PURSUE Team

PURSUE is a collaborative initiative to facilitate the training of undergraduates in cognitive electrophysiology. See our team members below. Our website contains instructional tools and teaching materials to guide educators in developing curricula for EEG/ERP classrooms and lab environments.

About the Primary Investigators

The PIs have extensive experience teaching undergraduate-level EEG/ERP methods in their research labs and courses. They are leading a group of experts in cognitive electrophysiology to create high-quality open source educational materials. The PIs embrace a student-centric approach to education that inspires student-faculty research collaboration.

Cindy M. Bukach, Ph.D.

University of Richmond

Dr. Bukach is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and the MacEldin Trawick Endowed Professor of Psychology at the University of Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Bukach’s research uses behavioral and electrophysiological methods to examine the factors underlying category specificity. One extension of her work is to better understand and ameliorate racial bias and other race effects.

Dr. Bukach’s Lab

Jane W. Couperus, Ph.D.

Mount Holyoke College

Dr. Couperus is currently the Director of Assessment Academic Analytics at Mt. Holyoke College as well as Professor Emerita of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. Dr. Couperus’s research focused on the development and functioning of visual selective attention using behavior and electrophysiological methods.

Dr. Couperus’ Lab

Catherine L. Reed, Ph.D.

Claremont McKenna College

Dr. Reed is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and the McElwee Family Professor of Psychology & George R. Roberts Fellow Professor of Psychology at Claremont McKenna College. Dr. Reed’s research uses behavioral and electrophysiological techniques to study perception and action. She examines the influences of the body on attention, perception, and emotional processing.

Dr. Reed’s Lab

Faculty Learning Community:
Founding Participating Faculty

The Faculty Learning Community (FLC) was formed to participate in the development and assessment of PURSUE’s electrophysiological methodology teaching materials. The FLC also provides a professional community and support network. The following six founding members were instrumental in developing the introductory materials and full-semester course.

Mara Breen, Ph.D.

Mount Holyoke College

Dr. Breen’s research focuses on speech prosody and uses event-related potentials to measure real-time scalp electrical activity to more accurately measure the timing and interaction of cognitive processes.

Dr. Breen’s Lab

Rebecca Compton, Ph.D.

Haverford College

Dr. Compton’s research investigates attention, executive functions, and emotion using EEG/ERP and eye-tracking methods. Her textbook Cognitive Neuroscience, coauthored with Marie Banich (Cambridge University Press, 2018), is a great introduction for undergraduates as well as graduate students.

Dr. Compton’s Lab

David Leland, Ph.D.

University of Wisconsin Eau Claire

Dr. Leland uses electroencephalography (EEG) to study the neural underpinnings of cognition, motivation, and action.

Dr. Leland’s Lab

Erika Nyhus, Ph.D.

Bowdoin College

Dr. Nyhus’ research focuses on the neural processes involved in higher-level cognition, including executive functioning and episodic memory. Her research has addressed these topics through behavioral and neuroimaging (EEG/ERP), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods.

Dr. Nyhus’ Lab

Jeffrey J. Sable, Ph.D.

Christian Brothers University

Dr. Sable’s research focuses on attention and perception, especially in the auditory system, using event-related brain potentials to study these processes.

Dr. Sable’s Lab

Anjali Thapar, Ph.D.

Bryn Mawr College

Dr. Thapar ‘s research examines age-related differences in perception, attention, frontal lobe functioning, and memory using models of information processing and electrophysiology.

Dr. Thapar‘s Lab

Implementing Participating Faculty

The following implementing members are fine tuning the full semester course and materials.

Laurie Bayet, Ph.D.

American University

Dr. Bayet is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist interested in infant cognitive development and high-level vision. Her lab combines electro-encephalography (EEG), behavioral methods, and computational tools to uncover how infants and young children learn to interpret complex visual objects, such as visual objects that are relevant to affective, social communication.

Dr. Bayet’s Lab

Amanda Cremone-Caira, Ph.D.

