Hi all! My name is Sarah Gonzalez Coffin and I’m a Social Psychology PhD student & Indigenous researcher at the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ. I study decision-making and behavior change in response to climate change. I grew up in rural Northern California. In 2017, I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and minor in Statistics from California State University, Monterey Bay. In my sophomore year, I got involved with research as a UROC Scholar and did interdisciplinary studies on environmental messaging in educational settings (Dr.Jennifer Dyer-Seymour & Dr. Jennifer Rigney), water quality in the Salinas Valley watershed (John Silveus), and student attitudes towards Statistics (Dr. Alana Unfried). I had the honor of presenting my work locally at student TEDdy Talks and represented my university in the 31 st annual California State University Research Competition.
Before returning to school for my PhD, I worked for four years as an interdisciplinary researcher and data analyst in non-profit and government agencies, including the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Sea Grant, and California State University Monterey Bay.
Now in the third year of my PhD here at CU, I work in the Environment, Judgment, Decision, and Identity (EDJI) lab on campus. I have had the honor of being involved with a number of mentorship programs on campus, including STEM Routes, Uplift Undergraduate Research Program, McNair Scholars Program, Graduate Peer Mentor Program, and the Indigenous Mentorship Program at CU. Mentorship is a core value to me as a researcher - I believe that good mentorship makes scientists and research better. I also mentor three amazing undergraduate research assistants in the lab!
If you would like to talk about how to get involved in research or have questions about graduate school, please feel free to reach out to me. As an Indigenous woman working in S.T.E.M. research, I also welcome conversations about navigating challenges and triumphs related to holding multiple marginalized identities in academia.