Psychology Department Internships

Psychology major

In Spring 2024, I served as a Lead Peer Health Educator at Butler University’s Health and Recreation Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, supervised by Katie Wood.

As a Lead Peer Health Educator, I designed and implemented impactful health education programs to promote healthy behaviors among students. Leading a dedicated team of educators, we organized workshops, seminars, and awareness campaigns on topics like nutrition, mental health, sexual health, and substance abuse prevention. I also conducted research into new health initiatives for Butler students, focusing on areas such as sleep quality, healthy eating, and sexual health. Additionally, I wrote a comprehensive review paper examining the connections between vaping, social anxiety, and cultural factors, providing valuable insights into issues affecting student well-being. Additionally, I played an active role in organizing and stocking health stations at the Health and Recreation Complex (HRC). This involved ensuring the availability of essential health supplies and resources for students, enhancing accessibility to wellness support.

Psychology major, Neuroscience and Biology minors

As a Support Group Facilitator for Brooke’s Place, located in Indianapolis, I provided a safe and supportive environment for children going through grief during Spring 2024 under the supervision of Madison Hershberger and Chelsea Hutton.

After completing a 16-hour comprehensive training prior to my start date, I facilitated on “D” nights at Brooke’s Place. Each ongoing support group program meets at least twice a month.  Alongside two or more co-facilitators, I was assigned a peer grief support group with children ages 6-9. Group time lasted for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, during which my co-facilitators and I led group check-in and facilitated therapeutic activities while maintaining a safe and respectful environment for each child.  As a facilitator, my role was not to provide counseling to the children but to rather provide a listening ear and validate feelings, thoughts, and words that they chose to share.  Responsibilities included physically keeping up with the young children, actively listening, and working well with others.  Throughout my experience at Brooke’s Place, I developed a new level of patience; not all children grieve the same as each grief journey is unique. My favorite part of becoming a facilitator at Brooke’s Place was seeing the growth in a child’s grief journey and contributing to their progress.  After my semester internship concluded, I remained a facilitator to finish Brooke’s Place one-year commitment for all facilitators.   

Psychology and Philosophy double major

I worked as a research assistant in Dr. Dan Gilbert’s Social Psychology lab at Harvard University in summer 2015, studying how individuals communicate ideas.

Living in Cambridge was an incredible experience, and working in Dan’s lab was something that I will never forget. I worked with my graduate mentor Kyle Dillon on a project studying the various factors that actively influence the way that individuals communicate ideas to one another. For this project, it was my responsibility to develop online surveys, analyze data, and help come up with ideas for the next step in our research. I benefited immensely from my experiences working in Dan’s lab, and found new motivation towards my aspiration of pursuing a Doctorate in Social Psychology. Fortunately, my graduate mentor has extended me the opportunity to return to Boston in summer 2016 and continue working on this project. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead!

Psychology major, Neuroscience minor

During in a six-week summer 2015 internship, I studied Alzheimer’s disease medications at a pharmaceutical company, Eisai China Inc., in Shanghai, China.

I worked in Eisai’s department that develops medications used for various disorders related to the nervous system. Because of my previous research experience with Alzheimer’s disease patients, I mainly worked with Aricept, their Alzheimer’s disease medication. I read research pamphlets and papers comparing various aspects of medication treatment plans, in order to make a presentation that the marketing team could use. Additionally, I helped coordinate aspects of conferences sponsored by Eisai. I attended a live web seminar series and shadowed Chinese traditional medicine and acupuncture physicians at a hospital and clinic. Integrating into a work environment where English is not the first language was intimidating at first, but paid off in the end because I got to learn about Chinese culture firsthand and broaden my knowledge of medicine and neuroscience.

Psychology major, Neuroscience minor

I was chosen as one of 11 William C. Dement Fellows who conducted sleep research under Dr. Mary Carskadon at Brown University in Rhode Island during summer 2015.

In a six-week intensive training program, we learned about sleep and its anatomical, physiological, and psychological characteristics. We were trained in how to apply scalp and face electrodes, analyze polysomnographic data, and follow a timely, detailed protocol. Research participants ages 12–15 followed an eight-hour sleeping schedule that was shifted an hour later every 24 hours, to see if this would alter their food choices. I regularly interacted with the participants early in the morning. While the protocol was intense, there was also time to enjoy games and movies with the kids. I’m now a skilled player of Settlers of Catan. This internship prepared me with the necessary skills for electrode application and participant-researcher interactions. I am able to analyze sleep data, which is relevant to my aspirations to become a sleep researcher.

Psychology and Spanish double major, Neuroscience minor

I spent summer 2014 in the Developmental Brain Lab at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln at the Center for Brain, Behavior, and Biology under the supervision of Dr. Dennis Molfese.

The internship started with a 40-hour workshop on the history, theory, and methodological issues surrounding the use of event-related potentials (ERPs) to study neurocognitive functions. In addition to lectures, I received hands-on training in the application, assembly, and troubleshooting of the equipment. Later, I used these skills to conduct ERP testing on collegiate athletes, gathering baseline data for a study of concussions. I had my own project that examined the effects of simulated microgravity on speech perception. I conducted a literature review, interpreted ERP data using principal components analysis/ANOVAs, and prepared a professional conference poster that I presented at the Aerospace Medical Association conference in Orlando, Florida, the following May.

Psychology major, Spanish and Neuroscience minors

Elizabeth Davis worked with pediatric cancer survivors during her internship in the Psychology Department of at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

St. Jude specializes in research and treatment of the most severe childhood diseases—mainly cancer, but also HIV and sickle cell anemia. I worked with kids with craniopharyngioma, a type of brain tumor. Pediatric cancer survivors, especially brain tumor survivors, experience cognitive late effects that really make their lives hard. My research looked at craniopharyngioma patients after their diagnosis to see if they had any cognitive impairments, as well as the results of their sleep studies to characterize their sleep hygiene and habits. I got a chance to work with functional neuroimaging data and perform a ton of analyses to look at the patterns of neural activation during tasks of attention. It was awesome to combine three areas of psychology and work with neurooncology, the specialty I want to go into as a physician.