Fourth Year Graduate Student

Merrisa Lin

Growing up as a global citizen, I have lived in Taiwan, United States, Germany and Hong Kong. Experiencing lives under different cultural contexts, I was fascinated by the influences of culture on daily lives. I graduated with a Bachelor degree in psychology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. During my time in Hong Kong, I worked closely with ethnic minorities to explore the impact of stereotype as well as belief of race on language proficiency. The experiences have motivated me to explore the field of culture and language. Particularly, I am interested in how (bi-)multilingual/(bi-)multicultural background shapes an individual’s identity, perception, personality and behavior. Additionally, I am also interested in the interplay between (bi-)multilingual/(bi-)multicultural exposure and stereotype. In my leisure time, I like to go hiking, traveling and to explore good food!

Third Year Graduate Student

Emma Wedell

I am a 3rd year PhD student from the Central Coast of California. I studied psychology as an undergraduate at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. After graduating with my bachelor's degree, I received my master's degree in experimental psychology from William & Mary. My cross-disciplinary research interests broadly pertain to equity at multiple levels: individual (e.g., substance use & other mental health disparities), interpersonal (e.g., interracial dialogue), and structural (e.g., confrontation of institutional discrimination). Additionally, I am interested in applying scale development, psychometrics, and mixture modeling techniques to my research interests. As such, I have enjoyed building connections with various collaborators as part of my graduate studies. Outside of the lab, I love to make pasta from scratch, play frisbee with friends, and mess around on my guitar!