PURSUE Team
PURSUE is a collaborative initiative to facilitate the training of undergraduates in cognitive electrophysiology. See our team members below. Our website contains instructional tools and teaching materials to guide educators in developing curricula for EEG/ERP classrooms and lab environments.
About the Primary Investigators
The PIs have extensive experience teaching undergraduate-level EEG/ERP methods in their research labs and courses. They are leading a group of experts in cognitive electrophysiology to create high-quality open source educational materials. The PIs embrace a student-centric approach to education that inspires student-faculty research collaboration.
Cindy M. Bukach, Ph.D.
University of Richmond
Dr. Bukach is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and the MacEldin Trawick Endowed Professor of Psychology at the University of Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Bukach’s research uses behavioral and electrophysiological methods to examine the factors underlying category specificity. One extension of her work is to better understand and ameliorate racial bias and other race effects.
Jane W. Couperus, Ph.D.
Mount Holyoke College
Dr. Couperus is currently the Director of Assessment Academic Analytics at Mt. Holyoke College as well as Professor Emerita of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. Dr. Couperus’s research focused on the development and functioning of visual selective attention using behavior and electrophysiological methods.
Catherine L. Reed, Ph.D.
Claremont McKenna College
Dr. Reed is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and the McElwee Family Professor of Psychology & George R. Roberts Fellow Professor of Psychology at Claremont McKenna College. Dr. Reed’s research uses behavioral and electrophysiological techniques to study perception and action. She examines the influences of the body on attention, perception, and emotional processing.
Faculty Learning Community:
Founding Participating Faculty
The Faculty Learning Community (FLC) was formed to participate in the development and assessment of PURSUE’s electrophysiological methodology teaching materials. The FLC also provides a professional community and support network. The following six founding members were instrumental in developing the introductory materials and full-semester course.
Mara Breen, Ph.D.
Mount Holyoke College
Dr. Breen’s research focuses on speech prosody and uses event-related potentials to measure real-time scalp electrical activity to more accurately measure the timing and interaction of cognitive processes.
Rebecca Compton, Ph.D.
Haverford College
Dr. Compton’s research investigates attention, executive functions, and emotion using EEG/ERP and eye-tracking methods. Her textbook Cognitive Neuroscience, coauthored with Marie Banich (Cambridge University Press, 2018), is a great introduction for undergraduates as well as graduate students.
David Leland, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin Eau Claire
Dr. Leland uses electroencephalography (EEG) to study the neural underpinnings of cognition, motivation, and action.
Erika Nyhus, Ph.D.
Bowdoin College
Dr. Nyhus’ research focuses on the neural processes involved in higher-level cognition, including executive functioning and episodic memory. Her research has addressed these topics through behavioral and neuroimaging (EEG/ERP), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods.
Jeffrey J. Sable, Ph.D.
Christian Brothers University
Dr. Sable’s research focuses on attention and perception, especially in the auditory system, using event-related brain potentials to study these processes.
Anjali Thapar, Ph.D.
Bryn Mawr College
Dr. Thapar ‘s research examines age-related differences in perception, attention, frontal lobe functioning, and memory using models of information processing and electrophysiology.
Implementing Participating Faculty
The following implementing members are fine tuning the full semester course and materials.
Laurie Bayet, Ph.D.
American University
Dr. Bayet is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist interested in infant cognitive development and high-level vision. Her lab combines electro-encephalography (EEG), behavioral methods, and computational tools to uncover how infants and young children learn to interpret complex visual objects, such as visual objects that are relevant to affective, social communication.
Amanda Cremone-Caira, Ph.D.
Merrimack College
Dr. Cremone-Caira is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Merrimack College. Dr. Cremone-Caira’s research combines measures of cognitive electrophysiology (i.e., EEG and ERP) with behavioral tasks to characterize neural correlates of cognitive and socioemotional development during early childhood.
Youssef Ezzyat, Ph.D.
Wesleyan University
Dr. Ezzyat’s research uses electrophysiology to study how the brain organizes memories for everyday experiences, and how the neural representations of memories change over time.
