Get to Know Us

Principal Investigator

Dr. Adam Grabell
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
135 Hicks Way, Tobin 123
Amherst, MA 01003-9271

Dr. Adam Grabell’s research focuses on emotion regulation and its relation to cross-diagnostic symptoms of psychopathology in early childhood. Dr. Grabell is particularly interested in the fine details of how the emerging emotion regulation system works and which parts of this system aren’t functioning well in young children on the cusp of persistent mood and behavior problems.

Graduate Students

Katie Gonzalez

Katie is a fourth year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. She graduated from California State University, Northridge in 2018 with a B.A. in Psychology, where she studied neuropsychology and patterns of cognitive decline in individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. She later worked at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she worked in the ADHD and Development Lab and studied executive functioning and risk-taking behaviors in individuals with ADHD. Her research interests lie in early childhood development and different underlying factors that effect mental and physical health outcomes across development. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music, watching horror movies, reading books, and going on hikes.

Zachary Bivins

Zachary is a third year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. He graduated from Hamilton College with a B.A. in Psychology and is originally from Cherry Hill, New Jersey! Zachary is interested in investigating emotion regulation, and is particularly fascinated with how our appraisals, beliefs, and other cognitions about emotions (i.e., metaemotions) impact emotion regulation outcomes.

Lab Manager

Juliet Barry

Juliet is finishing up her B.A. in Linguistics and Psychology at UMass Amherst. In addition to working as a fNIRS coordinator in the SEED lab, she works as the lab manager of the Individual Differences in Development Lab with Dr. Kirby Deater-Deckard. She is interested in how brain imaging technology can be best used to study children across development. Her other research interests include how language is stored and accessed by the brain as well as how computational models can mimic that process. She enjoys being in the ocean, cooking, and running on the rail trail.

Lynnea Mayorga

Lynnea graduated from the University of California, San Diego in 2022 with a B.A. in Psychology. At UCSD she worked as a research assistant in Dr. Caren Walker’s Early Learning and Cognition Lab, where she investigated how preschool children reason about ideas of variability and probability in order to make second-order inferences. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in clinical psychology to learn more about early identification factors and interventions for childhood psychopathology. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading, watching Youtube, and making pottery.

Research Assistants

Portteia Davidson

Portteia is a third year student at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She has a passion for working with children and is interested in Clinical and Counseling Psychology. In the future, she would like to work in the field of research and therapy for children. In her free time, she likes to volunteer, collect records, and play the violin.

Shriya Agrawal

Shriya is a fourth year student in the Commonwealth Honors College, double majoring in Biology and Studio Art. She is interested in Developmental and Clinical Psychology, and possibly integrating her passion for art and psychology through art therapy. Her research interests include the cognitive and physiological basis of emotion regulation in children and adults with mood disorders, and the early treatment of such disorders. In her free time, she likes to read, write, draw, and listen to music.

Sherley De La Rosa Mejia

Sherley is a fourth year student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Commonwealth Honors College. She is currently double majoring in Biology & Psychology, and is also on the Neuroscience track. She is also currently on the Pre-Med track and plans to attend medical school. Sherley enjoys working with children and would like to become a pediatric neurosurgeon. She was a member of the Bio-Pioneers cohort and is now a member of the Student Wellbeing Advisory Board (SWAB). In her free time, she volunteers with a bilingual hotline crisis and as an English tutor for Syrian refugees. Some of her favorite things to do are watch Netflix series, read books and listen to music!

Anna Lai

Anna is a third year student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and a minor in Education. She is interested in Child Development and Clinical Psychology. In the future she hopes to work in research for child development. In regards to child development she is interested in the cultural and socioeconomic impact on children. She also hopes to further her education and work in Child Clinical and Counseling Psychology. Some of her hobbies include listening to music, singing, and watching dramas.

Molly Andrews

Molly is a third year student in the Commonwealth Honors College, double majoring in psychology and public health. She is interested in attending graduate school after college and pursuing a career in research or counseling. Molly loves working with children and is interested in how ADHD in children impacts their ability to cope with anxiety and depression as adults. She also has an interest in exercise psychology as a way to broaden treatments and therapies to aid the current mental health status of the population. She is part of the UMass running club, Students to End Alzheimer’s Disease Club, and volunteers at a national crisis textline. She also loves to read and hammock in her free time.