Merrimack College

Dr. Cremone-Caira is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Merrimack College. Dr. Cremone-Caira’s research combines measures of cognitive electrophysiology (i.e., EEG and ERP) with behavioral tasks to characterize neural correlates of cognitive and socioemotional development during early childhood.

Dr. Cremone-Caira’s Lab

Youssef Ezzyat, Ph.D.

Wesleyan University

Dr. Ezzyat’s research uses electrophysiology to study how the brain organizes memories for everyday experiences, and how the neural representations of memories change over time.

Dr. Ezzyat’s Lab

Sherona Garrett-Ruffin, Ph.D.

Bowling Green State University

Dr. Garrett-Ruffin’s interest is developing authentic research experiences for undergraduate students in psychophysiology. Her undergraduate psychophysiology teaching laboratory focuses on gathering and interpreting electroencephalography (EEG) data, and exploring psychophysiology from a multicultural perspective.

Dr. Garrett-Ruffin

Nikki Honzel, Ph.D.

Carroll College

Dr.Honzel’s current research interests are often dictated by clever students. Recent projects include evaluating the effectiveness of alternative therapies and finding neurological correlates in individuals after experiencing something “fun”.

Dr. Honzel’s Lab

Joe Hopfinger, Ph.D.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Hopfinger’s research focuses on the interplay of top-down and bottom-up influences on the capturing and holding of attention. His lab uses ERPs, neuroimaging, and neurostimulation methods to investigate the brain mechanisms underlying attentional control.

Dr. Hopfinger’s Lab

Elif Isbell, Ph.D.

University of California Merced

Dr. Isbell studies the development and neuroplasticity of cognitive control skills in childhood and adolescence, as they are embedded in households and classrooms, within the broader context of diverse socioeconomic and cultural experiences.

Dr. Isbell’s Lab

Erin Kang, Ph.D.

Montclair State University

Dr. Kang’s research focuses on examining various factors that underlie clinical presentation in autistic individuals, including neural mechanisms and plasticity, and using these insights to refine and innovate evidence-based interventions to improve well-being and mental health in this population.

Dr. Kang’s Lab

Paul Kieffaber, Ph.D.

The College of William & Mary

Dr. Kieffaber’s research uses behavioral measures and electroencephalography (EEG/ERP) to examine the neural correlates of attention & cognitive control and improve our understanding about changes in cognitive functioning in clinical populations.

Dr. Kieffaber

Andrew Leynes, Ph.D.

The College of New Jersey

Dr. Leynes research uses ERPs to understand memory – in particular how fluency, the ease of processing, affects recognition memory.

Dr. Leynes’ Lab

Echo Leaver, Ph.D.

Salisbury University

Dr. Leaver’s research uses psychophysiological measures to investigate associative memory changes in aging, cognitive function in collision youth sports, and dental anxiety interventions.

Dr. Leaver

Meredith Minear, Ph.D.

University of Wyoming

Dr. Minear’s research explores the use of immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality applications in spatial research and education with a growing interest in incorporating electrophysiological techniques to measure brain activity when using these applications.

Dr. Minear’s Lab

Ryan E.B. Mruczek, Ph.D.

College of the Holy Cross

Dr. Mruczek studies visual perception and visual illusions, and in particular the ways in which neural circuits support fast and efficient processing of information about objects in the environment. His lab uses a combination of psychophysical, neuroimaging, electrophysiological, and computational methods.

Dr. Mruczek’s Lab

Eleonora Rossi, Ph.D.

University of Florida

Dr. Rossi’s research focuses on language processing and bilingualism. Dr. Rossi utilizes electroencephalography (TFRs/ERPs) to understand the neuro-cognitive bases of bilingualism and the earliest stages of second language acquisition.

Dr. Rossi’s Lab

Aleksandra Sherman, Ph.D.

Occidental College

Dr. Sherman investigates how different senses interact to influence perceptual and cognitive states, as well as the role of social and emotional factors in mediating these states. She uses behavior, eye-tracking, and EEG. She is particularly interested in art perception.

Dr. Sherman

Sara Verosky, Ph.D.

Oberlin College

Dr. Verosky’s research investigates face perception and social cognition, including trait perception from faces and how faces become familiar, using behavioral and electrophysiological methods.

