OUR TEAM

STEFANIE DREW, PHD

Professor, Department of Psychology
Co-Director, Psychological Science Graduate Program
Director, Pedagogy Fellowship Program

stefanie.drew@csun.edu

Curriculum Vitae

POST-GRADUATE STUDENTS

Researcher

Eleni Benchek

Eleni is a second-year graduate student in the Psychological Science program and an NIH Bridges to the Ph.D. trainee with research interests combining cognitive psychology and education. Her research focuses on science and math learning, underrepresented students in STEM, and technology used for instruction.

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Researcher

Ivan Alatorre

Ivan is a first-year graduate student in the psychological science program and an NIH Bridges to the Ph.D. program with research interests in decision-making and health behaviors. He is interested in examining the role future-oriented ways of thinking play on behaviors such as physical activity engagement.

Researcher

Ann Hillary Buenafe

Ann Hillary Buenafe is a first-year graduate student in the Psychological Science program and a TIPs instructor here at CSUN. Her research interest is in the realm of cognitive psychology and psychophysics.

Researcher / Co-Lab Manager

Ethan Castanon

Ethan is a first-year graduate student. His research aims to leverage elements of cognitive psychology with cutting-edge technology to improve quality of life.

Researcher

Carlos Couzin

Carlos Couzin is an incoming graduate student for Fall 2024. His research interests include examining user behavior, satisfaction, symptoms, and immersion across various Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality mediums.

Researcher / Co-Lab Manager

Dante del Rosario

Dante's current research interests are cognition and its integration with technology, specifically how people think and seeing if it can be further analyzed with the usage of VR. His sub-interests, and a future goal, is to research ADHD and how those with ADHD-like symptoms interact with technology.

Researcher

Ronald Gutierrez

Ron is an incoming graduate student for the fall of 2024. His research interests revolve around the intersection of psychology and technology.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Research Assistant

Katrina Bortfeld

Katrina is a part-time student majoring in kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise science and is also a part of the Move-Learn Lab. Her research interests include musculoskeletal injuries and abnormalities, the mind-body connection, and pain.

Researcher

Mariah Duran

Mariah Duran is currently a junior student majoring in Psychology. She is in the U-Rise program

for the 2023-2025 academic school years. Mariah’s Research Interest include cognitive

psychology, neuroscience, and abnormal disorders.

Researcher

Alberto Guerra Lopez

Alberto was a U-R.I.S.E scholar for the 2021-2023 school years and is also part of the V.I.S.N lab. His research interests include helping research the effects of mindfulness and impacts that it has on the brain as well as the transference of spatial learning from virtual environments to the real world.

Researcher

Onyx Harrison

Onyx is a junior majoring in Psychology. They are currently exploring their interests within the psychological field, however, within the lab their inquiries surround behavior and social relations, visual cues and fashion, diversity within psychology, and the relationships between fashion, gender expression, and perception of gender.

Research Assistant

Diyanga Horawala Arachchige

Diyanga is a senior majoring in Psychology. With research interests in the engineering and human factor field of Psychology. Her research interests focus on user behavior, exploring both the benefits and demerits of technology while also exploring AR and VR to deepen our understanding of the brain.

Researcher

Tyler Parker

Tyler's research interests involve utilizing AR as a coping mechanism for those with neurodevelopmental disorders. Using AR technology, she HOPES to aid individuals in practicing independent living skills, coping skills, and daily living skills.

Researcher

Louis Perry

Louis is a U-R.I.S.E. scholar, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Human Resource and Talent Management. His interests are centered around I.O. Psychology, driven by a passion for enhancing workplace experiences. Louis is currently investigating the relationship between real-world skill transfer and varying fidelities in virtual reality.

Research Assistant

Freddy Ramirez

Freddy's research interests focus on the influence VR has on people's sleep quality. He is also interested in examining how the use of AI can influence learning outcomes and how effective AI can be in helping with mental health disorders through behavior and linguistic models.

Researcher

Anais Unanyan

Anais is a senior majoring in Psychology and English Literature. She is interested in aspects of perception such as synesthesia, eyewitness testimony, and the process of literary perspective taking.