Lab Director
Shailee Woodard (She/Her)
Thank you for visiting the Big Beliefs Lab website! I’m Shailee Woodard, Ph.D., the director of the Big Beliefs Lab. I first learned about worldviews in a cultural psychology class that I took as an undergraduate student at Pacific Lutheran University. I was fascinated by these systems of core beliefs that we use to understand the world around us, provide meaning to our experiences, and guide our behaviors. As a graduate student at the University of Montana, I began researching the origins and development of worldviews, and I developed both an adult and child-friendly measure of worldviews. I am thrilled to be continuing this research with my students at Keene State College!
Current Research Assistants
Kaitlyn Ferdinand (She/Her)
My name is Kaitlyn Ferdinand and I joined the Big Beliefs Lab during the fall semester of 2022. I am majoring in psychology with the hope to become a Clinical Psychologist and work in youth and adolescent therapy one day. I joined the lab because I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn more about the age group I am considering working with and what types of beliefs and values they have at that age.
Brynn Tela (She/Her)
My name is Brynn Tela. I joined the Big Beliefs Lab in the fall semester of 2022. I’m glad to have the opportunity to work in the lab, as I’m interested in developmental psychology and understanding how children form certain beliefs. I will be graduating in the spring of 2025 witha bachelor’s degree in psychology and minors in early childhood development and literature. After graduation, I hope to work with children, potentially as a school psychologist. I’m excited to gain new research skills and expand my knowledge about the development of children’s beliefs!
Mason Mysliwy (He/They)
Hi, my name is Mason Mysliwy. I’m a first-year Psychology Major with a minor in Data analytics. I hope to have a career in data analysis for research projects. I joined the Big Beliefs Lab because I believe understanding the worldviews of children and young adults can allow for advancements in understanding how we grow and change as a society and because it presents a rewarding yet challenging experience for me to further the skills that I want to be able to use throughout my adult life.
Maggie Gasuk (She/Her)
Hi! My name is Maggie Gasuk and I joined the Big Beliefs Lab during the summer semester of 2023. I am currently a junior at Keene State College majoring in Psychology. When I was presented with the opportunity to work with Dr. Woodard in the lab i was ecstatic and immediately became immersed in the research. I have always loved working with children and I am deeply passionate about research. I am hoping to have a career in clinical research.
Sarah Binns (She/Her)
My name is Sarah Binns and I joined the Big Beliefs Lab during the spring semester of 2024. I am majoring in psychology with a special interest in childhood development, and minoring in entrepreneurship. I joined the Big Beliefs Lab because I believe the research we do is not only fascinating, but important to learn about. The way children see the world has not only made me fall in love with psychology, but has always been a steady interest of mine. After graduation I hope to open up my own private practice in counseling, working with children and families and aiding in whatever they may need. I am excited to learn how children see the world through their eyes, and how that may differ from the way we, as adults, see the world.
Past Research Assistants
Madison Puglisi (She/Her)
My name is Madison Puglisi. I graduated from Keene State College with a bachelors degree in psychology with a minor in women and gender studies. I was a research assistant from January 2022- August 2022! When introduced to this opportunity, I was thrilled to learn from Dr. Woodard and became immediately invested in the work. I am passionate about advocating for children’s mental health and have a deep connection and understanding to belief systems. My plan for the future is to become a guidance counselor and to bring mental health advocacy programs that emphasize empathy, acceptance, diversity, and self awareness into public education systems. I also plan to one day continue this research in rural communities!
Alexandra Lacy (She/Her)
My name’s Alexandra Lacy and I joined the Big Beliefs Lab in the spring semester of 2022 where I then graduated in May of 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. I also minored in biology and hope to one day be a physician assistant. I joined the big beliefs lab because I have always been interested in children’s beliefs and how their beliefs come about, so I thought this would be a great way to learn about that!
Grace Hallett (She/Her)
Hello everybody! My name is Grace Hallett and I’m so excited to be a research assistant for Dr. Woodard’s Big Beliefs Lab! I’m currently a senior at Keene State College, and I’m majoring in psychology and minoring in early childhood development. Once I graduate in May 2023, I plan to continue my education and achieve a master’s in school psychology. Besides focusing on my schoolwork, I am also currently serving as the vice president for KSC’s chapter of Psi Chi, and I’m one of the captains of the softball team. I have always loved working with young children in the academic and athletic realm, and I’m delighted to bring my experience and interests to the B.B. Lab. I joined as a research assistant in the spring of 2022 to learn more about the factors that influence a child’s worldviews and how we, as educators and school personnel, can discover ways to measure these changes and adaptations to foster positive learning environments.
Grace Bowers (She/Her)
Hello, my name is Grace Bowers, and I am currently a senior Psychology student at Keene State College. I joined Dr. Woodard’s Big Beliefs Lab in Spring 2023 and plan to assist a bit in the summer after graduation. I am hoping to one day continue my education and achieve an MA in Expressive Therapies so I can be an art therapist that works with all types of age groups eventually. Understanding how our perception of the world may develop and impact our lives is an interesting topic to me, so I am extremely excited to be involved in this work.