People – Computational Social Neuroscience Lab

Lab Director

Ph.D. Cognitive Neuroscience, 2015 – Dartmouth College
B.S. Psychology, 2008 – University of New Mexico

Dr. Rob Chavez joined the faculty at the University of Oregon in 2017. He is interested in how our brains build representations of our sense of self and the social environment and how we use these representations to guide our behavior in the real world. He is also interested in predictive modeling, computational methods in digital social science, and non-technical writing for broader audiences.

Graduate Students

Taylor Guthrie
6th Year Ph.D. Student in Social-Personality Psychology
email | Google Scholar | OSF | YouTube

One of the most remarkable qualities of human kind is our ability to navigate our immensely complex social environments. Our brain has evolved the capacity to build a rich model of the self which in turn has become an essential tool that we use to understand our social situations and our place in society. I wish to understand how this concept of self is built and how it is represented and encoded in the distributed networks of the brain. I want to know how these distributed patterns of self change from individual to individual and how they differ across cultures. Through the use of various multimodal imaging methods and multivariate machine learning techniques, I hope to probe the depths of these various processes and uncover the structure that underlies their ultimate purpose and function.

Moriah Stendel
6th Year Ph.D. Student in Clinical Psychology
email | Google Scholar | GitHub | OSF

Moriah Stendel has an interdisciplinary academic background, having received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology & Art History and a Master of Science in Psychiatry. Accordingly, her past research experience is varied, spanning mechanisms of consciousness, culture, absorption, and selfhood. Her doctoral research focuses on the entwined relationship between self, brain, and psychopathology. Specifically, she is interested in how concurrent disruptions in self-referential processing, social cognition, and reward functioning – and their shared neural substrates – contribute to the origin and maintenance of internalizing symptomatology.

Rachel Jacobson
3nd Year Ph.D. Student in Social-Personality Psychology
email | GitHub | OSF

Rachel Jacobson is interested in how individuals’ social identities influence their identity development, social perceptions and interactions with others. In particular, her work focuses on populations with multiple identities (e.g., biracials and biculturals), in both how they are perceived and the impressions they form of others.

Prospective Graduate Students

We are almost always taking graduate student applications for students with a good fit with our interests. If you are interested in applying to our lab for graduate studies, I would encourage you to read our Guide for Prospective Graduate Students to give yourself a sense of what we are typically looking for in competitive applicants.

To apply, see the Department of Psychology admissions page for this and other important information about materials and deadlines.

Research Assistants

Undergraduate research assistants are recruited on an ongoing basis. Please see our Diversity & Values page for more information about our commitments to and information about opportunities for BIPOC students and other underrepresented minorities. Given the multidisciplinary nature of our work, we welcome students from all fields of study including. Indeed, we have undergraduate students working in the lab majoring in Psychology, Neuroscience, Physics, Data Science, Computer Science, Human Physiology, and Spanish. If you are interested in joining the lab as an RA, please email Dr. Chavez with inquires and specific information about your interests in joining us.

Clara Morrison

Clara is a fifth-year undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Physics with minors in Psychology and Computer Science. They are fascinated by how modern technology and the brain intersect, especially when it comes to the instrumentation of imaging and the analysis and visualization of MRI data through code. This has motivated them to volunteer at CSNL for their 3rd year, where they’ve done everything from data visualization and analysis to audio editing and running subjects. In their free time, they enjoy playing music (including the mellophone in the Oregon Athletic Bands), cooking extravagant meals at 2am, taking care of their perpetually dying plants, and playing video games with their friends.

Madison Young

Madison is a forth-year undergraduate student at the University of Oregon pursuing concurrent degrees in Psychology (BS) & Spanish (BA). This is their second year working in the lab and they are excited to deepen their knowledge on research processes and the brain regions associated with self-referential thought. They are particularly interested in research that involves improving people’s individual experience of life. In their free time, they enjoy doing arts and crafts, staying active, listening to music, and hanging out with friends.

Debbie Okeke

Debbie is a second-year undergraduate student at the University of Oregon. She is pursuing a B.S. in Neuroscience. This is her second year at the lab and she is excited to learn more about how different brain functions are involved with perceptions of ourselves and others. She is especially interested in learning how diverse life experiences shape the way our brains perceive events. In her free time, she enjoys reading, baking, watching movies, and spending time with friends and family.

Nate Holley

Nate is a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Data Science with a focus on marketing analytics as well as a math minor. This is his first year at CSNL and he anticipates gaining valuable experience as he works to draw insights from the team’s research data. He is excited to contribute to the analysis capabilities of the CSNL while also learning more about fMRI research and analysis techniques. Outside of the lab, he enjoys playing guitar, watching documentaries, and going for walks.

Michael Saccio

Michael is in his fourth year pursuing a B.S. in Data Science with a concentration in economics and a math minor. Stepping into his first year at the CSNL, he’s looking forward to gaining new knowledge and adding his own insights to the team’s innovative research. He’s passionate about delving into data and revealing the stories it tells—a skill he also brings to the CSNL. When he’s not analyzing data or busy in the lab, Michael enjoys cooking, going for runs, and relaxing with music and competitive video games.

Lab Alumni

Sonny Mattek — former postdoc

Jack Kapustka — former lab manager

Dale Tovar — former lab manager

Angela O’Neil — former RA and honors student

Youri Benadjaoud — former RA and honors student

Maddie Schall — former RA and honors student

Maddie Alms — former RA

Sara Carasso — former RA

Faith Collins — former RA

Austin (Aussie) Frost— former RA

Hannah Grant — former RA

Conor Hollowell — former RA

Louis Kerner— former RA