Former Graduate Students
Erica Hanes earned her MA in Psychology from UC Merced in 2024. She received her BA in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State University. During her time at UCM, she researched aspects of culture and stress among Latino/a adolescents. Erica is excited to continue to explore culture, specifically prosocial behaviors among immigrants and undocumented persons.
Abigail Bolter earned her PhD in Psychology from UC Merced in 2023. She graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Psychology, where she worked in Dr. Audun Dahl’s lab studying academic dishonesty. After that, she pursued an M.A. in psychological sciences from UC Merced under the advisement of Dr. Alexandra Main. Her master’s thesis was about how Hispanic adolescents work together with their parents to manage type 1 diabetes. After he master’s degree, she continued her education at UC Merced to pursue a PhD. Her PhD dissertation focused on how Hispanic first year college students develop a sense of autonomy, and how cultural values play a role in autonomy development. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Contra Costa College.
Janice Disla earned her PhD in Psychology from UC Merced in 2022. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire with her BA in Psychology and minors in Women’s Studies and Race and Ethnic Studies. Her research examines observed adolescent disclosure to parents in a variety of contexts with a focus on at-risk families, including managing chronic illness and conditions of socioeconomic hardship. Her work has been published in several high-impact journals and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal. During her time at UC Merced, she has received awards in recognition of excellence in leadership, research, and service. Janice has also made contributions to the campus community relevant to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts including serving on the Graduate Dean’s Advisory Council on Diversity. Janice is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of South Carolina Upstate.
Shun Ting (Tammy) Yung earned her PhD in Psychology from UC Merced in 2021. She graduated from UC Berkeley with her BA in Economics. Her interests are examining social and emotional development of children and adolescents across cultures with an emphasis on family socialization. She currently works as a user experience analyst.
Carmen Kho earned her PhD in Psychology from UC Merced in 2020. Her research interests include children and adolescents’ social and emotional development, and how one’s cultural background and other cultural-related factors affect this course of development. Her dissertation focused on the dynamics of culture in daily life in parents and children and college students. Carmen is a recipient of the Dr. Donald and Effie Godbold Fellowship for international students and the Graduate Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship. Carmen completed her postdoctoral training at Arizona State University under the supervision of Dr. Rebecca White. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Science at North Dakota State University.
Former Lab Coordinators
Sarah Gamez was born in Honduras and migrated to the United States at the age of 10. She earned her associates degrees in arts with an emphasis on behavioral science at El Camino College in Torrance, California. She graduated in 2017 majoring in Psychology with a minor in Sociology. After graduating she was the research coordinator at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for the UC Merced Family Communication About Type 1 Diabetes Study. She currently works at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles on the Teen Power intervention. She hopes to attend grad school to earn her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. During her spare time, she enjoys hiking, meeting new people, and exploring new places.
Maritza Miramontes graduated in 2018 majoring in Psychology and minoring in Cognitive Science and Spanish. She was born and raised in Merced, CA. She is currently working toward earning her PhD in Developmental Psychology at UC Davis. In her spare time she loves to run, spend time with friends and family and take photographs.
Emily Rodriguez graduated in 2025 majoring in Psychology. She was born in the US, but was raised in Colima, Mexico for her entire primary education. She has since migrated and lived in Atwater, CA. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and loved ones.
Former Undergraduate Students
Jasmin Amezquita Roque (2019)
Andrea Arrendondo Tovilla (2020)
Miguel Barajas (2017)
Osmara Bautista (2019)
Michelle Contreras (2020)
Stephanie Curiel (2017)
Edelis Diaz (2019)
Frida Escobar (2017)
Haley Falzon (2018)
Jerrichah Frisk (2023)
Angela Susan George (2022)
Jeannette Gomez (2016)
Sami Gonzales (2017)
Stephen Hillyer (2017)
Rosa Hernandez (2017)
Wendell Hollis (2022)
Cameron Howard (2015)
Abby Jones (2020)
Diana Juarez (2020)
Smitha Kashi (2019)
Simerpreet Kaur (2019)
Luis Lara (2020)
Lacye Lawson (2019)
Alexxis Louro (2016)
Vanessa Maldonado (2019)
Yuriyah Manus (2018)
Arby Mariano (2019)
Emily Martinez (2018)
Sandra Mendoza-Ortiz (2016)
Dana Morales (2017)
Joana Mari Narvarte (2018)
Lam-Anh Nguyen (2024)
Linh-Chi Nguyen (2024)
Luz Panduro (2017)
Heisel Paredes (2019)
Brandi Phillips (2017)
Daniela Portillo (2017)
Angela Quiroz-Cruz (2024)
Angie Ramirez (2020)
Evelyn Ramirez (2017)
Adriana Rodriguez (2020)
Valeria Rodriguez-Del Rio (2017)
Sydney Ruport (2018)
Ariana Sanchez (2018)
Roisin Shannon (2018)
Faith Taylor (2018)
Andie Tran (2015)
Vanessa Zelaya (2020)