Lab Members

Christopher Hepner

Lab Manager

BA and MA in Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University

I am interested in the cognitive processes involved in speaking and writing. As a Master's student, I studied the processes involved in spelling and learning to spell by investigating the causes of developmental dysgraphia. In Bonnie's lab, I have focused on lexical selection and the role of working memory in language production, and I will be continuing this research by working with individuals with aphasia and conducting online experiments with neurotypical adults.

Delaney McDonagh

Full-time Research Assistant

BS in Neuroscience, Rhodes College

I am interested in the factors that impact the learning of new concepts and words. Through my interest in language development and speech production within my undergraduate coursework and my time teaching English as a second language to refugee children and adults, I became fascinated with how the mind navigates learning a new language. In the Nozari lab, I hope to work on projects studying how children produce language and what facilitates this developmental process.

Will Harrison

Full-time Research Assistant

BA in Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University; MA in Communicative Disorders and Sciences, SUNY at Buffalo

I am interested in the cognitive processes involved in language production, and what occurs when these processes are disrupted in cases of brain injury. These interests stem from my clinical experiences working with adults with cognitive impairment in graduate school. In the Nozari lab, I hope to work with individuals with brain injury to explore the nature of language production and to ultimately improve treatment outcomes for these individuals.

Eri Phinisee

I am a rising junior majoring in Cognitive Science and Decision Science. I am fascinated by how a mind interprets data from the physical world with such sensitivity and efficiency and manipulates it in practical, continuously innovative ways, and in the future I am interested in creating better cognitive technologies and information processing systems that will boost human productivity. At the Nozari lab, I hope to gain insights into the underlying cognitive mechanisms of a goal-driven mind interacting with digital communication tools.

Marion Haney

I am an undergraduate student majoring in Statistics and Machine Learning and minoring in Chinese. During my first year at Carnegie Mellon, I have developed a passion for programming and its ancillary topics. I most look forward to exploring how programming can be utilized to improve my research. In Dr. Nozari’s lab, I hope to investigate the cognitive processes behind typing.

Christina Ma

I am a rising junior majoring in Cognitive Science and minor in Computer Science. I am very interested in the humans learning process, such as, for example, the learning of language, and the way we process language to lay down new knowledge. At Dr. Nozari’s lab, I hope to get some insights regarding the use of computational and neuroscience tools when investigating the cognitive mechanisms of learning.

Jessa Westheimer

I am a senior pursuing in the BXA program studying Neurobiology and Art with a Minor in Media Design. I am interested in the mechanisms of language production, visual attention, and error correction, and especially how these multimodal processes relate to the neural underpinnings of mental health. At the Nozari lab, I hope to learn how cognitive science research is conducted as well as how the interplay between cognition and mental health can inform patient care.