Dr. Aryn Zeihnert

EWU McNair Scholar Miriam Carlson Receives Leadership in Education Award, Contributes to Textbook

05/05/2022 by Liina Koivula Leave a Comment

EWU McNair Alumna Miriam Carlson (class of 2020) currently attends Gonzaga University’s Education Specialist in School Psychology program, and she is doing great things there! Miriam recently received the Jeanne Foster-Wardian Leadership in Education Award at Gonzaga University. This award was established in honor of Jeanne Foster-Wardian, who served as Dean of the School of Education from 1974-1989. She lived her personal and professional life supporting and encouraging the potential for leadership that she believed was in everyone. The Jeanne Foster-Wardian Leadership in Education Award is bestowed each year to students who demonstrate evidence of excellent scholastic achievement, disciplinary competence, commitment to education through service, and integrity of character.

Miriam also had the opportunity to help with the writing and editing of a textbook, Essentials of Bayley™ —4 Assessment by Dr. Vincent Alfonso. Dr. Alfonso is a professor highly published and recognized in the field of school psychology. Miriam is thanked in the book’s acknowledgments.

Additionally, Miriam contributed to the research and development phase of the PsyD in School Psychology program at Gonzaga University that is projected to launch in 2023.

Miriam completed her McNair Summer Research project titled The Effects of Cognitive Appraisal on Postsecondary Education in 2019 under the mentorship of Dr. Aryn Zeihnert. She went on to attend Gonzaga University’s Education Specialist in School Psychology program. She is a member of the American Psychological Association. Congratulations, Miriam, on all of your achievements!

Lizeth Bañuelos selected as an EWU McNair Scholar and Awarded Summer Research Internship

05/29/2020 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Photo of LIzeth Banuelos next to text congratulating her with red textured border.

Congratulations Eastern Washington University student Lizeth Bañuelos! Lizeth has been selected as an EWU McNair Scholar and awarded a summer research internship. McNair Scholars must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and are first generation college students and low-income and/or underrepresented students. They are selected for their promise as scholars and commitment towards attaining a PhD.

Lizeth Bañuelos is a senior studying Applied Developmental Psychology and minoring in Race and Culture Studies as well as Chicana/o/x Studies. Her main research interest is in the psychology of the Latinx community, focusing on Latinx college students and their mental health in higher education institutions. Lizeth will complete an EWU McNair Summer Research Institute in the summer of 2020 under the mentorship of Dr. Aryn Ziehnert, Lecturer in the EWU Psychology Department.

We're so excited to have Lizeth join us at EWU McNair!

EWU McNair Scholar Lily Ann Long Awarded Dean Jeffers W. Chertok Honored Student Award

05/26/2020 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

EWU McNair Scholar Lily Ann Long receives Dean Jeffers W. Chertok Honored Student Award.

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Lily Ann Long! Lily Ann has been selected to receive the Dean Jeffers W. Chertok Honored Student Award for the College of Social Sciences, Psychology. This award is presented to exceptional students who have shown a commitment to their education by demonstrating outstanding academic achievement with a minimum of a 3.75 GPA in their previous four quarters and through leadership and service to the community. Lily Ann has interned at First Call for Help Spokane as a crisis advocate where she answered crisis calls as well as organizing and implementing training for new volunteers. From December 2019 through June 2020 Lily Ann has continued her crisis advocacy through Crisis Text Line United States. She has also volunteered as an EWU Student Mentor for Cheney Middle School, a crisis advocate at the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery, and a warming shelter volunteer at the Seattle Dinner Church. She holds an Activist in Residence Training Certificate as well as a Certificate in Suicide Prevention.

Beyond her exceptional community involvement, Lily Ann is a brilliant, hard working scholar. She is a senior at EWU majoring in Psychology with a minor in Applied Developmental Psychology. Throughout her time at Eastern, Lily Ann has received the Len Stern Endowed Research Award, a College Bound Scholarship, and an EWU McNair Summer Research Internship. She has been on the EWU Dean's List from Fall 2015 through graduation, and the Excellent Student Leader Award from the Department of Political Science and International Affairs. She is also a member of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.

