Han Maria Jia Graduate Student, Behavioral and Brain Sciences Program Research Research Interests: I'm interested in exploring how brains discriminate emotional stimuli during naturalistic perception tasks. Specifically, using electroencephalography (EEG), I want to understand how the cortical and subcortical structures work together in real time.
Christian Jerry Graduate Student, Behavioral and Brain Sciences Program My current research interest involves exploring the relationships between language, physiological responses, and cognitive-emotional development in children during dyadic interactions. So, I investigate how parental language supports autonomy and how that can influence children's self-regulation by analyzing physiological markers like respiratory sinus arrhythmia and neural activity via functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Education Education: 2025 M.A. in Behavioral & Brain Sciences, University of Georgia – AthensAdvisor: Dr. Drew Abney (PI)Thesis: Examining how parental language that supports children’s autonomy influences their self-regulatory abilities. (In-progress) 2022 ICIS Founding Generation Summer Fellowship, University of Maimi FloridaAdvisor: Dr. Daniel Messinger (PI) & Dr. Sam MitsvenProject: Preschool Interactions during COVID-19: Effects of Safety Regulations on Vocalizations and Proximity in the Classroom 2021 Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Indiana University – BloomingtonAdvisors: Dr. Chen Yu (PI), Dr. Sara Schroer, & Dr. Drew Abney Research Research Interests: Development and Learning, Language and Cognitive Development, Perception and Action, Visual Attention,Social Interactions, Computer Vision, & Machine Learning. Selected Publications Selected Publications: Steffen, G. M., Jerry, C. M., Bell, C., Kolberg, A. R., Patel, B., & Abney, D. H. (2024). The operationalization of coordinated attention and the relations to language development: A meta-analysis. Advances in child development and behavior, 66, 81-107. Abney, D. H., Jerry, C. M., Smith, L. B., & Yu, C. (2024). Look before you reach: Fixation‐reach latencies predict reaching kinematics in toddlers. Infancy, 29(1), 6-21. Mitsven, S. G., Perry, L. K., Jerry, C. M., & Messinger, D. S. (2022). Classroom language during COVID-19: Associations between mask-wearing and objectively measured teacher and preschooler vocalizations. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 874293. Messinger, D. S., Perry, L. K., Mitsven, S. G., Tao, Y., Moffitt, J., Fasano, R. M., ... & Jerry, C. M. (2022). Computational approaches to understanding interaction and development. In Advances in child development and behavior (Vol. 62, pp. 191-230). JAI.
Brian Bauer Assistant Professor, Clinical Program Dr. Bauer is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Georgia. Dr. Bauer earned his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2022 after completing his pre-doctoral internship at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Medical Center. Dr. Bauer’s program of research uses a behavioral economic framework to help understand mental health-related decisions (e.g., help seeking) and to influence people towards choices that align with their own self-declared interests, with a particular emphasis in suicide prevention. Dr. Bauer has focused extensively on examining how cognitive heuristics and biases might contribute to suicide-related outcomes and inform prevention efforts and interventions. This line of research has been funded through several externally-funded agencies, including from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I will not be accepting new graduate students for Fall 2026. My lab is currently focused on the following topics: Using passive sensing data (e.g., smartphone, wearables) to detect symptoms of a suicidal crisis Applying nudges to real-world settings to increase engagement with suicide prevention resources and help seeking Examining various decision-making processes and their relationship to suicide risk via behavioral (e.g., task-based) and psychophysiological measurements (e.g., EEG) Students with a research background and interest in studying these topics (or related topics) will be a good fit for the lab. Students with quantitative backgrounds or experience with statistical programming languages (e.g., R) are especially encouraged to apply. Education Education: Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS M.S., Counseling Psychology, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR B.A., Psychology/Philosophy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Research Research Interests: Suicide Theory and Prevention, Behavioral Economics, Digital Phenotyping, Cognitive Biases and Mental Health, EEG/ERP Selected Publications Selected Publications: Bauer, B.W., Hom, M.A., Karnick, A.T., Charpentier, C.J., Keefer, L.A., Capron, D.W., Rudd, M.D., & Bryan, C.J. (2022). Does hopelessness accurately predict how bad you will feel in the future? Initial evidence of affective forecasting errors in individuals with elevated suicide risk. Cognitive Therapy and Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-021-10285-7 Bauer, B.W., Karnick, A., Wells, T., Tucker, R., & Capron, D.W. (2021). Altering preferences for suicide crisis resources using the decoy nudge: Evidence of context-dependent effects in suicide prevention decision making. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 89(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000617 Bauer, B.W. & Capron, D.W. (2020). How behavioral economics and nudges could help diminish irrationality in suicide-related decisions. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(1), 44-61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619866463 Bauer, B. W., Tucker, R. P., & Capron, D. W. (2019). A Nudge in a new direction: Integrating behavioral economic strategies into suicide prevention work. Clinical Psychological Science, 7(3), 612-620. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618809367
Thania Galvan Assistant Professor, Clinical Program I am an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Georgia and the director of the FUERTE lab. I earned my PhD in clinical psychology with a child emphasis from the University of Denver, did an APA-accredited internship in the child track at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and completed an NIMH-funded T32 postdoctoral fellowship in traumatic stress at the Medical University of South Carolina. Broadly, my research is focused on understanding the mechanisms that contribute to, maintain and/or exacerbate mental health disparities in Latino/a youth and families. I plan to review applications for Fall 2026 admission to the clinical psychology program. Education Education: Ph.D., Clinical Psychology (child emphasis), University of Denver, Denver, CO M.A., Clinical Psychology, University of Denver, Denver, CO B.A., Psychology, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX Research Research Interests: Mental Health Disparities, Latinx Youth and Families, Traumatic Stress, Developmental Psychopathology, Community-Engaged Research Methodologies
Graduate student Kelly Rea's masters thesis featured in UGA News and Healio! Clinical psychology graduate student Kelly Rea has had her recently published masters thesis featured in UGA News and Healio, a medical information website comprising of breaking news, feature stories, interviews and education across 30 specialties. Read more about Graduate student Kelly Rea's masters thesis featured in UGA News and Healio!
Five members of UGA Psychology Department receive University-wide 2022 Awards! Huge congratulations to five members of our department who have been selected to receive significant, University-wide recognitions this year! Two faculty members are being recognized this week with Research Awards: Distinguished Research Professor Dr. Lillian Eby Creative Research Medal Dr. Gregory Strauss Three graduate students (or recent graduates) are being recognized with Research and Teaching Awards: Read more about Five members of UGA Psychology Department receive University-wide 2022 Awards!
