Category: Spotlight on Diversity

Tell us about yourself.  I’m Zak, and my pronouns are they/them. I’m from a small rural town in Appalachia, Virginia with a population of about 270 people, where being a non-binary queer person was far from accepted. I pursued my undergraduate studies at Virginia Tech, earning degrees in psychology, sociology, and criminology, driven by a…

Tell us about yourself. I’m Daniel Rodriguez, a 5th-year Ph.D. candidate in Social Psychology, mentored by Professor Regina Langhout. As part of my earlier Counseling Psychology graduate program, I learned that many of my clients’ presenting problems were connected to systemic issues (e.g., gendered domestic violence, low-wage work and housing insecurity). The latter issue resonated…

Tell us about yourself. I’m an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department and an affiliate of the interdisciplinary Global Public Health Program. I studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in psychology and biochemistry for my undergraduate degree. I was interested in medicine until I learned about public health as a field and the potential for…

Tell us about yourself. I have been a staff member at UCSC and the Psychology Department for eight years and began in my position as Psychology Graduate Program Coordinator in 2018. My professional journey has been anchored in an interest in psychology, particularly in areas such as mental health and well-being, cultural competence, and the…