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 an internship 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 an internship 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 fifth 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 fourth 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 include understanding the experiences of South Asian families with children with disabilities. She is also interested in school-family relationships, culturally relevant interventions, and culturally sensitive assessment practices.
Jessica Felix is a third year doctoral student in the School Psychology program. She has been a Nationally Certified School Psychologist for the last 10 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.
Sarah Zimmerman (she/her) is a second 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 second year doctoral student in the School Psychology program. A former middle school ELA teacher, Daniel holds a B.A. in Psychology from Morehouse College and a M.Ed in Education with a concentration in Social Foundations from the University of Virginia, where he spent time researching the sociopolitical development of Black boys. These experiences helped Daniel situate his interests in exploring Black boys’ and Black male 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 emotional development of Black boys; (2) school socialization and support of Black boys; as well as (3) examining school based mental health structures as sites of trauma and suffering while reimagining them as possible sites for healing. As he journeys through this program, he aspires to make this work live in health equity, policy work, school interventions and consultation. In his free time, he loves to explore music (collecting vinyls (and taking listening recommendations)), hanging out with friends, finding new hobbies, and going to music festivals!
Camila Rubiera (she/they) is a first year doctoral student in the School Psychology program at the University of Maryland. Her research interests involve working with immigrant, bilingual, and Latine youth, and in addition, seeing how neurodivergencies affect how these populations navigate the school system. They are interested in resilience and protective factors in these populations, as well as finding culturally responsive models and interventions. Camila received a B.S in Psychology with a minor in Disabilities in Society from the University of Florida.