Biology

Psychology

PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH

Undergraduate Researcher

Group Project for Dr. Chakraborty’s Dissertation

PI: Alena Esposito, Jayantika Chakraborty

01/2024 - PRESENT

  • Role: Assistant of Experimental Design. Main member of Data Collection, Data Cleaning, Statistical Analysis

    Overview

    This study examines how children’s perceptions of environmental instability, such as changes in income, housing, and family dynamics affect their executive functioning. By combining behavioral tasks with parental surveys, the project explores how early experiences of uncertainty influence children’s attention, flexibility, and self-regulation.

    Methods

    • Designed and administered behavioral and survey-based tasks on perceived instability and executive functioning; adapted the Hearts and Flowers Task for digital use.

    • Collected and analyzed child and parent data using Qualtrics, R, and SPSS (composite scoring, regression, ANOVA); refined SDI survey items for clarity and consistency.

    • Contributed to study visualization and presented preliminary results at the Eastern Psychological Association (EPA) Conference, highlighting links between perceived instability and executive functioning.

    Findings

    Higher perceived instability across income, housing, and family domains predicted lower executive functioning accuracy (p = .033, R²ₐdⱼ = 10.4%). These results suggest that children’s subjective sense of instability may influence cognitive flexibility more strongly than objective economic factors.

    Learnings & Takeaways

    This project enhanced my skills in data analysis, collaboration, and participant communication. Working with children and families deepened my understanding of community-based research, and presenting at EPA strengthened my ability to clearly share developmental findings with broader audiences.

Psychology Undergraduate Honor Thesis

Individual Project

PI: Alena Esposito, Jimin Lee

01/2024 - PRESENT

  • Role: Experimental Design, Programming, Data Collection & Analysis

    Overview
    This honors thesis investigates how prior experience with AI influences visual perception and decision-making when judging AI-generated and human-created artworks. By combining eye-tracking and behavioral analysis, the study explores how familiarity, attention, and perceptual bias shape recognition accuracy.

    Methods

    • Designed and programmed a full eye-tracking experiment in PsychoPy, integrating image presentation, keyboard logging, and real-time calibration using the EyeLink 1000 system.

    • Developed and administered demographic and AI-experience surveys using Qualtrics.

    • Collected and calibrated gaze data through IRB-approved procedures; analyzed results using R, Python, and SPSS (composite scoring, linear regression, ANOVA).

    Findings (updated 10/19/2025)

    • A significant interaction revealed that participants’ accuracy in identifying artwork sources depended on both artwork type and source.

    • These results extend prior research, showing that individuals’ source judgments are guided more by perceptual and subjective impressions than by familiarity (Horton et al., 2023; Bellaiche et al., 2023).

    • The findings also strengthen the Perceptual Bias Activation Framework (Lee & Esposito, 2025), suggesting that judgments about AI- and human-created artworks rely on pre-existing expectations and artwork-type-specific heuristics, rather than direct experience with AI.

    Learnings & Takeaways

    This study deepened my understanding of how perception, cognition, and experience jointly shape decision-making under uncertainty. It also strengthened my skills in IRB writing, coding, problem solving skills, communication skills, time management skills, computational data analysis and human-machine interaction research, guiding my future interest in combining behavioral science, neuroimaging, and design to study adaptive cognition and visual learning.

09/2022 - 12/2022

Psychology Course 109 Course Final Individual Project

  • Overview
    This project explored how international education influences cultural adaptation among students studying abroad. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, I examined how experiences in international programs shape students’ identity, social adjustment, and sense of belonging.

    Methods

    • Designed and conducted semi-structured interviews with students who had participated in international education programs.

    • Transcribed and analyzed narratives using thematic analysis grounded in Berry’s Acculturation Model and Cross-Cultural Adaptation Theory.

    • Identified patterns in habit formation, identity negotiation, and emotional adjustment before and after studying abroad.

    Findings

    • Long-term exposure to international education reduced culture shock and accelerated cultural adaptation.

    • Participants reported higher emotional resilience and self-awareness through cross-cultural interactions.

    • Educational environments that emphasized openness and reflection promoted smoother acculturation processes.

    Learnings & Takeaways

    Conducting this project deepened my understanding of how subjective experience and environment co-shape adaptation. It also strengthened my skills in qualitative research design and interpretive analysis, showing me how narrative data can reveal complex psychological transitions within cultural contexts.

09/2024 – 12/2024

Psychology Capstone 285 Course Final Group Project

  • Role: Project Leader, Time Management, Results Writing, Interview & Presentation

    Overview
    This qualitative research project examined how well Clark University’s support offices serve LGBTQ+ students, with a focus on inclusivity, communication, and staff diversity. Through student and staff interviews, we identified key challenges in resource accessibility and representation, highlighting how institutional systems can better support marginalized student populations.

    Methods

    • Led a research team of five members, coordinating project schedule and task distribution.

    • Conducted semi-structured interviews with students and staff across six university offices.

    • Analyzed qualitative data using thematic analysis, focusing on communication gaps and diversity within staff.

    • Synthesized findings and authored the Results and Discussion section of the final paper.

    • Presented conclusions and recommendations to faculty and peers.

