Research Assistants
Elysia Molander
Elysia is a recent alumnus of Loyola Marymount University, graduating with a major in Psychology and a minor in Business Administration. Previously, Elysia has worked with kids by volunteering in a 2nd-grade classroom at St. Jerome’s School. She was also a part of LMU’s El Espejo for 2 years, a mentorship program with Lennox Middle School. Elysia has always loved working with kids, and she joined the lab because she wants to pursue a career in education. Her research interests lie at the intersections of education and psychology, as well as cultivating environments where children are excited to learn. Inspired by Dr. Bermudez’s outreach research, she is committed to creating culturally based practices that meet the needs of the community. Elysia believes that learning can happen anywhere with the proper tools and mindset, and she looks forward to fostering students’ growth and development.
Karenna Talwar
Karenna is a senior Psychology major at Loyola Marymount University, with a minor in Asian Pacific American Studies. She has experience working with kids through an internship at The Hub Youth Center in Orange County and has spent time volunteering at Kaiser Permanente in the Pediatric Oncology Department. Karenna joined the lab because she wants to learn more about conducting research. She also appreciates the lab’s focus on childhood education and language development because she wants to pursue a career working with children.
Callie Bream
Callie is a senior at Loyola Marymount University. She is pursuing a B.A. in Psychology, with minors in Philosophy and Applied Developmental Psychology. Callie has experience working with children as an assistant teacher for Kid’s Day Out at St. Matthew’s Child Development Center in Houston, Texas, and as a virtual tutor for elementary students with Step Up Tutoring. She also has worked with struggling mothers as an intern for the UpLIFT Health Program for women with perinatal and post-partum mood disorders at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. Callie joined the lab because she is interested in child development and children’s mental health. She wants to strengthen her skills in research to pursue a doctoral degree and work towards a career in pediatric psychotherapy. She is passionate about helping kids as well as learning more about how they think, feel, and interact with each other.
Jose Borja
Jose is a sophomore at LMU, and he is a Psychology major with a minor in Spanish. Jose has been working in a youth group for the past five years. Most of that time was spent working with teenagers, but he has also had a year of experience working with children ages 5 to 10 years old. He felt a major part of his job was to really understand where each kid came from and to curate specific ways to help each child. Jose joined the lab to gain more hands-on experience in the field of child development. In the future, he wants to work with a variety of kids in juvenile detention centers. He believes that his time in the lab will help set him on the path to get there by providing meaningful educational opportunities along the way.
