Christa Ouellette, Research Assistant

Christa was a Research Assistant on the Rockland Sample 2 Study. She was responsible for all participant interactions, from recruitment and scheduling to facilitating on-site data collection. She graduated from Colby College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience. As an undergraduate, she worked with Professor Christopher Soto as a research assistant in Personality Psychology. She presented a project on the interactions between personality and social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, she is interested in the various sensory systems involved in the perception of music or audio more generally, and plans to pursue a PhD in Cognition and Neuroscience

Olivia Ripley, Research Assistant

Olivia is a Research Assistant on the Rockland Sample 2 Study. She is responsible for recruitment, data collection, managing participant interactions, and study operation logistics. She graduated from Skidmore College in 2023 with a B.A. in Neuroscience and Music. During her time at Skidmore, Olivia completed research on cognitive aging, sensory plasticity, unconscious attention, and music cognition. She culminated her education with a project investigating how acoustic characteristics can impact the differentiation of music and speech. Currently, Olivia is interested in the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic utility of music, specifically how it can facilitate movement and memory abilities. In the future, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience or Psychology.