Research by the Numbers

From July 2025 through September 2026, our faculty maintained 48 active grants representing more than $11.8 million in research funding. During the past year, faculty also submitted 48 new grant applications and secured an additional $809,134.01 to launch new projects.

These accomplishments are made possible through the extraordinary efforts of our research support staff. Special thanks to Ivan, Andrew, and Tiffany for their dedication to grant applications, administration, and management.

Faculty Achievements
HONORS · AWARDS · RESEARCH · LEADERSHIP

	Cecilia Cheung Received a five-year appointment as one of the Teresa and Byron Pollitt Endowed Term Chairs for Interdisciplinary Research and Learning.
	Liz Davis Received a three-year appointment as the Patricia McSweeny McCauley Chair in Teaching Excellence.
	Bernadette Pinetta Named a Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Weissberg Scholar for 2025–2027.
	Rachel Wu Recognized with the 2025–2026 CHASS Faculty Award for Community Engagement, UCR Distinguished Teaching Award, fellow status in the Association for Psychological Science and American Psychological Association, California Council on Gerontology and Geriatrics Best in Showcase, and honorable mention for the 2027 APA Division 1 Arthur W. Staats Lecture for Unifying Psychology.
	Tom Sy Received a $3 million Department of Education grant for A Workforce-Responsive Model for Engineering Education and Regional Competitiveness.
	Ilana Bennett Received the University Honors Faculty-Mentor of the Year Award in May 2026.
	Olivia Atherton Received the 2026 Rising Star Award from the Association for Psychological Science.
	Kate Sweeny Received the Career Trajectory Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology.
	Deepa Ramamurthy Received a 2026 Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator Grant.
	Tabea Springstein Received a grant and was named a Scientist by the San Diego Alzheimer's Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research.

Faculty Research & Publications

Alejandra Arce — Research and Community Action

Received a UCR Regents Faculty Fellowship for a pilot project on social mobility and BIPOC student well-being. She was also selected as a Society for Community Research and Action Research Scholar, recognizing promising contributions to community psychology.

Stephen Antonoplis — Social Class and Economic Change

Published research examining how the 2008 Great Recession influenced Americans' social class identities.

Antonoplis, S., Garcia-Cardenas, J. E., Graham, E. K., & Mroczek, D. K. (2026). The 2008 Great Recession lowered Americans' class identity. Psychological Science, 37(1), 18–29.

Read Antonoplis's publication

Brent Hughes — The Neuroscience of Self

Coauthored a theoretical paper exploring how network organization may help explain the coherence of self-representation.

Aggarwal, A., & Hughes, B. L. (2026). Wired for coherence: A network theory of self. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

Faculty Spotlight: Sonja Lyubomirsky

The Science of Happiness and Feeling Loved

Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky published her new book, How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets That Get You More of What Matters Most, bringing psychological research on happiness, relationships, and well-being to a broad public audience.

She also received the Application of Personality and Social Psychology Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

Her research and new book attracted significant national media attention, including:

•  The New York Times
  What's the Secret to Happiness? These Researchers Have a Theory
  February 10, 2026
   
•  Los Angeles Times
  Want to Feel More Loved? You're Probably Going About It the Wrong Way
  June 1, 2026
   
•  Clear + Vivid with Alan Alda
  Lost That Loving Feeling?
  May 19, 2026
   
•  Offline with Jon Favreau
  Chatbots, MDMA, and Finding Love in the Digital Era
  May 27, 2026 · Watch the interview
   
•  ABC News Live Prime
  Relationship Experts on How to Feel Loved: It Starts With Helping Others

On the TED Stage

Dr. Lyubomirsky delivered a mainstage TED talk at TEDNext in Atlanta on February 3, 2026, titled 1 Thing You Can Do Today to Be Happier.

Watch on TED  YouTube  

Mentorship & Alumni Success

Faculty mentorship continues to open doors for the next generation of scholars and professionals.

Megan Robbins' Former Students

Pavani Jonnalagadda began a position as Assistant Professor at Mesa College in San Diego, while Chandler Spahr joined IMS Legal Strategies as Senior Research Manager.

Diamond Bravo's Students

Dr. Brenda Rincón completed her PhD in Developmental Psychology at UCR and accepted an Assistant Professor position at California State University, Stanislaus. Estevan Hernandez received the 2026–2027 Chicano Latino Alumni Scholarship.

Graduate Student Accomplishments

Our graduate students continued to excel in research, teaching, service, and professional development. During the academic year, students published dozens of scholarly papers, presented at national and international conferences, earned competitive fellowships, and secured positions in academia and industry.

Fellowships, Grants & Awards

•  Minghui Wang
  Elizabeth Munsterberg Koppitz Fellowship, American Psychological Association.
   
•  Tania Rodriguez
  $55,000 seed grant supporting postdoctoral research at UCLA.
   
•  Ramiro Rodriguez Sanchez
  Beto Ventures funding for youth-engaged neuroscience research.
   
•  Anais Martinez
  Engage Spark Research Grant from CloudResearch.

Dissertation Completion Fellowships

Congratulations to the following students who received Dissertation Completion Fellowship Awards from UCR's Graduate Division:

Outstanding Teaching Awards

Teaching is central to the department's mission. Congratulations to our graduate student teaching award recipients: Christian Garcia, Arash Mehrkesh, Destyni Cravens, Tanya Vannoy, Danielle Greenman, and Abbey Page.

