Jordan Brown [she/her] joined SART in January 2022 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she worked on projects related to reproductive justice and abortion attitudes pre- and post-the overturning of Roe v. Wade. In May 2023, she graduated with dual B.A. degrees in Psychology and Sociology (with a concentration in Criminology and Criminal Justice), alongside a minor in Political Science. After graduating from Tennessee, she earned her M.S. in Counseling and Educational Psychology (2025) from the University of Kentucky and provided trauma-informed, evidence-based interventions for children and families impacted by traumatic experiences and the welfare system through the UK College of Medicine’s Center on Trauma and Children. Jordan is currently a Ph.D. student in Psychology and Social Intervention at New York University. Her research interests examine the psychological needs that arise from systemic inequity, government policy, and activism engagement, as well as exploring ways to address these needs. Furthermore, Jordan aims to investigate how individuals construct meaning around their racial and cultural histories and experiences to develop collective interventions toward sociopolitical change.

Rachel Laribee [she/her] is currently getting her M.Ed. in Child Studies at Vanderbilt, with a focus on clinical and developmental research. As part of this, she works in the Education and Brain Sciences Research Lab, helping to implement a project investigating the link between reading, math, and executive functioning skills in elementary-age children. As well, she is a student in the Hemmeter Lab, helping to collect data on the implementation of a tiered model for promoting early childhood social, emotional, and behavioral development called the Pyramid Model (PM). She also works to collect data on early childhood educators' use of the PM when paired with practice-based coaching to increase fidelity. Additionally, she is working towards her own master's thesis investigating peer-mediated strategies on promoting prosocial behavior for children in an inclusive early childcare program. Finally, she recently helped start an on-campus organization of graduate students called the Sexual Health and Wellness Collaborative (SHWC). The SHWC's goal is to train and empower future child-facing professionals to become advocates, educators, and leaders in the delivery of sex education, ensuring that all individuals have access to accurate, respectful, and evidence-based information. Through this organization, they aim to foster a supportive community for students, promote professional development, and contribute to the advancement of inclusive and effective sex education practices. 

Gavin M. Buehring [he/him/his] joined the lab in 2022 and graduated in 2024 with his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with minors in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Public Health. He is currently a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research is in American political behavior, with specific interests in mental health, emotions, traumatic experiences, and identity. He is interested in understanding the way that an individual’s identity interacts with mental health and traumatic experiences to shape their political preferences and attitudes. 

David M. Tierney [they/them/theirs] joined the lab in 2018 and graduated in 2024 after completing their internship at James H. Quillen VA Medical Center in Mountain Home, TN. They attended Sarah Lawrence College in New York and Wadham College at the University of Oxford and hold a Bachelors of the Arts. Their research interests include trans*, non-binary, and sexual minority mental health, with a particular interest in lay attitudes and beliefs regarding the etiology of gender and sexual orientation. Their master’s thesis research was published in Journal of Sex Research and they are currently revising their dissertation for publication. David is a postdoctoral fellow at East Tennessee State University.

Elena Schuch [she/her/hers] joined the lab in 2017 and graduated in 2023 after completing her internship at the VA in Madison, Wisconsin. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in French from the University of Florida. After college she served two years in the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso, West Africa, with an emphasis on health education (sex ed, in particular). Her research interests focus on gender and sexualities from an intersectional feminist lens. Her master’s thesis explored young women’s experiences with long-acting reversible contraception (published in Journal of Social Issues [Grzanka & Schuch, 2020]), and her dissertation involved a year-long virtual ethnography of a youth peer sex education advocacy group based in East Tennessee. She is currently a staff psychologist at the VA in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Elliot Spengler, Ph.D. [he/him] joined the lab in 2016 and graduated in 2021. He attended Butler University and Ball State University where he received his MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling prior to coming to Knoxville. His research interests include the promotion of well-being and examining processes that promote (e.g., mindfulness, help-seeking) and impede it (e.g., varying systems of oppression, mental health stigma), especially for marginalized populations. In his spare time, you can find him soaking in the surrounding natural beauty, at a music venue, traveling, or running around Knoxville. Elliot completed his internship at the University of Virginia’s Counseling and Psychological Services and is currently on a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Keri A. Frantell, Ph.D. [she/her] earned her Ph.D. in counseling psychology at UT and is now a staff psychologist at the University of Utah’s counseling center. She was formerly an assistant professor at the University of North Dakota. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a Scientist-Practitioner Emphasis from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with an Addictions Specialization from Marquette University. Her integrated program of research, teaching, and service emphasizes group dynamics, particularly intergroup contact, intergroup dialogue, and group psychotherapy; multicultural education; sexual and gender minority physical and mental health; and suicide prevention and interventions. 

