B.A., Psychology, Northwestern College
Emily is a doctoral student in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies at UNL, advised by Dr. Kuo. She graduated from Northwestern College in 2019 with a B.A. in Psychology, where she was awarded the Student Research Award by the Association for Psychological Science for her thesis project exploring the effects of smartphone-based mindfulness meditation on emotion regulation strategies. After earning her undergraduate degree, Emily participated in a National Science Foundation REU at Ohio University, where she conducted treatment-related research for youth with social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Before beginning graduate school, Emily also served as a lab manager in the Learning and Development Research Group, investigating the importance of home and school environments in the development of children’s executive functioning. She remains involved in the LADR Lab, continuing projects that investigate fear learning within the parent-child relationship, especially in the context of conversations surrounding COVID-19. Emily currently works in the Nebraska Strong Families Lab and serves as the Study Coordinator for the Living with Toddlers Study. She hopes to conduct her master’s thesis on the influence of parents’ gender ideologies in the emotion socialization of their preschool children.
Why CYAF at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
“One of the things that drew me to the Child, Youth and Family Studies program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was the opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary research. I believe this is the best approach to solving real-life problems, and I appreciate the applied emphasis of this program and its involvement with the community.”
Labs Participated In:
Learning and Development Research Group
Center for Intervention Research in Schools
Awards
Chancellor’s Fellowship, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2020-2023
Student Research Award, Association for Psychological Science, 2019
Outstanding Graduating Senior Award, Northwestern College, 2019
Undergraduate Research Grant, Psi Chi International Honor Society, 2018
Highlighted Publications & Presentations
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Starr, E. (2019, May). Smartphone-based mindfulness intervention increases interoceptive awareness and improves emotion regulation: A randomized controlled trial. Student Research Award Address at Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Washington, D.C
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Starr, E. (2018, December). Take ten: Smartphone-based mindfulness intervention and its effect on interoception, emotion regulation, depression, and anxiety. Honors thesis defended at Northwestern College, Orange City, IA.
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Starr, E., Nyhof, M. A., Currier, A., Schubert, A., & Darling, A. (2018, April). In the beginning: How is the Genesis story presented in children’s Bibles? Talk presented at Siouxland Undergraduate Social Science Research Conference, Sioux City, IA.
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Starr, E., Capps, R. E., Wymbs, B., Manigault, A. W., & Zoccola, P. M. (2019, August). Romantic partners demonstrate adrenocortical attunement during a conflict discussion task. Poster presented at Ohio University REU Symposium, Athens, OH.
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Starr, E. (2019, April). All the feels: Correlations between interoception and emotion regulation. Poster presented at Midwest Psychological Association Conference. Chicago, IL.
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Nyhof, M. A., Starr, E., Currier, A., Schubert, A., & Darling, A., (2018). The Bible tells me so: What do children’s Bibles tell us about God? Poster presented at Celebration of Research. Orange City, IA.