Carina F
- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at Duke University

Expertise

Developmental Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Neuroscience, Environmental Health

Bio

Hi! My name is Carina. I recently defended my dissertation in Psychology. My research focuses on how different types of stress can impact the development of children's brain and behavior. I incorporate methods from neuroscience, psychology, and developmental science in my work. In my personal life, I love cooking, going for super long walks, and rooting for the Kansas Jayhawks.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Does green space help kids' mental health?

Do children who have greater access to green space (e.g., parks, trees, places to play) have improved mental health compared to children who don't? Students will conduct a literature review to assess what has been written on this topic and synthesize these findings into either a poster or a paper, becoming an expert on this topic in the process.

How do stressful life experiences impact the developing brain?

Major stress in early life can change the structure and function of the brain. But how? When does this happen? What factors are protective? Students will conduct a literature review to summarize scientific literature results demonstrating whether stressful life experiences impact brain development in kids and teens. This could result in a poster or paper.

Write your very own research proposal or grant

Students will work with their mentor to develop a research proposal or grant within the domains of psychology and neuroscience. The project will contain an abstract, specific aims, background and significance, proposed methods, and anticipated results.

Class Presentation - Kids Online

A lot is known about how social media use and the stress of our online culture influences adolescents, but a lot less is known about how screen time influences younger children. In this project, you will spend time learning about how screen time impacts childhood development. Results could be presented to classmates.

Coding skills

R, Bash

Languages I know

French, advanced (formerly fluent, but slightly out of practice)

Teaching experience

I have both 1-on-1 mentoring and teaching experience. With respect to 1-on-1 mentoring, I have intensively mentored 2 post-baccalaureate research assistants, helping them gain admission to doctoral programs in Psychology. (They are at University of Wisconsin and University of North Carolina now); I have also mentored several undergraduate students—one of whom I mentored closely over this past summer and am continuing to mentor on a departmental honors thesis; and finally, each year, I volunteer as an application reviewer for the Duke Psychology Department's Virtual Office Hours program, where I work 1-on-1 with students from across the country, helping craft graduate school application materials. I have also acted as the Teaching Assistant for 2 introductory statistics courses and a neuroscience course.

Credentials

Education

Washington University in St. Louis

BA Bachelor of Arts (2013)

Political Science, French

Duke University

MA Master of Arts (2021)

Clinical Psychology