Doctoral Students

K’Nadja Sims

K’Nadja Sims is a doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology & Applied Human Development program at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development on the counseling psychology track. K’Nadja’s research interests include Black identity development and academic achievement. At Boston University, she works as an assistant to BU’s Sankofa Scholars program and is […]

Tanya Songtachalert

Tanya Songtachalert is a doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology & Applied Human Development program at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Her research focuses on mental healthcare accessibility for Asian and Asian American individuals, and how food and shared mealtimes can be used to increase access and efficacy of group therapy […]

Andrea St. John

Andrea St. John is a doctoral student in educational leadership & policy studies at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. She brings a wealth of knowledge in district curriculum development, transformational leadership, as well as years of experience as a school-based leader. Andrea has worked in large urban school districts such as […]

Ya Su

Ya Su is a doctoral student at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Currently, Ya serves as the associate director of International Alumni Networks at Boston University, where she cultivates essential relationships with alumni across Asia through diverse programs and communications. Ya’s previous roles include serving as an international project manager at […]

Caitríona Taylor

Caitríona Taylor is a doctoral student in Higher Education Leadership at BU Wheelock, where her scholarly interests focus on shared governance, student well-being, and data-informed organizational change within higher education. She currently serves as Executive Director of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (PERD) at Boston University, overseeing FitRec’s operations and strategy, managing employees and program […]

Mitali Temurnikar

Mitali Temurnikar is a doctoral student in counseling psychology at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and a research assistant at the VOICE (Valuing Openness, Inclusion, and Critical Education) Lab. Her research examines psychological safety in schools, the role of identity in fostering belonging, and strategies to expand equitable access to mental […]

Noah Veloz

Noah Veloz is a doctoral student in the Language & Literacy Education program at BU Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Their focus is on adult immigrant and refugee education, focusing on the nonprofit sector and language acquisition for adults with limited or interrupted formal education. This was also the subject of their master’s […]

Pei Wang

Pei Wang is a doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology & Applied Human Development program at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Her research focuses on the social-emotional development of adolescents within diverse social, economic, and cultural contexts. She aims to develop culture-based strategies to support the positive development of adolescents from […]

Emily Wu

Emily Wu is a doctoral student in counseling psychology at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. She is a research member of the ARISE Lab under the advisement of Dr. Grace Kim. Her research aims to uncover the risk and resilience trajectories linked to racial trauma in ethnically minoritized youth. By identifying […]

Jingyi Xu

Jingyi Xu is a doctoral student in the Applied Human Development program at Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. She works in the Social Learning Lab, which is directed by Dr. Kathleen Corriveau. Her research centers on culture and social cognitive development. She is interested in studying how cultural and religious values […]