Lily Ann has done extensive research while at Eastern. Her research interests include marginalization, stigmatization, attachment disorders, and suicide prevention. She is a research assistant in both Dr. Martin's Social Psychology Lab and Dr. Kolts' Clinical Pscyhology Research Lab. As a part of Dr. Theresa Martin's Psychology 313 Research Methods course, Lily Ann designed and completed a quantitative study of the impact of the EWU Psychology curriculum on students' stigmatization of mental health disorders. Through independent study with Dr. Kolts she is exploring the co-occurrence of complex trauma and childhood gender dysphoria and how it relates to adult gender identity. In addition, she collected, synthesized, and presented research on prospective donors for EWU Advancement Services.

As a McNair Scholar, Lily Ann has committed to attaining a Ph.D. Beyond all of her above research, to further prepare for her Ph.D., she completed an EWU McNair Summer Research Internship under the mentorship of Dr. Aryn Zeihnert where she began a research project on shame as a function of academic distress in populations of first-generation, low-income, and minority students. She also worked as a Teaching Assistant for Dr. Zeihnert from the spring of 2019 through Winter 2020. Finaaly, Lily Ann presented the research she worked on with Dr. Martin, "Ghosting as a Dissolution Tactic in Romantic Relationships," at the EWU Symposium in 2019. To read more about Lily Ann and her research check out her webpage on the McNair site.

Lily Ann has been accepted into Point Park University's PsyD Program and plans to attend in the fall of 2020. EWU McNair is so proud of Lily Ann and all of her hard work. We know she will have a continued powerful impact on the field of psychology and beyond!

EWU College of Social Sciences Honors Six EWU McNair Scholars

05/20/2020 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Six fantastic EWU McNair Scholars receive highest awards from the College of Social Sciences at EWU.

This spring, the Eastern Washington University College of Social Sciences has selected six EWU McNair Scholars for some of their highest awards. The Frances B. Huston Medallion Award is presented to only 20 graduating students each year who have a strong academic record and have demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities at Eastern and in the community. EWU McNair Scholars Angélica García-Macías (Political Science), Miriam Carlson (Psychology), and Marixza Torres (Psychology) all received this award. The Dean Jeffers W. Chertok Honored Student Award for the College of Social Sciences is presented to exceptional students who have shown a commitment to their education by demonstrating outstanding academic achievement with a minimum of a 3.75 GPA in their previous four quarters and through leadership and service to the community. The College of Social Sciences selected EWU McNair Scholars Madelyn Brown (History), Lily Ann Long (Psychology) and Abdulrazik Mohamed (International Affairs) for this award.

Not only do these awards acknowledge the hard work of each of these students, they also exemplify the power of collaboration, mentorship, and student support by EWU faculty and staff. Each year the EWU McNair Program recruits promising scholars and engages them in year round learning on research, writing, and preparation for graduate school. Each EWU McNair Scholar is paired with a faculty mentor who guides them through the research process. EWU McNair Faculty Mentors meet as often as weekly with their mentees throughout spring and summer quarters culminating in a research paper. EWU McNair Scholars then present this research at the EWU Symposium as well as at academic conferences around the nation. For example, Miriam Carlson will present her research, completed under the mentorship of Dr. Aryn Zeihnert, at the upcoming Western Psychological Association conference in October 2020. Marixza Torres has presented her EWU research, under the mentorship of McNair Director Dr. Christina Torres García, at the Western Psychological Association conference and the National Latinx Psychological Association conference. Marixza has also been mentored year round by Dr. Theresa Martin. Other mentors for this group of scholars include: Dr. Dorothy Zeisler-Vralsted (Abdu), Dr. Aryn Zeihnert (Lily Ann), Dr. Martín Meráz García (Angélica), and Lecturer SimHayKin S. Jack along with Dr. Christina Torres García (Madelyn), and there are countless other College of Social Sciences faculty and staff that support McNair students at present and in past years. In addition to these formal faculty mentorships, many professors do additional year round support for students, by having them join their research labs, TA, and just everyday care, engagement, and guidance.

McNair also provides year round support for students including tutoring, linking students to services and resources, and regular one-on-one meetings for connection, encouragement, and advice. EWU McNair makes sure students have the tool they need to navigate higher education, successfully apply to graduate school and research internships, and negotiate funding and final decisions for which graduate schools they will attend.

