Congratulations to this year’s IARYD graduates

Brian Burkhard, Mary Buckingham, Danielle Stacey, and Shaobing Su all successfully defended their dissertations in 2019 and can now add Ph.D. to their names.

Brian is currently a Senior Research Analyst on the Impact and Education team at EVERFI where he conducts research on areas such as character development, social-emotional learning, mental health and wellness, alcohol and substance abuse, sexual assault prevention, and other critical topics in support of EVERFI’s vision to empower all people for life’s most critical moments, through education.

Mary is currently a Postdoctoral Scholar at IARYD where she manages a research partnership between IARYD and LEAP Innovations. LEAP works directly with educators to define, design, and implement personalized learning practices to transform how students learn. The aim of the IARYD-LEAP partnership is to provide research consultation, survey development, and data analyses. 

Danielle is currently building AdventureSail® New Orleans, an educational outreach program that introduces girls from at-risk communities in New Orleans to the sport of sailing as a way to promote confidence and encourage positive life choices.  AdventureSail® New Orleans is an introductory summer sailing program for girls between the ages of 9 to 14 years, developed in partnership with the National Women’s Sailing Association and Lake Pontchartrain Women’s Sailing Association.  For many of the girls, AdventureSail® New Orleans is their first sailing experience.  Participants may otherwise never gain exposure to the sport or learn about career paths related to the marine industry.

Shaobing will leave IARYD to work as a postdoc with Dr. Theresa Betancourt at the lab of Research Program on Children and Adversity (RPCA) at School of Social Work, Boston College. Her work will focus on data management and analyses and publications for multiple longitudinal projects on promoting the well-being of child and family living in adversity. She will also seek opportunities to continue her research and practice on understanding and promoting the positive development of Chinese-American youth in the near future.