Dr. Kathryn Holland (she/her)
I received my B.A. in Applied Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and my Ph.D. in Psychology & Women’s Studies from the University of Michigan. I am now an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Women’s & Gender Studies Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As an interdisciplinary scholar, my research is shaped by concepts and theories in multiple areas of psychology (social psychology, law psychology, community psychology) and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. I am passionate about using multiple research methods—qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method. I am also committed to using research to facilitate social justice and change. For example, by making my research findings accessible to administrators, policymakers, and practitioners and using research to develop more theoretically and empirically informed policies, resources, and programs.
Graduate Students
Alex Diede (she/her)
Alex Diede graduated with honors from Black Hills State University with a B.S. in psychology and a minor in sociology in 2019. Her research interests revolve around gender and sexuality, with particular emphasis on romantic and sexual relationships, sexual assault, domestic violence, gender roles, and attachment theory. As an undergraduate student, she worked in two labs; one studying the effects of an art intervention program on inpatient adolescents, and the other looking at the impact of gratitude and social support on physical pain. During her undergraduate career, she was able to work her way up to lead researcher and gain experience presenting at a national conference. In addition to her research, Alex has also been able to gain practical experience working as the Internship Coordinator for her department. After graduation, she worked for a specialized domestic violence court with responsibilities including performing risk assessments on misdemeanor domestic violence offenders using scales such as ODARA and IRAD as well as coordinating monthly meetings with court officials, victim's advocates, and treatment providers. In the future, she hopes to become a professor of psychology at a small liberal arts university and continue her research career. In her free time, she enjoys watching movies, listening to comedy, reading, and spending time with her spouse and two dogs.
Rebecca Howard Valdivia (she/her)
Becca earned her B.A. in Psychology and English from the University of Oregon (2016), and her M.A. in Psychological Research from California State University at Long Beach (2020). She is interested in how interpersonal, institutional, and societal factors affect sexual assault survivors’ well-being, with a particular focus on social reactions to disclosures and betrayal (i.e., institutional betrayal, cultural betrayal trauma). She is now a doctoral student in the Social and Cognitive Psychology program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and pursuing a concentration in Women’s and Gender Studies.
Maeve Allen (she/her)
Maeve Allen graduated summa cum laude from California State University Long Beach in 2024 with a BA in Psychology and minors in gerontology and child development and family studies. As an undergraduate, Maeve joined the Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) program, which is an NIH grant that provides personalized mentoring, funding, and research opportunities to undergraduate students. Through this program, Maeve worked with Dr. Courtney Ahrens to lead a team in investigating the accessibility of Title IX and advocacy resources for sexual violence survivors at four-year universities in the United States. Through Dr. Ahrens’ lab, Maeve also led a project that examined hope as a meaningful factor relating to depression, anxiety, and other negative affective disorders in domestic violence shelter residents and staff. In 2022, Maeve became an intern, and later volunteer coordinator, at Not Alone at the Beach, a sexual violence prevention and advocacy center at California State University Long Beach. She organized outreach events, trained new interns and volunteers, and coordinated with university offices to facilitate sexual violence prevention programming. In 2023, Maeve was accepted to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Summer Research Program for Community-Engaged Training for Advancing Health Equity, where she worked with Dr. Katie Edwards. She engaged in a project that evaluated a sexual violence and alcohol abuse prevention program for LGBTQ+ adolescents. She later joined projects that evaluated sexual violence prevention programs for Native American children and gender-diverse youth. In 2024, Maeve was awarded the Advancement of Women Award by the President’s Commission on the Status of Women at California State University Long Beach for her campus service at Not Alone at the Beach and her research on sexual violence among women, Native Americans, and queer youth. Maeve is excited to continue working with sexual violence survivors and the LGBTQ+ community in her research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In her free time, Maeve enjoys reading, baking, and spending time with her family.
Olivia Checkalski
Olivia Checkalski (she/her/hers) is a graduate student in the Social Psychology program. In May 2020 she graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a B.A. in Psychology and American Culture & Difference, and a minor in Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. In May 2022, she received her M.A. here at UNL, and her thesis explored women's motivations for sending nudes. Her current research interests include questions about self-objectification and self-sexualization, especially as a means of adding nuance to cultural narratives about sexual empowerment. When she isn’t on zoom calls Olivia is likely crafting, watching reality TV that doesn’t align with her values, or ranting about compulsory heterosexuality.
Undergraduate Students
Mariana Bowring
Mariana Bowring (she/her) is an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan majoring in Psychology and Women/Gender Studies. Her research interests are in feminist psychology with an intersectional lens focusing on women/gender studies, sexuality, anti-racism and gender equity. After graduating, she hopes to continue on to graduate school in Psychology and Women’s Studies and pursue a career in research.
Kiera Irvin
Kiera Irvin is an undergraduate honors student at the University of Nebraska, majoring in Psychology with a minor in English. Her research interests include domestic violence and sexual assault, the effect of adverse childhood experiences on health and development- specifically abuse and neglect, and the impact of poverty following children into adulthood. After graduation, Kiera plans to attend graduate school in order to obtain a PhD in Clinical Psychology, aiming to work with children and adolescents with a focus on trauma and impoverishment.
Bella Rodriguez
Bella Rodriguez is an undergraduate student at the University of Nebraska Lincoln majoring in Psychology and minoring in Spanish and Criminology. She is from Kansas City, Missouri and hopes to live there after her academic career. Her long-term goals involve pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and specializing in criminal psych to advocate for mental health in environments where it is most needed. Some other fun facts about Bella is that she is able to speak English, Spanish, and Italian, she holds a position on UNL’s Panhellenic Council as Vice President of Recruitment, and she loves meeting new people.
Alexandra Geith
Quinn Sweeny
Alumni Lab Members (graduate)
Allison Cipriano (primary mentee)
Allison Cipriano graduated from UNL with a PhD in Social and Cognitive Psychology and a minor in Women's and Gender Studies in 2024 and began an Assistant Professor position at Ball State University.
Sarah Eagan (assisted with graduate student reporting study)
Sarah Eagan graduated from UNL with a PhD in Social and Cognitive Psychology in 2022 and began an Assistant Professor position at Worcester State University.
Zach Huit (assisted with student support seeking study)
Zach Huit graduated from UNL with a PhD in Clinical Psychology in 2023.
Alumni Lab Members (undergraduate)
- Randii Reikofski (2023)
- Nancy Tran (2023)
- Ben Danielson (2023)
- Catherine Loftus (2023)
- Addison Kinnaman (2023)
- Anders Bagby (2023)
- Sarah Danielson (2022-2023)
- Antoinette Tucker (2022-2023)
- Sam Wilburn (2022-2023)
- Kiya Hudson (2022-2023)
- Kelsie Bartek (2022-2023)
- Morgan Berg (2020-2022)
- Maddie Luebe (2020-2022, 2023-2024)
- Chasitey Whitmore (2020-2021)
- Emily Waitr (2019-2020)
- Cody Meyer (2019-2020)
- Elissa Wiener (2019-2020)
- Anna Stoltenberg (2019-2020)
- Sage Volk (2017-2020)
- Maddyson Meuret (2018-2019)
- Mari Crisler (2018-2019)
- Allegra Blomengerg (2018-2019)
- Laura Nelms (2018-2019)
- Sydney Bork (2017-2019)
- Kaylee Robinson (2017-2019)
- Rin Nguyen (2017-2019)
- Lizeth Fraire (2017-2019)
- Carolyn Herrera (2017-2018)
- Jasmine Brown (2017-2018)
- Melanie Feith (2017-2018)