Sherona Garrett-Ruffin, Ph.D.
Bowling Green State University
Dr. Garrett-Ruffin’s interest is developing authentic research experiences for undergraduate students in psychophysiology. Her undergraduate psychophysiology teaching laboratory focuses on gathering and interpreting electroencephalography (EEG) data, and exploring psychophysiology from a multicultural perspective.
Nikki Honzel, Ph.D.
Carroll College
Dr.Honzel’s current research interests are often dictated by clever students. Recent projects include evaluating the effectiveness of alternative therapies and finding neurological correlates in individuals after experiencing something “fun”.
Joe Hopfinger, Ph.D.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Dr. Hopfinger’s research focuses on the interplay of top-down and bottom-up influences on the capturing and holding of attention. His lab uses ERPs, neuroimaging, and neurostimulation methods to investigate the brain mechanisms underlying attentional control.
Elif Isbell, Ph.D.
University of California Merced
Dr. Isbell studies the development and neuroplasticity of cognitive control skills in childhood and adolescence, as they are embedded in households and classrooms, within the broader context of diverse socioeconomic and cultural experiences.
Erin Kang, Ph.D.
Montclair State University
Dr. Kang’s research focuses on examining various factors that underlie clinical presentation in autistic individuals, including neural mechanisms and plasticity, and using these insights to refine and innovate evidence-based interventions to improve well-being and mental health in this population.
Paul Kieffaber, Ph.D.
The College of William & Mary
Dr. Kieffaber’s research uses behavioral measures and electroencephalography (EEG/ERP) to examine the neural correlates of attention & cognitive control and improve our understanding about changes in cognitive functioning in clinical populations.
Andrew Leynes, Ph.D.
The College of New Jersey
Dr. Leynes research uses ERPs to understand memory – in particular how fluency, the ease of processing, affects recognition memory.
Echo Leaver, Ph.D.
Salisbury University
Dr. Leaver’s research uses psychophysiological measures to investigate associative memory changes in aging, cognitive function in collision youth sports, and dental anxiety interventions.
Meredith Minear, Ph.D.
University of Wyoming
Dr. Minear’s research explores the use of immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality applications in spatial research and education with a growing interest in incorporating electrophysiological techniques to measure brain activity when using these applications.
Ryan E.B. Mruczek, Ph.D.
College of the Holy Cross
Dr. Mruczek studies visual perception and visual illusions, and in particular the ways in which neural circuits support fast and efficient processing of information about objects in the environment. His lab uses a combination of psychophysical, neuroimaging, electrophysiological, and computational methods.
Eleonora Rossi, Ph.D.
University of Florida
Dr. Rossi’s research focuses on language processing and bilingualism. Dr. Rossi utilizes electroencephalography (TFRs/ERPs) to understand the neuro-cognitive bases of bilingualism and the earliest stages of second language acquisition.
Aleksandra Sherman, Ph.D.
Occidental College
Dr. Sherman investigates how different senses interact to influence perceptual and cognitive states, as well as the role of social and emotional factors in mediating these states. She uses behavior, eye-tracking, and EEG. She is particularly interested in art perception.
Sara Verosky, Ph.D.
Oberlin College
Dr. Verosky’s research investigates face perception and social cognition, including trait perception from faces and how faces become familiar, using behavioral and electrophysiological methods.
Jonas Vibell, Ph.D.
University of Hawaii
Dr. Vibell’s work looks at the perception of spatial representations between different sensory modalities, in particular vision and touch. He is also interested in understanding and advancing neuronal recordings of brain signals.
Consultants
Cobblestone Consulting
Cobblestone Applied Research & Evaluation, Inc. specializes in designing and conducting program evaluation and applied research studies, largely drawing on social science methodology.
Rebecca Eddy, Ph.D.
Founder & President
Monique Matelski, Ph.D.
Director of Research and Evaluation
General Consultants
Luck and Kappenman lead an NIH-funded summer workshop on ERPs that attracts researchers from around the world each year (the ERP Boot Camp). Luck oversees the development of a leading software package for ERP data analysis (ERPLAB Toolbox).
