Alumni

Alma Rodriguez graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Agriculture and Environmental Education.

Amanda Dimachkie Nunnally, Ph.D., held a Postdoctoral Fellowship with the CARE lab. Her research interests focus on exploring the processes of emotion regulation and self-regulation among young children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities, specifically within the context of caregiver-child interactions. Prior to beginning her postdoctoral position at the UC Davis MIND Institute, Dr. Dimachkie Nunnally received her Ph.D. in Education, with an emphasis on Human Development and Psychology, at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Amelia Garcia graduated with a BS in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior with an emphasis in Neurobiology in the college of Biological Sciences in 2025.  She is passionate about mental health and neurodivergent advocacy and is interested in studying the interactions of neurodiverse students in the context of the education system. She plans to attend medical school to become a child psychiatrist.

Anmolpreet Kang is a recent UC Davis graduate, earning her Bachelor of Art degree in Psychology and Linguistics with a minor in Education. Anmolpreet plans to pursue a teaching credential and work with education policy to make classrooms more inclusive of neurodivergent students.

Anna Shan graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and minor in Education in 2025. Anna plans to continue her studies in graduate school, specializing in Educational Psychology. She is dedicated to enhancing her skills in research methodology and data analysis.

Ashok Srinivasan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 2025. He plans to attend graduate school, where he aims to specialize in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and work with children in a clinical setting. His primary research interest lies in understanding the impact of early childhood experiences on later development, with a particular focus on emotional and social factors that influence growth. 

Azeema Yahya is currently a High School English Teacher in the Bay Area, CA. After graduating from UC Davis and getting her BA in English and Minor in Education, she earned a Single Subject Teaching Credential and MA in Education. She stated that her time with the lab helped her immensely with teaching and creating a more inclusive learning environment for all students.

Bayleigh Baldwin graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Linguistics with a minor in History in 2025. Growing up in a family of inclusive educators, Bayleigh is passionate about improving education for all. She believes in the potential of interdisciplinary research to contribute to discoveries in education and beyond. Bayleigh will begin her doctoral program in Linguistics next fall at the University of Kansas. She is a first generation college student, and the first in her family to pursue higher education.

Cameron Alexander is currently a Ph.D. student in the School Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. He received a BS in Human Development and minored in Psychology and Education at UC Davis. Prior to his commitments as a research coordinator, Cameron worked in the CARE lab as an undergraduate research assistant for 2 years. He is interested in understanding and evaluating emotion regulation in learners with varying neurodevelopmental disabilities. 

Caroline Callagy graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and minors in Education and Music in 2025. She plans to attend graduate school to earn her teaching credential and master’s in Education. A strong advocate for individuals with disabilities, she is working towards becoming a special education teacher for elementary students. 

Caroline Van Zant graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Human Development and minors in Education and Psychology in 2025. She is passionate about advancing equity and inclusion for students with disabilities. She hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in special education or education policy.

Christine Joyce Soliva is a graduate research assistant pursuing an M.Ed. in General Education with a credential in Single Subject: English at the University of California, Riverside. She received a B.A. in English with minors in Women’s Studies and Education at UC Davis. She plans on teaching English at the High School level.  

Carina Webster graduated from UC Davis with a BA in Psychology. She has been working as an Early Interventionist for children with exceptionalities at an inclusive child developmental center in San Francisco, CA since 2018. She provides individualized intervention for children ages 0-3 and home-based coaching for their families as well as inclusion support and reflective training for teachers. As a clinician, Carina is certified in the Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationships-based model (“DIR Floortime”) and uses strategies from the Early Start Denver Model with support from an ESDM certified trainer. Outside of her work in early intervention, Carina is participating in a post-baccalaureate program pursuing a MA in Speech-Language Pathology. Carina will soon be launching her own community dedicated to embracing neurodiversity and reframing inclusion in collaboration with families and educators. Carina stated, “I hold so much gratitude for my experience as the lab’s first undergraduate employee! Dr. Sparapani introduced me to the concept of neurodiversity, encouraged me to learn more about developmental approaches for supporting individuals with autism, and shared a vision that both resonated with and inspired me to integrate these foundational ideas into a career path.”

Cecilia Williams graduated from UC Davis in 2018 with a BA in Psychology and Minors in Education and Human Development. Following graduation, she started her journey in ABA as a Registered Behavior Technician and pursued a Master’s degree in Special Education with emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis through Arizona State University. She obtained her Masters and Board Certified Behavior Analyst certification in 2022 and ascended to the role of Clinic Manager at Autism West Behavior Partners in 2024. In 2025, Cecilia is going to continue her career as a BCBA in Brazil, her home country.

Chloe Amaryllis Rankin is an alumna of UC Davis and a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in education at San Francisco State University with a concentration in equity and social justice. She participated in the CARE Lab in 2019 after inspiring some of the School of Education faculty with her Aspire with Autism presentation to the campus community. One of her career aspirations is to be a reform leader doing educational advocacy, innovative work, and trailblazing new enlightenments in the education field. Her educational trajectory was shaped by her ability to defy the odds to achieve a pathway of fulfillment and surpass what others believed was her limit with a mild form of autism. Living with ASD, Chloe took on a role in motivational speaking to share her experiences about finding her potential to succeed, getting ahead of ability stigma, and augmenting her abilities to take on the challenges of new opportunities. She states, “Autism is not a hindrance in my life but rather something to inspire with”. 

Eileen Nayeli De Jesus recently graduated with her Bachelor of Art degree in Psychology and double minoring in Education and Chicano Studies. Eileen plans to attend graduate school to receive a Master’s degree in School Psychology and become a licensed school psychologist. 

Elia Keating is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, along with minors in Education and Technology Management. They were part of the literacy assessment team.

