Principal Investigator
Valerie Carr, PhD
Valerie earned a BS in Biological Psychology from the College of William and Mary and a PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA. As a PhD student and later as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, Valerie used functional MRI to investigate the neural basis of episodic memory in both younger and older adults. As an Assistant Professor at SJSU, Valerie's goal is to leverage her cognitive neuroscience background to elucidate strategies for improving brain health and episodic memory across the lifespan. She teaches courses relating to neuroscience, learning and memory, and computer programming for social scientists.
valerie.carr at sjsu.edu
Graduate Students
Berenice Ayala Ramirez, BA
Berenice earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from CSU Stanislaus, where she conducted visual perception research. She is currently a graduate student in the Research and Experimental Psychology program, where she is exploring thesis topics relating to the effects of stress-reduction techniques on memory consolidation.
berenice.ayalaramirez at sjsu.edu
Hyong Woo (Alex) Hahm, BS
Alex attended UCSD where he majored in Psychology and assisted with studies of visual perception and Autism Spectrum Disorder. After graduating, Alex worked in the ABA field and conducted research involving emotion regulation and motivation. His thesis project relates to the relationship between media multitasking and episodic memory.
hyongwoo.hahm at sjsu.edu
Madison Morocco, BS
Madison graduated from the University of Oregon with a BS in Psychology, where she conducted research regarding sleep and false memories. She now divides her time between the Master's program and working as a research assistant at Stanford University. For her thesis, Madison is conducting a meta-analysis on functional MRI studies of emotion regulation in major depressive disorder.
madison.morocco at sjsu.edu
Victoria Paoloni, BA
Victoria earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from San Francisco State University where her senior thesis focused on time perspective. She is currently working towards a Master's degree in Research and Experimental Psychology where her thesis relates to the relationship between individual differences in susceptibility to false memories and differences in aerobic fitness.
victoria.paoloni at sjsu.edu
Matthew Reynolds, BA
Matt earned a BA in Psychology from CSU Chico and is currently working towards a Master's degree in Research and Experimental Psychology. Matt's background includes studies of priming and sympathetic arousal in different personality types. His thesis work examines the relationship between physical fitness and symptoms of ADHD in young adults.
mreynolds08 at gmail.com
Dewey Tran, BA
Dewey is a first year Research and Experimental Psychology graduate student. He graduated from UC Merced where he majored in Psychology and minored in Cognitive Science, and afterwards worked as full-time Homeless Youth Counselor and research assistant at CSU Monterey Bay. His thesis examines the relationship between depression symptoms and executive function.
dewey.tran at sjsu.edu
Research assistants
Natalie Chrisse Belen
Natalie is a Biochemistry student who hopes to attend pharmacy school after graduating. She is currently assisting with a study investigating caffeine's effect on memory consolidation, which combines her interest in pharmacology and background in biochemistry with her love for psychology.
nataliechrisse.belen at sjsu.edu
Grace Butler
Grace is majoring in Psychology and interested in pursuing a PhD in cognitive psychology upon graduating. She is passionate about research into consciousness as well as the implications of increasing human reliance on technology.
gracee.butler at sjsu.edu
David Han, BS
David recently graduated from SJSU with a BS in Psychology and a minor in Biology. He continues to volunteer in the lab by performing data cleaning and analysis for a study investigating the relationship between physical fitness and symptoms of ADHD in young adults.
davidhan221 at gmail.com
Nicole Huffman
Nicole is currently working towards a BS Psychology and a minor in Human Systems Integration. Combining her interest in Psychology and technology, she is assisting with a study that examines the relationship between media multitasking and memory performance.
nicolelynnhuffman at gmail.com
Anjelica Martinez
Anjelica is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Applied Computing for Behavioral and Social Sciences. She has a keen interest in cognitive science and data science, and she lends her technical skills to several projects in the lab.
anjelicam at gmail.com
Stephanie Menjivar Quijano, BA
Stephanie is a graduate student in the Research and Experimental program working with both CLIMB and Dr. Cary Feria's Vision Laboratory. Stephanie is leading a study that investigates the effects of caffeine on false memory, and she is also developing her thesis project pertaining to the emotional attentional blink.
stephanie.menjivarquijano at sjsu.edu
Manny Narwal
Manny is a third year Psychology student who aims to earn a PhD in Clinical Psychology after graduating. He is currently assisting with a study investigating caffeine's effects on memory, and he previously assisted with a study that examined the relationship between physical fitness and memory distortion in young adults.
mannyman423 at gmail.com
Alondra Ruiz, BA
Alondra recently graduated with a BA in Psychology and minor in Applied Computing for Behavioral and Social Sciences. She assists with a study investigating the relative benefits of wakeful rest vs. technological distraction on memory consolidation. She is currently seeking lab manager / RA positions.
aruiz0828 at gmail.com
Case Van Der Berg
Case is a new addition to the CLIMB team, and will be assisting with various projects as the lab transitions to online data collection. He is majoring in Psychology and is passionate about health and wellness. He plans to pursue an MA in Public Health, with the ultimate goal of assisting communities as a Public Health educator.
case.vanderberg at sjsu.edu
Lab alumni
Graduate Students
David Amy, MA
Chalise Carlson, MA
Nicole Henderson, MA
Research Assistants
Santiago Alba
Ashley Cabrera
Liliana Cuenca
Stephanie Do
Crystal Fausett
Jose Garcia
Tanya George
Lluvia Gonzalez
Ramen Kanda
Gurroop Khalsa
Lucy Khuu
Elizabeth Nash
Meher Pahwa
Michael Ricasa
Kristi Sadler
Dario Sarmiento
Lynna Tu
Rachel Windsor
Jason Zamorano
