Meet the Lab!

Deena Skolnick Weisberg, Ph.D.

Lab Director

Deena Skolnick Weisberg is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Villanova University. In addition to directing the STAR Lab, she is a co-founder and senior advisor of the Galapagos Education and Research Alliance (GERA). She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from Yale University and received postdoctoral training at Rutgers University and at Temple University. Her research interests include imaginative cognition, scientific reasoning, and the intersection between them. Her work has been published in a variety of scholarly journals, including Science and Cognition, and has received funding from the Templeton Foundation and the National Science Foundation. Learn more about Dr. Weisberg here.

Graduate Students

Rayan Magon

Masters STudent

Rayan Magon was a Pearson Scholar at the University of Toronto, where she majored in Psychology and Philosophy. Her research interests began in high school when developing a storytelling game aimed at reducing implicit gender biases, inspiring her long-standing focus on imagination in human development. Her academic interests include creativity, causal reasoning, Mental Time Travel, risk and resilience, autistic social cognition, and awe and curiosity in learning. Rayan aspires to become a Creativity Researcher in School Psychology, applying cognitive developmental theory to enhance educational practices that foster creativity, resilience, and academic success in all students. In her free time, she enjoys reading philosophy, dancing, making music, and singing.

Natalie Kita

Masters Student

Natalie Kita graduated from Saint Peter’s University in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and English. She is broadly interested in the aspects of media that are most impactful to information processing and decision making. Currently, she is working to identify factors in climate literature that motivate readers to observe environmentally conscious behaviors. In her free time, she enjoys spending time in nature, experiencing new cultures, and cooking for her loved ones. 

Nick Ashenfelter

Masters STudent

Nick Ashenfelter graduated summa cum laude from St. Mary’s College in Maryland in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He’s fascinated by sex—or rather, people that aren’t having it—and plans to use the experience he gains at Villanova and the STAR Lab to complete research as a social psychologist. In his free time he enjoys feminist horror, board and card games, and thrifting.

STAR Lab Alumni

Bella Stern

Research Assistant

Olivia Choi

Research Assistant

Sammantha Chiu

Research Assistant

Julia Reidy

Research Assistant

Irini Economos

Research Assistant

Keren Mir-Almaguer

Research Assistant

Olivia Dutton

Research Assistant

Sarah Wiik

Research Assistant

Giselle Striedinger

Research Assistant

Kayleigh Purcell

RESEARCH ASSISTANT​

Izzy Stone

Research Assistant

Helen Yu

Masters Student

Carolyn McWhirter​

RESEARCH ASSISTANT​

Tori Muller

Research Assistant

Ashley Bernard

Research Assistant

Marcella Parisi

Research Assistant

Grace Gentle

Research Assistant

Aarti Bodas

Masters Student

Arundhati Debnath

Masters Student

Natasha Chlebuch

LAB COORDINATOR

Amelia Robinson

Research Assistant

Laura Hardner

Masters Student

Sarah Bazata

Research assistant

Casey Smith

Research assistant

Alexis Ulmanis

Masters Student

Sarah Krull

Masters Student

Gabriel Nguyentran

Masters Student

Lu Dunlap

Masters Student

Kojo Yankah

Research Assistant

Tara Krishnan

Research Assistant

Ethan Anabel

Masters Student

Lauren Polito

Research Assistant

Brooke Gonzalez

Research Assistant

Katie Van Dusen

Research assistant

Josh Coogle

Research Assistant

Golibe Okoli

Research Assistant

Ryan Krieger

Masters Student

Becca Mason

Masters Student

Lexie Reidinger

Research Assistant

Sophie Althaus

Masters Student

Sydney Sears

Masters Student

Saadet Ceynek

Masters Student

Ashlyn Latham

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Emma Stecher

research assistant

Pepper Ritchey

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Madison Rhodes

RESEARCH ASSISTANT