests surround culturally responsive interventions, risk and resilience, social-emotional learning, and the family-school relationship. In her free time, Sarah loves swing dancing, reading fantasy novels, listening to live music, and ice sledding.
Daniel Satterthwaite (he/him/his) is a first year doctoral student in the School Psychology program. Prior to this year, he was a middle school ELA teacher for 3 years. He also has experience working with elementary and secondary aged students. Daniel is interested in exploring Black boys’ and Black men teachers’ access points to mental health as a result of their socialization in schools as well as school wide prevention in support of them. Within this, he is particularly interested in (1) The criminalization of Black boys living with ADHD in schools; (2) School socialization and support of Black queer boys; and (3) How one’s identity impacts Black males teachers’ mental health. Daniel received his B.A. in psychology from Morehouse College and a M.Ed in Education with a concentration in Social Foundations from the University of Virginia.