Adrienne Wood

Principal Investigator

I am an Associate Professor of Social Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia. I earned my PhD in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, where I studied the perception, social functions, and cultural shapers of nonverbal signals with my advisor, Paula Niedenthal. I did my postdoctoral work on social networks and collective behavior in Thalia Wheatley’s Social Systems Lab at Dartmouth College. My research is currently supported by an NSF CAREER Award and a Templeton Foundation grant. I have a toddler, two unruly hounds, and one ruly cat. I unwind from the chaos they create by doing improv, arts and crafts, and playing piano.

Contact me at adrienne.wood@virginia.edu, follow me on Bluesky, and/or look at my bad art!

Christopher Welker

Postdoctoral researcher

Chris joined the EB Lab as a postdoc in 2025 after earning his PhD with Thalia Wheatley in the Dartmouth Social Systems Lab. Prior to graduate school, he spent a year as a lab manager of the Social Systems Lab and received his BA from Cornell where he worked with Tom Gilovich. Chris leverages conversation-based studies, longitudinal designs, and social network analyses to better understand how the people around us shape our thoughts and behaviors. When he's not in the lab, Chris can usually be found trail running, gravel biking, or getting lost in a fantasy novel.

Kyle barrentine

graduate student

Kyle Barrentine is a sixth-year PhD student in the Social Psychology program. He earned a B.A. in Psychology from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he worked as a R.I.S.E Scholar under Adrienne Aiken Morgan studying depression within older African Americans. He was also a peer mentor for Notre Dame’s Computational Social Science REU, where he worked for David Hachen studying social networks, personality and depression. Kyle’s main research goals are understanding the limitations of social networks given a person’s race, gender, mental health, socioeconomic status, or personality. When he isn’t researching, Kyle enjoys watching anime, listening to vinyl records, writing in his journal, and drinking coffee or tea.

Sareena Chadha

Graduate student

Sareena is a fifth-year PhD student in the Social Psychology program. She graduated in 2021 with a B.A. in Psychology and Cognitive Science, with a concentration in linguistics. Outside of class, you could find her playing in the UVA marching band, going to indie rock concerts, or sitting in a comfy chair at Grit Coffee.

Katie Chervenic

Research Assistant

Katie is an undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a Psychology and Cognitive Science double-major planning to graduate in May 2026. At UVA, Katie is heavily involved with IfYou’reReadingThis, a national organization with local chapters dedicated to fostering open conversations about mental health on college campuses. Outside of the university, she likes to spend her time reading, playing volleyball, and volunteering at the Haven in downtown Charlottesville. 

Kaitlyn Chou

Research Assistant

Kaitlyn is an undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences, planning to graduate in 2026 with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Data Science. Outside of academics, Kaitlyn is the treasurer for UVA's Tap Club, and is involved in the University Dance Club and TSA. In her free time, you can find her listening to music, reading a good book, or hanging out with her friends.

Caroline Clippinger

Research Assistant

Caroline is an undergraduate student in the College of Art and Sciences, planning to graduate in 2027 with a B.A. in Psychology, a B.A. in Sociology with a concentration in crime, law, and power, and a minor in Statistics. Outside of academics, she helps with event planning/set-up with WXTJ and is a member of the Outdoors Club. In her free time she enjoys reading, listening to music, hanging out with friends, and working out. She is especially interested in criminal psychology and forensic psychology, hoping to work with government agencies in the future.

Xin (Jessie) Jin

Research Assistant

Jessie is an undergraduate student double majoring in Psychology and Statistics with a concentration in data analysis. She is also a senior editor at Cavalier Daily and a member of LumiLink. In her free time, she enjoys playing video games, doing jigsaws and Legos, and baking. She hopes to continue pursuing clinical psychology in graduate school after graduation.

Natalia Leaf

Research assistant

Natalia is an undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences. She plans to graduate in May 2026 with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. Natalia is particularly interested in investigating the dynamics of social networks and the ways in which we form them. Aside from research, Natalia is very passionate about music and is involved with University Records. She has released multiple singles under the artist name “tal” and can be seen performing at various locations in Charlottesville with her newly formed band. Natalia is also social chair of the Climbing Team at UVA and has been doing competitive climbing for seven years. In her free time, Natalia likes to go on hikes around Charlottesville and find new restaurants to try. 

Haley Nguyen

Research assistant

Haley Nguyen is an undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences on a pre-dental track, double majoring in Biology and Psychology. She plans to graduate in May 2026. Haley loves volunteering weekly with Best Buddies, the Charlottesville Free Dental Clinic, the UVA Hospital for Madison House, and Special Olympics as a Unified Partner and the Volunteer Chair. She is also the Vice President of Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, serves on HooThon’s Hospital and Family Relations Committee, and is a member of Sigma Kappa. In her free time, Haley enjoys embroidery, going to BJ's Pizookie Tuesday with her friends, and spoiling her puppy with hugs.

Sally Park

Research assistant

Sally is an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia. She is planning to double major in Psychology and Public Policy and is hoping to pursue a career related to both social psychology and policy. At UVA, she is the Co-Advocacy Chair for NAMI on Grounds, a volunteer for Madison House, and is part of the Public Service Pathways Team. In her free time, Sally enjoys reading, watching movies, taking walks, and playing her ukulele.

Rachael Yuan

Research Assistant

Rachael is an Echols scholar in the College of Arts and Sciences, double majoring in psychology and computer science. She plans to graduate in May 2027. Rachael is an active volunteer at an anonymous hotline, is involved in Madison House, and is also the President of LumiLink at UVA. Besides academics, she is passionate about sports, basketball in particular, as well as working out. She also enjoys digital design and architecture, so she loves to play Minecraft in her free time. Rachael is especially fascinated by social neuroscience and looks forward to committing herself to research in a related area in the future.

Shelly Tsang

Graduate student

Shelly received her PhD in Social Psychology in 2025 and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA Anderson Business School in the Behavioral Decision Making Area. She received her BA from Cornell University in Psychology and Economics. She studies social judgment and decision making, specifically how people think about their time and whom they choose to spend it with.

Lola

Marmot supervisor

Lola graduated from Basic Obedience school in 2016 and is currently project manager on a longitudinal field study of large rodent movement patterns. When she’s not doing marmot research, she enjoys lying down in the middle of walks and eating broccoli.

Keebler

Derp Manager

Keebler oversees a lab-wide initiative to advance the science of derp. He loves reading about cars and why they are so scary. In his free time he can be found playing peek-a-boo with his humans and escaping out of the yard.

Mochi

nap coordinator

Mochi joined the team with the goal of teaching String Theory to the other non-human lab members. While his passion for string has not caught on, he has led several successful workshops on how to find sunny spots for naps.