McNair is a federally funded program that helps low-income first generation colleges students and those else wise underrepresented in higher education to earn PhD's and increase diversity in academia. EWU's McNair program started in 1995 and, to-date, 40 EWU McNair Scholars have gone on to earn their PhD and over 100 more have attained their Masters degree. This year, twelve graduating EWU McNair Scholars have been accepted to Masters and/or PhD programs, many with full funding. Miriam has been accepted Gonzaga University's Education Specialist in School Psychology program. Lily Ann has been accepted into Point Park University's PsyD Program. Angélica has been accepted at 3 PhD programs with full funding and one Masters program. Marixza has been accepted to 2 PhD programs with full funding and one Masters program. Abdu has been accepted by 3 Masters programs and 1 PhD program with full funding. And Madelyn has been accepted by 7 Masters programs, many of which offered full funding. All are planning to attend graduate school in the fall of 2020. This would not be possible without the incredible support of faculty mentors and partnership with the other colleges at EWU. Thank you to all of our incredible faculty and staff and congratulations to our phenomenal scholars!

EWU McNair Scholar Miriam Carlson Awarded Frances B. Huston Medallion

04/28/2020 by Jaeger, Corinne 1 Comment

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Miriam Carlson! Miriam has been selected to receive a 2019-2020 Frances B. Huston Medallion Award for the College of Social Sciences. This award is presented to only 20 graduating students each year who have a strong academic record and have demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities at Eastern and in the community. For her field study experience, Miriam volunteered as a Housing Specialist at Family Promise, an emergency family shelter in Spokane. She connected guests with housing resources, created a resource center at the organization, and began an after-school homework club. She also built relationships with other community organizations and set up recurring monthly outreach meetings that catered to guests with little ones who found it challenging to travel around the city to gain access to resources. In connection with her work at Family Promise, Miriam joined the RESULTS advocacy group which works on long-term solutions to homelessness by looking at the root causes of poverty and through this has met and educated legislative aids regarding these issues. In addition, Miriam has helped provide childcare and learning services to 2nd and 3rd graders at Life Center for the past five years.

Beyond her exceptional community involvement, Miriam is an amazing scholar. She is a senior at EWU pursuing a BS in Applied Developmental Psychology, a BA in Psychology, and a minor in Communication. As a McNair Scholar, Miriam has committed to attaining her Ph.D. To prepare for this, Miriam completed a summer research internship at EWU under the mentorship of Dr. Aryn Zeihnert. She has continued research with Dr. Zeihnert and also does research with Dr. Charalambos C. Cleanthous. She presented her research at the EWU symposium and has been accepted to present her research at the Western Psychological Association conference in October 2020. She has been on the Dean's List at EWU since the Spring of 2017 and is a part of the National Society for Collegiate Scholars. To read more about Miriam and her research check out her webpage on the McNair site.

Miriam was accepted to Gonzaga University's Education Specialist in School Psychology program and plans to both attend in the fall and continue her wonderful community work. McNair is so proud of Miriam and all of her hard work. We know she will have a continued powerful impact on academia and in her communities as she pursues a graduate education and beyond!

EWU McNair Scholar Miriam Carlson Accepted to Gonzaga’s Education Specialist in School Psychology Program

04/09/2020 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Photo of Miriam Carlson next red confetti background and white text on red congratulating her.

Congratulations EWU McNair Scholar Miriam Carlson! Miriam has been accepted to Gonzaga University's Education Specialist in School Psychology Program. Miriam Carlson is a senior working to attain a BS in Applied Developmental Psychology, a BA in Psychology, and a minor in Communications. For her McNair Summer Research Internship in 2019, under the mentorship of Dr. Aryn Ziehnert, she focused on the cognitive appraisal of nontraditional students. Her research was accepted into the Western Psychological Association (WPA) conference, which will be taking place in San Francisco this fall. She has continued to participate in research with Dr. Ziehnert throughout the 2019-2020 school year and is also a research member in Dr. Charalambos C. Cleanthous' lab. To learn more about Miriam and her research, check out her page on our website.

We're so excited for your next steps Miriam!