Victoria Vezaldenos
Victoria Vezaldenos is a fourth year PhD candidate in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology and a 2023 NASEM Ford Predoctoral Fellow. She graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Minor in Education Studies and in 2022 completed her Master’s in Educational Studies with a focus in Program Evaluation and Improvement Research at UM. Her program of research addresses three interrelated questions: 1) How do youth come to understand their racial group boundaries and identities? 2) What contexts support youth in developing a critical understanding of systemic issues? and 3) How can we leverage quantitative methods to accurately study Multiracial populations?
Paige Bost
Paige Bost is a first year PhD student in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology. They graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and minors in Crime and Justice and Spanish Language, Literature, and Culture in 2024. Paige studies the psychology of prejudice, particularly in regard to race and ethnicity. They are interested in positive White racial identity development and how White children are socialized to understand race in their families, communities, and through educational contexts. They want to help educators and parents engage in antiracist socialization strategies. Outside of their academic work, they enjoy playing board games with friends, going to stand-up comedy shows, and bicycling around Ann Arbor.
Mariana Chavez Guerrero
Mariana Chavez Guerrero is a first year PhD student in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with degrees in Psychology and Human Development and Family Science. Her experience in the South as a Mexican immigrant has fueled her interest in studying the relationship between ethnic-racial identity development and education, positive risk-taking, and civic engagement amongst minoritized youth. She loves traveling, trying new boba places, and watching movies!
Taylor Boyd
Taylor is a doctoral student in developmental psychology interested in exploring how cultural contexts and social identities shape the emotional and ethnic-racial development of children and youth. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Western University and a Master of Education in Human Development and Psychology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Outside of her work she enjoys reading, watching psychological dramas, and enjoying anything sweet.
Albenys Díaz Hernández
Albenys Diaz Hernandez is a first-year PhD student in social work and psychology at the University of Michigan, with a focus on the interpersonal practices track within social work. She graduated from the University of Rochester with degrees in psychology and Spanish. Her experiences as a Dominican immigrant in New York City inspired her interests in understanding the impact of discrimination and social context (i.e., family dynamics, socialization practices) on Latino youth’s academic motivation and achievement and their mental health. In her free time, she enjoys mentoring, reading, cooking, and listening to music.
Dianna Alvarado
Dianna Alvarado is a fourth-year PhD candidate in Personality and Social Contexts Psychology. Her research examines protective strategies and cultural strengths that minoritized students draw upon to combat impostor feelings, that is, feeling like an intellectual fraud or fake. Across her work, Dianna uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to explore how academic environments influence students’ health and educational experiences. Before joining U-M’s Department of Psychology, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from California State University, Northridge. In her free time, she enjoys community yoga classes and discovering new coffee shops with friends.
Viviana M. Vélez Negrón
Viviana is a second year PhD student in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan. She graduated from University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus with a bachelor’s in Special Education with an emphasis in Deaf Education and a master’s in Early Childhood and Special Education from Temple University. Her research builds on her ongoing commitment to co-creating culturally relevant experiences with Latine communities, connecting ethnic racial identity, critical consciousness while fostering Spanish language and literacy development. Viviana loves spending time outdoors and taking pilates classes.
Alumni (Graduate RAs): Amanda (Mandy) Finn, Sydney Kayne, Stephanie Miller-Tejada, Kate Morman, Sasha Mejía, Oscar Ramirez, Delina Zapata, Erika Mendez, Casta Guillaume, Bryan Montano Maceda, Mo Torres