Rene Paulson
My love of research emerged well before I received my PhD in Experimental Psychology in 2004; however, it was around that time that I realized how much my passion and experience could benefit others. This is what inspired me to create Elite Research, LLC, which employs statistical and editing consultants to assist faculty, students, and anyone else who needs assistance in conducting or reporting research. For the past 9 years, my colleagues and I have helped graduate students around the world through tutoring and workshops, setting up mock dissertation defenses, or even just acting as a cheerleader or shoulder to cry on during those challenging times. My goal for PhDStudent is to provide all graduate students who are seeking support with the tools they need to survive graduate school, a time that I personally know can be demanding and exhausting. When I do get some rare time for myself, I enjoy traveling, appreciating art, and making fun of my husband, whose love for Star Wars and The Princess Bride I will never fully understand.
Ryan Krone
I am a social scientist, and I focus on economic and political development problems in the developing world. After attending Friends University in my undergrad and University of Texas at Dallas for grad school, I finally have All But Dissertation status while working toward my doctorate degree and am currently employed as a research consultant. I’m a formally trained artist (my undergrad work), and when I rejoin the world (when grad school is over), I’d like to get back into my painting and collage work. Additionally, years of waiting tables in high-end restaurants has made me an epicurean – which turned out well for me because I married a self-taught chef and certified sommelier. My wife and I love to travel abroad, eat good food, and drink good wine. We have a wonderful daughter, Olivia, who has been the joy of our lives as well as a brand new baby, Adelaide. Hobbies I enjoy include reading philosophy, history, and sci-fi fiction; I’m also a huge movie buff and am really good at Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
John Maddoux
I am currently a fourth year doctoral student pursing a PhD in Counseling Psychology. My areas of emphasis include multiculturalism, feminism, underserved populations, trauma recovery, and statistics and research. I know that last one comes as a bit of a shock from the others, but I am a true stats nerd down to the bone. My areas of research focus mostly on trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, men’s violence against women. Other areas of interest include theoretical approaches to psychotherapy, evidence based psychotherapy, and third wave behavioral strategies. In addition to being a full time graduate student, I work full time as a statistics and research consultant for the university I attend as well as through a private firm. In what little free time I find myself with, I enjoy watching a variety of trashy reality TV shows, shopping for pointy boots, and attempting to have some kind of social life.
Sara Brady
I’m an experimental psychologist, statistician, wife, and mama. My research area is social cognition, including attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. I am excited about supporting students and faculty in their research and educational goals. My goal in blogging for PhDStudent is to educate students and faculty on relevant academic topics and provide insight from my own experiences as a grad student, professor, and working mom. I love traveling of all types (including road-trips), trying new foods, knitting, crocheting, and dabbling in quilting. I am also a Tomb Raider fan and have been since I was in 8th grade.
Stephanie Grogan
I’m Stephanie, and I’m currently about halfway through my MS in Counseling (LPC) at SMU. My areas of interest include trauma and abuse, mood disorders, and substance abuse as well as issues around gender, power, and trust. I’m interested in Gestalt and Family Systems theories as well as Social Justice and Feminist approaches to counseling. I love to travel and go to concerts, but these days I’m way more likely to spend my spare time binge-watching stand-up comedy with my cat, Oliver, than going on any big adventures. My life goals include visiting every continent, cage-diving with great white sharks, and successfully painting my nails with my non-dominant hand. A few of my favorite things are coffee, kittens, and queso.
AmandaM
I am a graduate student at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. When I’m not working on research or as a part-time statistical consultant, I may be found playing recreational co-ed soccer or spending time with the coolest kid I know: my daughter, Sophie. Also vying for my attention are two very sweet and very needy Labradors and one feigningly disinterested kitty. I am blessed to share my household with a slightly eccentric Frenchman who makes an unforgettable crème brûlée. We’ve been married for over 6 years now, but who’s counting? I am working on a research-based PhD in social psychology. My current research directions include attitudes and deliberate self-persuasion as well as irrational contagion of moral credentials. After graduating, I plan to find the world’s most perfect meatloaf recipe (or at least the diner that serves it).
BillG
We truly live at an amazing time in biology. I was just cutting my teeth as a sophomore animal science major when the human genome was released, which when compared to genomes of distantly related fruitflies and nematode worms revealed an astounding conservation of a core genetic toolkit across animals. I’ve spent my graduate and postgraduate career unraveling these molecular controls and how their conserved and novel use pattern a diversity of different body plans, from marine worms, sea anemones, lancelets, and now to frog and mammalian cells systems. As a senior postdoc at Stony Brook University, I now use frog embryos and mammalian cell culture to better understand core signaling pathways which normally control development, and whose misregulation lead to diseases such as cancer. I am also a fellow of a new NIH initiative, the IRACDA program, which is geared to train the next generation of researchers and teachers, and whose teaching component has me commuting to Brooklyn College to teach general biology. When not in the lab or classroom, I’m usually out exploring and fishing the long island sound on my kayak, running our local trails, brewing (or drinking) beer, taking a hike and watching the birds, or hitting the slopes.
Antonio Tooley
Antonio is a hopeless optimist who enjoys basking in the world's brightest colors. He loves biking to distant places and occasionally he gets lost. When not doing that he's blogging and teaching ESL.