Berke Yasar

Carnegie Mellon University
B.S. in Neuroscience, Concentration in Cognitive Neuroscience, 2025

Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Research Interests: I am interested in analyzing and learning about the significance of one's psychological, genetic, and environmental factors contributing to stress altering and affecting individuals. Also, I want to find approachable coping techniques.
Fun Fact: My family is from Turkey and I spend most of my off-semester time there if I am able to.

Cait Frazier

Washington State University
B.A. in Social Science, 2014

Hometown: Poulsbo, WA
Research Interests: resiliency, identity, and belonging among individuals, groups, and orgs; alternative healing methods and communities of practice; ethnographic methods; health neuroscience
Fun Fact: I am training for a triathlon and just started practicing karate! I also name all of my houseplants. Currently, I just have Carl, the philodendron.

Chaco Iwase

Carnegie Mellon University
BHA Art and Psychology, 2025

Hometown: Bayonne, New Jersey
Research Interests: Mindfulness research, health psychology, emergency medicine, VR/AR development (especially when applied to psychology and medical research), psychedelic therapies
Fun Fact: I have a sword!

Chaeyoung Kim

Carnegie Mellon University
B.S. in Biological Sciences, 2024

Hometown: Old Bridge, NJ
Research Interests: Social and health psychology
Fun Fact: I love baking while listening to Rex Orange County!

Clarice Meffert

Carnegie Mellon University
M.S. in Sustainable Design, 2023

Hometown: Santa Rosa, CA
Research Interests: environmental impact on psychological and physiological health, including stress, and exploring potential mitigation strategies through design
Fun Fact: I finished my bachelor's degree in psychology, with a human factors focus, before transitioning to a design major

Megan Matsko

Carnegie Mellon University
B.S. in Psychology, 2024

Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Research Interests: I am interested in stress and how stress can impact many different aspects of a person's life. I am also interested in performance with regards to sports.
Fun Fact: I love traveling and have been to over 10 different countries!

Nicole Sim

Carnegie Mellon University
B.S. in Decision Sciences & Statistics, 2024

Hometown: Northern VA
Research Interests: I'm interested in our different responses and thresholds to stress. I hope to explore more on how various strategies such as mindfulness or meditation can be taught and used as a tool for many to combat stress, anxiety, and mental illnesses.
Fun Fact: I like visiting art museums and reading! You'll often catch me baking cookies, or trying out Pittsburgh restaurants!

Patrick O'Connell

Hometown: Lyme, CT
Research Interests: Meditation, research methods, ayurveda
Fun Fact: I am a certified yoga teacher and ayurveda health practitioner

Vivian Lin

Carnegie Mellon University
B.A. in Psychology, 2025

Hometown: Reno, Nevada
Research Interests: Finding scientific interpretations behind stress and its management, seeing how research methods and procedures are created and executed, and getting to use fancysmancy technology for neuroimaging, data collection, etc.
Fun Fact: I can break an apple in half with my hands!

Zhongchi Li

Carnegie Mellon University
M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2023

Hometown: Nanjing, China
Research Interests: I’m interested in mental health problems caused by social and physiological factors, like personality disorders and social exclusion. I want to find any beneficial intervention strategies to help people, especially minority groups, deal with stress and depression and help reduce stereotypes and prejudice.
Fun Fact: I like country folk, playing guitar, and playing MOBA games!