Steve J. Luck, Ph.D.
Director of the Center for Mind & Brain and Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis
Emily Kappenman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology at San Diego State University
Current Staff and Student Contributors
Undergraduates contribute to the creation of all PURSUE materials (courseware, multimedia tools) and original research.
Ajinkya Rane
Claremont McKenna College
Alejandra Lorenzo
Mount Holyoke College
Anqi Wei
Mount Holyoke College
Archa Dileep
Scripps College
Astrid Petropoulos
Claremont McKenna College / Carleton College
Cam Smith
University of Richmond
Chandlyr Denaro
Reed Lab CoordinatorClaremont McKenna College
Claire McLam
University of Richmond
Danyah Tarabulsi
Mount Holyoke College
Felix Lawton
Mount Holyoke College
Folly Folivi
Senior Research AssociateMount Holyoke College
Grace Guan
Mount Holyoke College
Grace Wallsinger
Mount Holyoke College
Heather Shipley
Claremont McKenna College
Jasmin Joshi
Claremont McKenna College
Julia Cruz
Claremont McKenna College
Kendall Stewart
University of Richmond
Madeline Rose
Mount Holyoke College
Nadia Bukach
Website & Project CoordinatorClaremont McKenna / University of Richmond
Nicole Joh
Mount Holyoke College
Nora He
Mount Holyoke College
Olivia Stibolt
Lab ManagerUniversity of Richmond
Phil Tran
Claremont McKenna College
Tomi Oyedeji-Olaniyan
Claremont McKenna College
Urvi Suwal
Mount Holyoke College
Vikram Chatterjee
Claremont McKenna College
Past Staff and Student Contributors
Aalok Sathe
University of Richmond
Abraham Saikley
Claremont McKenna College
Aditi Chitre
Claremont McKenna College
Aditi Garg
Claremont McKenna College
Adrienne Jo
Claremont McKenna College
Alexis Lee
Claremont McKenna College
Amy Lowe
Hampshire College
Anthony Burre
Claremont McKenna College
Anwen Tobalske
Claremont McKenna College
Audrey Siqi Liu
Claremont McKenna College
Brianna Charlton
University of Richmond
Callie Cinque
University of Richmond
Christopher Cotter
University of Richmond
Eliz Akin
University of Richmond
Elizabeth Roy
Mount Holyoke College
Emilia Hagen
Claremont McKenna College
Emily Diamond
Claremont McKenna College
Emily Lavine
Claremont McKenna College
Fiona Hinds
Mount Holyoke College
Flavia Nwanko
Hampshire College
Hannah McCarthy Potter
Claremont McKenna College
Heather Welty
Hampshire College
Jackson Zeladon
Claremont McKenna College
Jake Cardwell
University of Richmond
Jessica Kim
Claremont McKenna College
Jiaan Shang
Mount Holyoke College
Josh Ortiz
Claremont McKenna College
Juniper Hollis
Hampshire College
Kira Bartnick
University of Richmond
Kirsten Lydic
Hampshire College
Lauren Selkin
Mount Holyoke College
Lexi Frost
University of Richmond
Madison Lodge
Claremont McKenna College
Matthew Strange
Morgan Berlin
Claremont McKenna College
Natasha Matos
Mount Holyoke College
Noa Sadeh
Mount Holyoke College
Olivia Clarke
Mount Holyoke College
Owen Neubeurger
Hampshire College
Pascaline Munezero
University of Richmond
Patrick Sutphin
University of Richmond
Sally Borgatti
Hampshire College
Shuyang Lin
Mount Holyoke College
Sonali Sikder
Mount Holyoke College
Sophia Rose
Claremont McKenna College
Sukhneet Kaur
Mount Holyoke College
Thalia Viranda
University of Richmond
Ting Chen
University of Richmond
Wenqi Zhang
Mount Holyoke College
Yaritza Bushnell
Hampshire College
Zachary Cole
Lab ManagerUniversity of Richmond
Zara Cannon-Mohammed
Hampshire College
Zoe Pestana
Hampshire College