Dr. Nicola Grissom is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology .  Originally from Hawai'i, she obtained her undergraduate degree at Reed College in  Portland, Oregon, her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and conducted her postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.  Sushi is her primary reinforcer. 

email: [email protected]

Erin Giglio

Erin is a postdoctoral researcher in our lab. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin at the end of 2020 with her PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Animal Behavior. Her major research interests include stress, energy balance, decision-making, and communication. Her favorite reinforcer is M&Ms.

Laura Garbe

Laura is a technician/lab manager who joined the lab in 2022. She is a UMN alum with a B.S. in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior and Animal Science, and a Masters of Education in Secondary Science. Her primary reinforcers are ice cream, horses, and skiing.

Evan Knep

Evan is a fifth year Psychology graduate student in our lab. He graduated from Macalester College in 2018 with a B.A in Neuroscience and minor in biology. His major research interests include individual differences in decision making within neuropsychiatric disorders. His primary reinforcer is fantasy football.

Nic Glewwe

Nic is a fourth-year Neuroscience graduate student in the NeuroGOAL and Translational NeuroEngineering Labs. They graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead in 2019 with B.A.s in Neuroscience and Psychology. Their main research interests include sex-biased individual differences in cognitive flexibility, as well as brain circuit modulation to inform neuropsychiatric treatments. Their primary reinforcers are film photography and bubble tea.

BlueSky: @nicglewwe.bsky.social

Micaela Porod

Micaela is a third-year Neuroscience graduate student in our lab, co-advised with Dr. Ben Saunders. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 2021 with a B.A. in Psychology and minors in Neuroscience and Studio Art. Her major research interests include dopamine signaling dynamics in learning and decision making. Her primary reinforcers are Dr. Pepper Zero and trashy reality TV.

BlueSky: @micaelaporod.bsky.social

Anika Paulson-Smith

Anika is a second-year Psychology graduate student in our lab. They graduated from the University of Minnesota-Morris in 2020 with a B.A. in Psychology and from Western Illinois University in 2024 with a M.S. in Experimental Psychology. Their major research interests include compulsive and automatic decision making and reward seeking. Their primary reinforcer is soup.

Angelica Velosa     

Angelica is a second-year Neuroscience graduate student in our lab, co-advised with Dr. Suhasa Kodandaramaiah. She graduated from New College of Florida in 2022 with a B.A. in Biopsychology and Neuroscience. Her major research interests include cortico-cortico neural dynamics during complex cognition and decision making. Her primary reinforcers are Pho Mai’s tofu bun and trashy reality (sometimes about cooking, mostly about dating) TV.

devin pai

sophia runyan

sofia thompson

sophia miller

emma staehle

jessica grann

ram arora

rory schaefer

sam castner

thomas hoffman

Postdoctoral Researchers: Lisa Curry-Pochy (PhD)  (2021), Briana Mork (PhD) (2020 - 2021)

Graduate Students: Cathy Chen (2017 - 2023), Gerardo Rojas (2019 - 2024), Dana Mueller (2020 - 2025)

Graduate Program in Neuroscience Rotation Students: Megan Warwick (2017), Timothy Monko (2017), Adriana Cushnie (2018), Chloe Puglisi (2022), Kelsey Person (2023), Seth Weir (2024)

MINDS Scholars: Angelica Velosa (2022-2024)

Lab Managers and Technicians: Jake Jeong (2018), Maddison Vail (2018), Sylvie Bindas (2017 - 2019), Ann Hajostek (2020 - 2021), Elinor Wood (2020 - 2021), Anila Bano (2020 - 2021), Britta Gauer (2022), Kira Stetler (2022 - 2024), A Yang (2022 - 2025)

And many incredible undergraduate assistants!