FACULTY-MENTORED RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN PSYCHOLOGY

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE A SENIOR to talk with us about research. Sooner is much better than later!
There are many ways to get involved in research. Some faculty members will take volunteers on teams to contribute to their ongoing projects, some will run a mentored PSYC 494 course to structure the work around course credit, some will occasionally have paid research assistant positions to offer, and there may even be other options. If you are interested in gaining additional research experience beyond the required lab courses, talk with your faculty members about your curiosities! This is important for anyone planning to pursue graduate school, especially in psychology and in other social sciences at the doctoral level.

The following brief descriptions of our research interests are provided to give you an idea of our primary topic areas, but many of us will also explore other subjects. If something sounds fascinating, come ask us about it!
MARGARET BORKOWSKI (989-964-2131; B 205L; borkowsk@svsu.edu)
My primary research interests are in the areas of health, behavioral, and developmental psychology. Many of my projects explore sleep and circadian rhythms from developmental, physiological, behavioral, and cultural perspectives. I’m also interested in studying health related behaviors such as diet, exercise, sleep, and stress.
MARIE CASSAR (989-964-4779; B 205O; mtcassar@svsu.edu)
My interests are in the areas of perception and cognitive psychology. I am interested in questions related to human performance, awareness, attention, decision making and problem solving. These topics are related to basic research questions in cognitive psychology and applied issues related to education and human factors research. I welcome interested students to join my on-going research. I also work with students on their original research projects.

RANJANA DUTTA (989-964-7043; B 205H; rdutta@svsu.edu)
My research explores delay, procrastination, and self-regulation of motivation in young adults, and how these may be influenced by prior parenting and peers' procrastination. Procrastination is relevant to various psychology fields, including developmental, personality, social, clinical, industrial-organizational, school, and educational psychology. My recent surveys in the U.S. and China provided data that can be used to hone skills in statistics and quantitative analysis, which are highly valued in graduate school and industry. I encourage students to apply lab-acquired skills to research questions on how young adults prioritize their time to achieve social, family, academic, and career goals. Feel free to reach out!
JULIE LYNCH (989-964-4351; B 205J; jslynch@svsu.edu)
My research interests encompass the areas of developmental, cognitive, and educational psychology. Generally, my research explores the complex mental processes involved in producing and comprehending language as well as how this knowledge can be applied effectively to educational settings. I am starting a line of research looking at young children’s media use and how they understand what they are exposed to on screens. Students in my lab have been authors of presentations at regional, national and international conferences. Please contact me to talk more about opportunities.

JEANNE MALMBERG (989-964-2136; B 205C; jmmalmbe@svsu.edu)
My research interests are in the fields of cognition, cognitive development, and psycholinguistics. My primary research projects are concerned with language acquisition. I use artificial language and verbal and non-verbal stimuli to examine whether adults, children, and pre-linguistic infants (7 and 8 months) are able to recognize sound patterns when the type of sound has been changed. I am also interested in familiarity/novelty preferences during infancy. Other research I’ve done concerns children’s learning of patterns involving multiple types (actions, objects, and places) of stimuli. Although I have no current projects in intelligence, I am also interested in intelligence, intelligence testing, and the way society has used and misused scientific research in this area. I am willing to work with any student who wants to do research in psycholinguistics, memory and problem solving (particularly developmental aspects) or intelligence.
TRAVIS PASHAK (989-964-2696; B 205E; tjpashak@svsu.edu)
I am generally interested in core topics of clinical psychology, including mental health, assessment, diagnostics, and treatment. Some recent examples of my research topics have included existential concerns (e.g., death anxiety, terror management theory, religiosity/spirituality), resilience/prevention (e.g., positive youth development, developmental assets, trauma resilience), and emerging adulthood (e.g., young adulthood transitions, college experiences, risk behaviors). I am also broadly interested in psychotherapy/counseling, structures of psychopathology and distress, survey design, and psychometrics. Most semesters I lead a small team-based research experience with students and will seek new members when there are openings. Please come chat if interested!

DARREN STORY (989-964-4635; B 205P; dtstory@svsu.edu)
My research has primarily focused on translational medical research exploring treatment options for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease. My projects have included the use of stem cell therapies, dietary supplements, and nanoparticles as delivery systems for small molecules. I am currently focused on the intersection of overall health and neurodegeneration, particularly the impacts of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

JOE WEAVER (989-964-2481; B 205M; jweaver@svsu.edu) 
My lab is called the Cognition and Affect Lab or CAL. We study decision-making at the intersection of emotional, cognitive, and social processes. The lab is open to ALL STUDENTS, regardless of research experience. My goal is to help students learn about and gain confidence in research. Some students just come to the meetings and listen, others discuss the research articles we read, some with the research process, and some design and conduct research. No commitments; come try it out! This semester, we're researching student attitudes toward and uses of AI tools. Email me (jweaver@svsu.edu) if you have questions or are interested.

											Updated June 18, 2025