Dr. Verosky

Jonas Vibell, Ph.D.

University of Hawaii

Dr. Vibell’s work looks at the perception of spatial representations between different sensory modalities, in particular vision and touch. He is also interested in understanding and advancing neuronal recordings of brain signals.

Dr. Vibell’s Lab

Consultants

Cobblestone Consulting

Cobblestone Applied Research & Evaluation, Inc. specializes in designing and conducting program evaluation and applied research studies, largely drawing on social science methodology.

Rebecca Eddy, Ph.D.

Founder & President

Monique Matelski, Ph.D.

Director of Research and Evaluation

Sasha Zuker, M.A.

Research Assistant

General Consultants

Luck and Kappenman lead an NIH-funded summer workshop on ERPs that attracts researchers from around the world each year (the ERP Boot Camp). Luck oversees the development of a leading software package for ERP data analysis (ERPLAB Toolbox).

Steve J. Luck, Ph.D.

Director of the Center for Mind & Brain and Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis

Emily Kappenman, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology at San Diego State University

Staff Contributors

Brianna Charlton

Lab Manager

University of Richmond

Chandlyr Denaro

Website & Project Coordinator

Claremont McKenna College

Folly Folivi

Senior Research Associate

Mount Holyoke College

Nadia Bukach

Website & Project Coordinator

Claremont McKenna / University of Richmond

Natasha Matos

Lab Manager

Mount Holyoke College

Nora He

Mount Holyoke College

Olivia Clarke

Mount Holyoke College

Olivia Stibolt

Zoe Pestana

Hampshire College

PURSUE Team

About the Primary Investigators

Cindy M. Bukach, Ph.D.

Jane W. Couperus, Ph.D.

Catherine L. Reed, Ph.D.

Faculty Learning Community:Founding Participating Faculty

Mara Breen, Ph.D.

Rebecca Compton, Ph.D.

David Leland, Ph.D.

Erika Nyhus, Ph.D.

Jeffrey J. Sable, Ph.D.

Anjali Thapar, Ph.D.

Implementing Participating Faculty

Laurie Bayet, Ph.D.

Amanda Cremone-Caira, Ph.D.

Youssef Ezzyat, Ph.D.

Sherona Garrett-Ruffin, Ph.D.

Nikki Honzel, Ph.D.

Joe Hopfinger, Ph.D.

Elif Isbell, Ph.D.

Erin Kang, Ph.D.

Paul Kieffaber, Ph.D.

Andrew Leynes, Ph.D.

Echo Leaver, Ph.D.

Meredith Minear, Ph.D.

Ryan E.B. Mruczek, Ph.D.

Eleonora Rossi, Ph.D.

Aleksandra Sherman, Ph.D.

Sara Verosky, Ph.D.

Jonas Vibell, Ph.D.

Consultants

Cobblestone Consulting

Rebecca Eddy, Ph.D.

Monique Matelski, Ph.D.

Sasha Zuker, M.A.

General Consultants

Steve J. Luck, Ph.D.

Emily Kappenman, Ph.D.

Staff Contributors

Brianna Charlton

Chandlyr Denaro

Folly Folivi

Nadia Bukach

Natasha Matos

Zachary Cole

Student Contributors

Aalok Sathe

Abraham Saikley

Aditi Chitre

Aditi Garg

Adrienne Jo

Ajinkya Rane

Alejandra Lorenzo

Alexis Lee

Alvin Villarosa

Amy Lowe

Anqi Wei

Anthony Burre

Anwen Tobalske

Archa Dileep

Astrid Petropoulos

Audrey Siqi Liu

Callie Cinque

Cam Smith

Christopher Cotter

Claire McLam

Danyah Tarabulsi

Eliz Akin

Elizabeth Roy

Em Hagen

Emily Diamond

Emily Lavine

Felix Lawton

Fiona Hinds

Flavia Nwanko

George Blue

Grace Guan

Grace Wallsinger

Hannah McCarthy Potter

Heather Shipley

Faculty Learning Community:
Founding Participating Faculty