Clare M
- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

Expertise

adolescent brain and behavioral development, puberty, well-being

Bio

I am Clare (she/her), a first-year Ph.D. student at UCLA studying developmental psychology. Specifically, I am excited about research on adolescent development. I focus on pubertal processes and their impact on various developmental outcomes (e.g., brain trajectories, emotional well-being, and health). Outside of research, I care for my cat Orwell, who has cerebellar hypoplasia (wobbly cat syndrome). I also love reading and hanging out with friends.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Does pubertal stage relate to self concept clarity?

Adolescence and puberty are thought to trigger identity refinement, allowing individuals to understand more about themselves. This project would probe the question of whether or not we can associate where someone is at in the pubertal progression with how clear they are in their values and beliefs. Together, we can perform a review of relevant literature and conduct analyses to answer the above question. From this, we can work on crafting a manuscript (similar to an essay) or a presentation.

Coding skills

R, SPSS, python (basic), HTML

Teaching experience

I have experience mentoring both high schoolers and undergraduate students in various capacities. In the past, I have helped high school students with professional and personal development. I worked on an online platform assisting folks to work through open-ended questions regarding their goals for completing high school and beyond. In my work with undergraduate students, I advised them on their honors theses. This entails working one-on-one to dig through theoretical frameworks, conceptualize research questions, conduct literature reviews, plan and conduct analyses, and report results.