    Findings

    • Identified two central issues:

      1. Communication gaps between students and support staff caused confusion in accessing resources.

      2. Lack of staff diversity and training limited inclusivity and trust among LGBTQ+ students.

    • Recommended institutional actions such as creating a dedicated LGBTQ+ support office, implementing feedback systems, and improving diversity and inclusion training across departments.

    Learnings & Takeaways

    Leading this project taught me how to balance multiple responsibilities, organizing meetings, tracking progress, and ensuring that each team member’s input was integrated into the final report. Writing the results section helped me practice turning complex interview data into clear, evidence-based findings. Conducting interviews also made me more attentive to how people communicate experiences of inclusion and exclusion, reinforcing my interest in research that addresses students’ emotional and social wellbeing in practical, institutional contexts.

BIOLOGY RESEARCH

  • Role: Independent Researcher — Experimental Design, Molecular Analysis, Data Interpretation

    Overview
    This project explores how six Basidiobolus fungal species capture and regulate metal ions through siderophore production, a key secondary metabolic process related to iron acquisition. By combining field sampling, biochemical assays, and RNA-based molecular analyses, the research aims to clarify how fungal symbionts adapt to host and environmental metal conditions.

    Methods

    • Collected Basidiobolus isolates from permitted amphibian hosts across Massachusetts for strain identification and cultivation.

    • Conducted Chromo Azurol S (CAS) colorimetric assays to quantify siderophore activity and assess Fe⁺ sequestration capacity.

    • Performed RNA extraction, cleanup, and quality assessment for RNA-Seq; conducted differential gene expression analysis to identify siderophore-related pathways.

    • Quantified siderophore halos using ImageJ and analyzed inter-strain variation with R.

    Findings

    Preliminary results show significant inter-strain variation in siderophore activity and gene expression linked to iron acquisition. Especially BMER and BRAN strains. These findings suggest potential ecological specialization among Basidiobolus species and lay the groundwork for understanding how metal ion regulation supports fungal adaptation in host–microbe systems.

    Learnings & Takeaways

    Through this independent project, I gained hands-on experience in wet-lab molecular workflows, data quantification, and bioinformatics analysis. Managing the project from sampling to analysis strengthened my ability to design experiments, troubleshoot assays, and interpret molecular results in an ecological context.

Undergraduate Researcher

Individual Project

PI: Javier F. Tabima

06/2024 - PRESENT

Undergraduate Course Project - Poster Present in ClarkFest

Individual Project

PI: Nathan Ahlgren

04/25/2024

  • Role: Independent Researcher — Genome Analysis, Data Visualization, Poster Presentation

    Overview
    This project investigated how marine cyanobacteria adapt to variable iron availability by comparing iron transporter gene composition and expression across Synechococcus CB4 and CB5 strains. Using computational genomics and phylogenetic tools, the study examined how gene-level variation supports microbial adaptation to metal-limited marine environments.

    Methods

    • Conducted genome assembly, functional annotation, and variant discovery using Cluster and R environments.

    • Performed comparative genomic analyses for iron transporter genes (feoA/B, NRAMP) through BLASTp and command-line pipelines.

    • Visualized phylogenetic relationships and gene presence/absence matrices, documenting all workflows with BASH scripts.

    Findings

    Comparative genomic analysis showed that Synechococcus strains CB4 and CB5 have different iron transporter genes, suggesting they adapt in distinct ways to iron-limited estuarine environments. CB4 contains feoA and feoB, while CB5 carries fecR/ferR instead. Both strains lack NRAMP, flavodoxin, and ZupT, genes commonly found in open-ocean strains. These differences indicate specialized strategies for iron uptake that may reflect ecological adaptation to fluctuating nutrient conditions in estuaries

    Learnings & Takeaways

    This project strengthened my skills in bioinformatics, genome annotation, and command-line analysis. Preparing and presenting my findings at ClarkFest refined my ability to translate complex genomic data into clear visual and conceptual summaries for diverse audiences.

  • Role: Data Processing, Motion Analysis, Visualization

    Overview

    This project investigates how environmental complexity influences animal movement, focusing on how the skink lizard Mochlus fernandi navigates through cluttered terrains. Using high-speed motion capture and computational motion analysis, it examines how speed, stride, and body coordination vary across different obstacle densities: control, low-density pegs, high-density twigs, and flexible grass.

    Methods

    • Recorded trials at 120 fps and processed data in MATLAB, RStudio, and ImageJ for biomechanical quantification.

    • Digitized anatomical landmarks using DLTdv8a to calculate joint angles, stride length, velocity, and acceleration.

    • Visualized movement trajectories using R (ggplot2) with color-coded treatments; modeled undulation dynamics through MATLAB motion scripts.

    Findings

    As obstacle density increased, M. fernandi slowed down and shortened its stride, but compensated through wider joint angles and stronger body undulation. This combined limb-and-trunk strategy allowed stability and maneuverability in cluttered environments, demonstrating adaptive flexibility in locomotion.

    Learnings & Takeaways

    This project strengthened my ability to link biomechanical data with visual representation, combining coding, motion tracking, and design thinking. It also revealed how biological movement principles can inform biomimetic robotics and adaptive design for complex environments.

Undergraduate Course Project - Report

Individual Project

PI: Philip Bergmann

04/23/2025

Click for the attachment