Research Publication Spotlight

Amberley Stein — Children's Causal Reasoning

Stein and colleagues published research demonstrating how young children use their causal knowledge to guide the questions they ask.

Lapidow, E., Stein, A. R., Thomas, G., & Walker, C. M. (2026). Young children use causal knowledge to guide question asking. Child Development.

Read Stein's publication

Celebrating Career Milestones

•  Jordan Mullins
  Postdoctoral position, UCR School of Education
   
•  Maribeth Trego
  Assistant Professor, New Mexico State University
   
•  Dana Diaz
  Assistant Professor, Columbia University
   
•  Olga Kozanian
  Promoted to Associate Director of Global Scientific Publications

Our graduate students also earned travel, professional development, and research presentation awards and were selected for prestigious summer research programs.

Undergraduate Student Spotlight

Rishitha Kona (2026) — From Undergraduate Research to National Recognition

Undergraduate researcher Rishitha Kona has turned her passion for psychological science into an impressive series of research accomplishments and awards. Working alongside faculty and graduate student Jessica Golding in the CONPAM Lab, Rishitha completed an Honors capstone exploring the relationships among dance experience, anxiety, and visual working memory. Her outstanding work earned her an undergraduate research mini-grant, recognition as one of the best presentations at UCR’s 2026 Undergraduate Research Symposium, and acceptance for publication in the UCR Undergraduate Research Journal.

Building on these interests, Rishitha also investigated whether finding positive meaning in difficult experiences could protect working memory from the negative effects of anxiety. This research earned her the prestigious 2026 Western Psychological Association Robert L. Solso Research Award, an honor awarded to just three students annually. She presented her award-winning research at the WPA convention in Tacoma, Washington.

Rishitha’s journey exemplifies the power of undergraduate research and sustained faculty and graduate-student mentorship. From an Honors capstone to conference presentations, publication opportunities, and regional recognition, her accomplishments highlight the exciting possibilities available to undergraduate researchers in Psychological and Brain Sciences.

Reflecting on her WPA award and the community that supported her, Rishitha shared, “I am truly ecstatic about this opportunity and even more grateful to be part of such a supportive community.”

Congratulations, Rishitha, on these remarkable achievements!

Undergraduate Student Experiences

Community Outreach & Engagement
CONNECTING SCIENCE, STUDENTS & SOCIETY

The First California Well-Being Conference

In spring 2026, graduate students Madison Montemayor-Dominguez and Stephen Cadieux co-organized the inaugural California Well-Being Conference at UCR.

This student-led event brought together researchers interested in psychological well-being and human flourishing, demonstrating the power of graduate student leadership and cross-institutional collaboration.

Read: Student-Led, Statewide Impact — UCR Hosts First California Well-Being Conference

IMPACTO Lab: Research Meets Community Advocacy

Dr. Alejandra Arce's IMPACTO Lab hosted a speaker from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) for a bystander training focused on safely and effectively documenting immigration enforcement activity.

This initiative exemplifies the department's commitment to community-engaged scholarship, civic education, and translating psychological science into practical community resources.

Learning Across the Lifespan

Through community-engaged research and partnerships, department faculty are advancing understanding of learning, development, mental health, and well-being across the lifespan, including older adulthood.

These activities strengthen connections between university research and the communities it serves.

Graduate Student Leadership & Service

Beyond their research and teaching accomplishments, graduate students play essential roles in departmental governance, mentoring, graduate student advocacy, and campus support services.

• Campus & Graduate Student Services

  Destyni Cravens
  Basic Needs Liaison; Graduate Student Association member
  destyni.cravens@ucr.edu

  Jennifer Mosley
  Lead Writing Consultant, Graduate Writing Center
  jennifer.mosley@ucr.edu

  Anais Martinez
  Graduate Grant Coordinator Assistant; Graduate Grants Coordinator
  anais.martinez@email.ucr.edu

• Graduate Student Representatives

  Paul McAvoy
  Social & Personality
  paul.mcavoy@email.ucr.edu

  Hanzhi Wang
  Developmental
  hanzhi.wang@email.ucr.edu

  Sahereh Varastegan
  Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience
  sahereh.varastegan@email.ucr.edu

  Zachary Kelly
  Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience
  zachary.kelly@email.ucr.edu

• Quantitative Mentoring Committee

  Arash Mehrkesh
  Graduate Student Consultant
  arash.mehrkesh@email.ucr.edu

  Minghui Wang
  Graduate Student Consultant
  mwang249@ucr.edu

• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee

  Destyni Cravens
  Graduate Student Member
  destyni.cravens@ucr.edu

  Chelsea McElwee
  Graduate Student Member
  cmcel008@ucr.edu

  Jennifer Mosley
  Graduate Student Member
  jennifer.mosley@ucr.edu

  Stephen Cadieux
  Graduate Student Member
  scadi002@ucr.edu

  Marlene Figueroa
  Graduate Student Member
  mfigu052@ucr.edu

  Anais Martinez
  Graduate Student Member; Chair, DEI Student Subcommittee
  anais.martinez@email.ucr.edu

Thank You to Our Department Community

Looking Forward, Together

The 2025–2026 academic year represents an exciting chapter in our department's history. With a new name, a growing research portfolio, extraordinary faculty and student achievements, and a deep commitment to community engagement, the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences continues to expand the impact of psychological science.

We extend our gratitude to our faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, dedicated staff, alumni, and community partners for making this year possible.

Here's to another year of discovery, learning, collaboration, and impact!

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