Jacquelyn Rodriguez was in the UC Davis Human Development Department.

Jennie Bullen, Ph.D. is a recipient of the NIH Autism Researcher Training Program fellowship under the guidance of Drs. Nicole Sparapani and Peter Mundy. Her research interests are to understand the development of mathematical and numerical cognition in children on the autism spectrum and individuals with dyscalculia. Prior to her postdoc position, Dr. Bullen received her Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of California, Davis.   

Jennifer Yang graduated from the UC Davis with a BS in Human Development and a Minor in Psychology. She is currently working as a visitation coach specialist as well as a youth counselor within the community. She will be starting her graduate work at Boston University in School of Social Work in the fall 2021. 

Jocelyn Elias graduated from UC Davis June 2020 with a BA in Psychology. Since then, she has been working as a Registered Behavior Technician, providing Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) services to children with autism and their families. Jocelyn is currently working on a community engagement project with their current company at EasterSeals NorCal. Jocelyn also is a graduate student in a Master’s program in Counseling Psychology.

Johanna Vega Garcia, Ph.D.  graduated in the spring 2025 with her Ph.D. in Education. She is interested in studying teacher-student interactions and student-teacher relationships with neurodiverse students by observing teachers’ affect. 

Josh Traser graduated with his BA in Cognitive Science and Linguistics. He is currently working as a lab technician in a dental lab and is interested in attending graduate school in Speech-Language Pathology in the future. In addition, Josh is also pursuing his life’s work as a writer during his free time.

Juliana Griswold graduated from UC Davis with a BA in Human Development with a minor in Education in 2025. She plans to get a Master’s in Education and a teaching credential.

Kanwardeep Singh graduated from UC Davis with a BA in History and Minor in Education. She is currently in her second-year of teaching computer science/electives following her Master’s program. She is also on the Ethnic Studies Task Force and is leaning how to implement more inclusive education practices. Kanwar will be starting a doctoral program in fall 2021 to become an effective leader for her students. She is also hoping to gain the knowledge and skills needed to be an advocate for educational equity. Kanwar stated that she is grateful for the lab and the work Dr. Sparapani is doing to help educators. 

Kevin Dang is a recent UC Davis graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a minor in Psychology. Kevin plans to attend medical school with an emphasis in Family Medicine. 

Kirsten Daugherty was an undergraduate researcher in the UC Davis CARE Lab from March 2019 to September 2020. She coded classroom videos of student productivity. She continues to volunteer. Kirsten graduated in the spring of 2020 with a BA in Psychology and a Minor in Education. After UC Davis, she began graduate school at Brandman University, pursuing a MA in Teaching (MAT), with Preliminary Education Specialist and Mild/Moderate Credential with the English Learner and Autism Authorizations. After she receives her MA and special education credential, Kirsten aspires to become an elementary school special education teacher. In addition to graduate school, Kirsten is currently employed with the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District. She is a paraeducator in the RSP (Resource Specialist Program) at Anna Kyle Elementary School. She looks forward to gaining more experience as a paraeducator as she feels it will prepare her to be a great special education teacher in the future! 

Laurel Towers, Ph.D. is originally from the United Kingdom and has extensive experience supporting students with autism as a teacher, inclusion specialist, and school administrator. Laurel’s research interests include classroom interactions and practices between teachers, para-professionals, and students on the autism spectrum. She is especially interested in how educators’ instructional strategies can facilitate students’ emotion regulation during classroom learning.

Hli Vue graduated from UC Davis in 2025 with a BS in Human Development. She plans to pursue a Master’s degree in speech-language pathology and work with children as a pediatric speech therapist.

Maggie Wu graduated from UC Davis in 2020 with a BA in Psychology and Minor in Education. She is currently enrolled in the UC Davis Teacher Education Program, working on her Single Subject Teaching Credential. 

Mi-Ni Liu graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Communication in 2018. 

Mitchell Madison is a 2023 UC Davis graduate, earning a BA in psychology. Influenced by his upbringing in a large family (5 siblings, one of whom has autism) and his own experience with mental health, Mitchell is interested in pursuing a career in clinical social work with specific interests in family systems theory and generational trauma. Within the lab, he contributed to the collection of data through leading video observations and administering assessments. Additionally, Mitchell helped with the process of data entry and coding.

Muyen Liang graduated from UC Davis in 2025, majoring in Psychology with minors in Communication and Education. She plans to take a gap year before pursuing a master’s program in special education aon team.

Olivia Kelly graduated from UC Davis with a BS in Human Development and Minor in Psychology.

Regine Lasam graduated from UC Davis with a BS in Human Development. She is currently attending Alliant International University School of Nursing. 

Sana Karimi graduated from UC Davis in 2020 with a BA Sociology and Minor in Psychology. She is currently working as a research assistant at the Center for Mindfulness and Human Potential at UC Santa Barbara and a case manager at PATH, a homeless shelter.

Simran Raina graduated at the end of this quarter (March 2024) with a B.S. in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior and a B.A. in Psychology. She worked on coding teacher interviews to gain their perspective on the education of neurodivergent learners.

Sophia Date is a 2024 UCD graduate, with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Asian American Studies. She believes in amplifying the voices of the neurodivergent community, specifically in the context of public education. Sophia plans to attend graduate school to work on a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology.

Talia Morones helped with the video observation and assessment teams. She graduated from UC Davis with a Bachelor’s in Linguistics. She now plans to pursue graduate school to eventually become a speech-language pathologist. 

Yelizaveta Belomyttseva (Liza) graduated from UC Davis in 2019 with a BS in Biological Sciences. She is currently in graduate school. 

Zaina Khoury graduated from UC Davis with a BS in Human Development and Minor in Human Rights. She is currently at Columbia University in New York. working on a MA in Speech-Language Pathology.