Katie Fritzlen, Ph.D. [she/her] earned her Ph.D. in social psychology from UT in 2020. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, she received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee before attending UTK to pursue her doctorate. Her research interests revolve around implicit attitudes, with a particular focus on implicit prejudice, and her current line of research investigates how perception of an immutable similarity with a negatively-characterized outgroup affects implicit and explicit prejudice towards that group.

Elizabeth Fles, Ph.D. [she/her] has collaborated with Dr. Grzanka since 2017. Currently, Elizabeth finished her doctoral training at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 2019. She is now an assistant professor of psychology at University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. Her research focuses on social stigmatization, which is the process of socially discrediting a characteristic or behavior of an individual or group. Specifically, her research program is aimed at understanding how stigmatization toward minority groups shapes the self-concept, attitudes, and behaviors of dominant group members.

Candice Bain [she/her] was a founding member of SART from 2013-2014 at ASU. She was an editorial assistant for the first edition of Dr. Grzanka’s book, Intersectionality: A Foundations and Frontiers Reader (2014, Westview Press), and she conducted an integrative literature review synthesizing works from queer theory, music therapy, and feminist studies for her Honors thesis, which was ultimately published in The Arts in Psychotherapy. She is now a board-certified music therapist and a graduate clinical psychology student at the Wright Institute's Psy.D program in Berkeley, CA, aiming to work as a social justice-oriented clinician with ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ+ community, and forensic populations. 

Jenn Blazer [she/her] was a member of SART (2012-2014) at ASU. She co-led an investigative study on "straight ally" identities and activisms with fellow SART member, Jake Adler. The results of the study were published as "Making Up Allies: The Identity Choreography of Straight LGBT Activism" in Sexuality Research and Social Policy. After graduating from Barrett Honors College at ASU, Jenn joined the Phoenix-based start-up company, Tuft & Needle, where she has helped the digitally native mattress company grow from 50 employees to over 150 in her time there. 

Adi Wiezel [she/her] was a founding member of SART (2010-2012) at ASU, where she worked on a variety of survey research projects, including scale development studies. She completed her Ph.D. in social psychology at ASU, and her research interests emphasize the roles of affect, motivation, and functional specificity in areas including political attitudes, leadership, and education. Recent and current research projects examine how status motivations influence political attitudes, the structure of US political attitudes and polarization, different types of leadership preferences, and the influence of different kinds of affect on motivation and engagement in education. She is currently an assistant professor of psychology at Elon University.

Milo Boggan [they/them/theirs] joined the lab in 2016 and co-authored a qualitative study on music therapists’ reactions to a radically inclusive model of queer music therapy practice. In 2017, Milo graduated from the College Scholars program at the University of Tennessee where they received their bachelor’s in The Foundations of Music Therapy and Mental Health.

Jessica Pruett [she/her] was a member of SART (2013-2014) at ASU. She organized and conducted survey research on neoliberal attitudes with over 200 research participants. She earned her Ph.D. in Culture and Theory at UC Irvine in 2021. Her dissertation, entitled “A Woman’s Place: Popular Culture and the Afterlife of Lesbian Feminism,” examines the relationship between lesbian feminist history and contemporary popular culture. She is now an assistant professor of gender and sexuality studies at Kenyon College.

Jake Adler [he/him] was a founding member of SART (2012-2014) at ASU. He helped conceptualize and build the original online SART Research Database and co-led an investigative study on "straight ally" identities and activisms, the results of which were published as "Making Up Allies: The Identity Choreography of Straight LGBT Activism" in Sexuality Research and Social Policy. After working as a Fulbright Scholar and Boren Fellow with the U.S. Consulate in Kolkata, India for two years, Jake completed his MFA in Creative Writing at The New School in New York City. He now worked for years in the NYC Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, where he planned and implemented policy-driven social media campaigns and conducts community outreach with local immigrant activist groups.