{"id":24,"date":"2020-05-29T12:36:13","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T18:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/psychlabs.colostate.edu\/merzlab\/?page_id=24"},"modified":"2025-07-29T14:21:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T20:21:08","slug":"who-we-are","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/psychlabs.colostate.edu\/learnlab\/who-we-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Who we are"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

LEARN Lab Members<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Dr. Emily Merz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(she\/her)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Principal Investigator\/ Lab Director<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emily Merz, PhD<\/a>, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University. As a neuroscientist and licensed clinical psychologist, she directs the LEARN lab where she and her team study associations between socioeconomic inequality and the developing brain. She is particularly interested in the factors in children’s lives that promote resilience and effective strategies that reduce socioeconomic disparities in children’s health and development. Dr. Merz received her graduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh, completed her clinical internship at the University of California, San Diego, and completed postdoctoral training at Columbia University.  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Jordan Strack<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(she\/her) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graduate Student<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jordan Strack is a sixth-year graduate student at Colorado State University. She is interested in studying the neurobiology of mental health, especially in high risk populations. She is particularly interested in the neural development of children experiencing chronic stress and how this may manifest as psychosis later in their lifetime. Jordan received her Bachelor of Science in neuroscience from Baylor University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Email: jordan.strack@colostate.edu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Melissa Hansen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(she\/her)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graduate Student <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melissa Hansen is a fifth-year graduate student at Colorado State University. She is interested in studying the underlying mechanisms that contribute to the relationship between socioeconomic inequality and neurobiological and cognitive development in children. Melissa received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Baylor University and holds a Master\u2019s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Email: melissa.hansen@colostate.edu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Lydia Jacobs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(she\/her)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graduate Student <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lydia\u00a0Jacobs is a third-year graduate student at Colorado State University. She is interested in studying how childhood experiences and circumstances related to socioeconomic status affect brain development into early adulthood. She is especially interested in the ways in which early life adversity may influence the developmental trajectories of brain networks. Lydia\u00a0received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Southern Utah University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Email: lydia.jacobs@colostate.edu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Amelie Guinee<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(she\/her)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graduate Student <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amelie Guinee is a first-year graduate student at Colorado State University. She is interested in the intersection of child cognitive development, socioeconomic status, and psychological disorders. Specifically, she is curious about the etiology and diverse symptom presentation of OCD in relation to cognitive processing and low socioeconomic status. Amelie received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Colorado State\u00a0University.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Alumni<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Nick Steele<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nick graduated with a B.S. in Cognitive Neuroscience from Colorado State University in 2023. During his undergraduate training, he studied the impact of early life stress and institutional rearing on brain development. Nick aims to go on to graduate school to use neuroimaging, network analyses, and machine learning to investigate the foundations of affective processing in the human brain to help uncover the neural basis of emotions and psychiatric mood disorders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Joselyn Cerrillo <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joselyn graduated in 2023 from Colorado State University. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a concentration in mind, brain, and behavior. Joselyn is interested in factors that influence the neuropsychological and cognitive development of children, particularly those in underrepresented populations. Joselyn hopes to attend graduate school after completing her undergraduate studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Hailee Hurtado <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hailee graduated in 2022 from Colorado State University. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a certificate in ethics and society. Hailee is interested in studying how genetic and environmental factors influence neurodevelopment in children. Hailee plans to attend graduate school in genetic counseling in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LEARN Lab Members Dr. Emily Merz (she\/her) Principal Investigator\/ Lab Director Emily Merz, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University. As a neuroscientist and licensed clinical psychologist, she directs the LEARN lab where she and her team study associations between socioeconomic inequality and the developing brain. She is particularly interested in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-no-page-title.php","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-24","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","post-preview"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"haileeh","author_link":"https:\/\/psychlabs.colostate.edu\/learnlab\/author\/haileeh\/"},"comment_info":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychlabs.colostate.edu\/learnlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychlabs.colostate.edu\/learnlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychlabs.colostate.edu\/learnlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychlabs.colostate.edu\/learnlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychlabs.colostate.edu\/learnlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":96,"href":"https:\/\/psychlabs.colostate.edu\/learnlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1078,"href":"https:\/\/psychlabs.colostate.edu\/learnlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24\/revisions\/1078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychlabs.colostate.edu\/learnlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}