Dr. Joni Sasaki is principal investigator of the Culture and Religion Lab and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She received her BA in psychology from Claremont McKenna College and her PhD in social psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She was Assistant and Associate Professor at York University from 2012-2017 before joining the faculty at UH Manoa in 2018.
Snow is a graduate student working with Dr. Sasaki and Dr. Pauker at UH, Mānoa. She holds a B.S. degree of Cognitive Psychology from University of California, San Diego, and completed a Post-Bac program at UC Berkeley. Snow is broadly interested in the interactions between culture, language, emotion and the self. More specifically, Snow is passionate about exploring how multicultural and multi/bi-lingual backgrounds and experiences impact individuals' sense of self and emotion regulation and well-being.
Hannah Pearson
Hannah is a graduate student working with Dr. Sasaki in the Culture and Religion Lab. Hannah is primarily interested in studying religion and looking at religion as a form of culture. More specifically, she is interested in how religion and culture impact our identity, thoughts, and behavior, as well as how we interact with others in and out of our own religious groups. You can visit her website here: https://sites.google.com/view/hannah-pearson/home
Elizabeth Weitz
I hold a Bachelor's of Design in Architecture and Minor in Spanish Studies. I took some time after college to learn hands on in many arenas including as a lifeguard, community organizer, and Au Pair in Italy and France which led me to start a small travel company in Southern Italy. Finally, I worked in psychology research studying social belonging and social norms for 4 years prior to beginning graduate school.
Deeply concerned about climate change and pervasive social inequities, I am interested in how the quality of our social relationships and relationships with our environment are mutually constituted with our built environments. One of my main sources of inspiration is how we design products to facilitate diverse experiences with the ocean, which is why surfing totally counts as research......
Research Assistants
Anne Huynh
Born and raised in Orange County, California, Anne is currently a 4th year undergraduate at the University of California, Irvine. She is double majoring in Psychological Science & Education Sciences and is set to graduate in June 2021. Anne is involved in research at UCI under Dr. Campos's Culture, Health, and Relationships lab and she also works with Dr. Castellanos. She intends to pursue a doctoral degree in psychology and is preparing for graduate school. Other involvements at UCI: Upward Bound, Undergraduate Peer Tutor for Dr. Zinger, UCGHI Student Ambassador (for Women's Health, Gender, and Empowerment), Graduate Access Preparatory Program, LSPA Academic Padrin@ Mentorship Program. She was recently accepted into the Social-Personality Undergraduate Research (SPUR) Program, where she got the chance to be mentored by Dr. Sasaki. Anne's general research interests include 1) culture, relationships, and social interactions, 2) multiculturalism, diversity, and experiences of marginalized communities, and 3) social inequality and discrimination. Outside of academia, she loves anime, manga/manhwa, video games, and drawing!
Aubrey Mariano
Aubrey is a CHamoru undergraduate student from the island of Guåhan who has been on Oʻahu since 2017. She is currently pursuing a dual Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and American (Empire) Studies. Her interests include indigenous resurgence and solidarity, with particular interest in how indigenous ways of knowing and being can facilitate intergenerational healing in Pacific Island communities. Aubrey hopes to pursue a Master of Arts in Pacific Island Studies at UH Mānoa prior to any doctoral studies, in hopes that a conjunction of Western and Pacific theoretical frameworks might better prepare her for doctoral-level research. In her free time, Aubrey enjoys creating pottery inspired by ancient CHamoru designs, spending time with family and friends, volunteering with ʻāina based organizations, and (when given the rare opportunity), being absolutely lazy.
RESEARCH ASSISTANTS/LAB MEMBERS Allie Bejar Tori Gutierrez Leilani Alejo Jeremy Sonne Malia Holubeck Geneva Dela Cruz Mariana Ho Ronny Vuong Zeynep Acar Rochelle Agonoy Addy Ohohundro Chrysantha Davis Leila Al-Hariri Sayuri Amarasinghe Meisha Charles Kaitlyn Chappelle Daniel Cho Young Cho Ariel Chong Khadija Dairywala Geneva Dela Cruz Bianca Dreyer Iman El-Feki Mariam Elbakr Tara Faghani Aziza Haji-Dhore Mari Ho Victoria Huang Anne Huynh Thirowpathy Indran Arvin Jagayat Jasmine Jasani Naail Khan Marjan Khanjani Selah Kone Marrie Shirzada Jamie Kim Isabella Lim Shaina List Chris Longley Rami Majeed Anila Malik Aubrey Mariano Aida Meras Justin Michel Joanna Mizera Hanna Moldavski Khalidha Nasiri Nika Zahedi Neysiani Jennifer Noh William Omohundro Sheemrun Ranjan Colin Sheridan Paul Slodovnick Johanna Pokorny Jacob Schlosser Ruchit Shah Dan Tao Halyna Vinnichenko Natalie Vitiello Sylvie Wiseman Shasanji Lingaratnam Sam Novid Ronny Vuong Clare Yacyshyn Mohsen Mohammad Youssef Richard Zeifman Pavel Zikov