Many of our MeRL alumni have had successful adventures beyond Towson University. Students have gone on to doctoral programs, worked in government, and managed medical research labs.
Meet some of our alumni below to find out where they have landed!
Larry Fort earned his Bachelor’s degree in 2017 from Stevenson University and his M.A . in Experimental Psychology at Towson University in 2019. His research focused on the role of mindfulness in false memory creation. His future research aims to further investigate altered states of consciousness, and he currently is a doctoral student at the University of Liege in Liege, Belgium.
Danny Jackson earned his bachelor’s degree in 2016 from James Madison University, and graduated from the Experimental Psychology program in 2018. Danny has completed research on the relationship between working memory, fluid intelligence, and spatial navigation. His Master’s thesis explored the illusory truth effect in news media headlines.
Jesse Rothweiler is a Ph.D. student in the Cognitive Psychology program at Iowa State University working with Dr. Christian Meissner. Jesse holds a B.A. in Psychology from Bloomsburg University and a M.A. in Experimental Psychology from Towson University. Jesse’s research focuses on memory for faces. Specifically, she explores the various factors that lead to diminished accuracy of cross-race identifications.
Blair Shevlin is currently a Ph.D. student in the Decision Psychology program at The Ohio State University. He graduated in 2017 with a Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology from Towson University. His research currently focuses on number memory and the role of numeracy in decision making. He has previously worked on projects related to risk literacy and traffic safety. Email: BlairShevlin at gmail dot com
Chris Normile earned his Ph.D. in Applied Experimental Psychology from Central Michigan University under the mentorship of Dr. Kyle Scherr. He also holds a B.A. in Psychology from Bloomsburg University and an M.A. in Experimental Psychology from Towson University. The main goal of his research is to understand the social-cognitive and physiological mechanisms that influence false confessions, juror decision-making, and perceptions of wrongfully convicted exonerees. Chris currently is an Assistant Professor at Allegheny College.
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/chrisnormile/home
Iiona Scully earned her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at Lehigh University working with Dr. Almut Hupbach. Iiona also holds a B.A. in Psychology from Elmira College and an M.A. in Experimental Psychology from Towson University. She is currently a Research Scientist in Human Factors at Exponent, Inc. in Chicago, IL. Iiona’s past research focused on understanding the dynamic nature of memory including the various circumstances that can affect memory change. Website: https://sites.google.com/site/iionascully/
Jackie Palmer earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from University of North Carolina – Greensboro and her Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology from Towson University. She is currently a Research Analyst for IBM Watson Health in Bethesda, MD, and released her first album with a music project and is a Peeps diorama master builder.
Kaitlin Ensor earned her B.S. from Saint Peter’s University in Psychology/Visual Art, her M.A. in Experimental Psychology from Towson University, and her Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from Stony Brook University. She is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Science at Glenville State College. Her research focuses on the understanding how context affects cognition. She aims to use a broad set of memory and attentional measures, as well as advanced statistical approaches, to understand how the presence of a weapon affects cognitive processes. Email: Kaitlin.Ensor@glenville.edu
LaTasha Holden earned her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at Princeton University, her M.A. in Experimental Psychology at Towson University, and her . B.A. from University of North Carolina – Greensboro. She worked for and held a post-doc at Educational Testing Services and currently holds the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship in Psychology at Florida State University. Her research bridges cognitive, social, and educational psychology in her explorations of cognitive ability and academic achievement. Website: latasharholden.weebly.com
Jacob Joseph-David earned his Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology at Towson in 2013. Since completing his Master’s thesis on the role of attraction on memory conformity in an eyewitness memory paradigm, Jake has been employed as Research Program Coordinator at Johns Hopkins University Hospital and a Senior Research Analyst at IMPAQ International. He currently works as a quantitative analyst at Gartner in Washington, DC. LinkedIn Profile
Erin Matsiyevskaya Hawks