Alumni News

12/97 Mary Serphos ('95) writes that she is enjoying San Francisco and "working as an administrative assistant for the Intake Department at United Behavioral Health, a managed care company devoted to mental health."

4/99 Tamara Gorovatskaya ('96) writes that she graduated from Teacher's College in 7/97 and has been teaching ever since. She's had a 2nd grade class for two years, where she faces a whole range of challenges.

4/99 Liz Klau ('96) writes that after receiving her MA in Public Health from Emory she began working in NYC, but has just resigned from that position. She's looking for a new position in a different field, but hopes to return to healthcare eventually.

4/99 Jason Lewis ('98) writes that he's teaching Biology (7th and 10th grade) at Breck School in Golden Valley, MN. He's also coaching baseball and basketball.

4/02 Jeanine Miller ('90) writes "After graduation, I worked in NY for the summer and then traveled to TN to enroll at Vanderbilt University. I specialized in clinical psychology with an emphasis in social psychology. I am glad to report that I earned the MA in 1993 and the Ph.D. in 1998. I was a Patricia Roberts Harris Fellow, and a Dorothy Danforth Comption Dissertation Fellow. Currently, I direct the psychology and counseling department at American Baptist College, which is located in Nashville, TN. July will mark the end of my second year." Interestingly, Jeanine never envisioned a career in academia!

4/02 Deanna Peace ('00) writes that she's living in LA and working for Lufthansa, which allows her to travel.

8/02 Robert Benjamin (''98) writes that he's now married to Lauren Mirsky ('98), who became a first-grade teacher in Manhattan after receiving a masters degree from Columbia Teacher's College. Rob is completing his law degree at St. John's Law, where he's focusing his attention on bankruptcy law. He's just published a major paper in the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review (10 Am. Bankr. Inst. L Rev. 493).

9/02 Felicia Gould ('98) writes: After graduating in 1998, I worked as a research coordinator for the Neuropsychology Service in the Department of Neurology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University for one and a half years before entering into the doctoral program in clinical psychology (neuropsychology tract) at Finch University of Health Sciences/ The Chicago Medical School. I begin my third year this week. I am currently completing my masters thesis entitled "Characterizing Longitudinal Functional and Cognitive Changes Associated with Genetic Risk Factors and Gender in Alzheimer ’s Disease Pathology" which uses PET imaging to examine relevant cognitive changes in AD and healthy aged adults. I am enjoying school and a living in the Chicago area. I look forward to returning to Skidmore this spring for my five year reunion.

10/02 Abe Francis-Fallon ('97) was the Instructional Technology Coordinator at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY. He's now Technology Coordinator for the Gananda Central School District in Gananda, New York. He loves working with the kids and is looking ahead to a career in Instructional Technology.

10/02 Andrea Bastiani Archibald ('93) has been busy! Here are some of her recent publications:

Graber, J. A.& Archibald, A. B. (2001). Psychosocial change at puberty and beyond: Understanding adolescent sexuality and sexual orientation. D'Augelli, Anthony R. & Patterson, Charlotte J. (Eds.). Lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities and youth: Psychological perspectives.(pp. 3-26).

Smith, L. D., Best, L. A., Stubbs, D.A., Archibald, A. B., & Roberson-Nay, R. (2002). Constructing knowledge: The role of graphs and tables in hard and soft psychology. American Psychologist, 57, 749-761.

Archibald, A. B., Linver, M. R., Graber, J. A., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2002). Parent-adolescent relationships and girls' unhealthy eating: Testing reciprocal effects. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 12, 451-461.

5/03 (from the NIMH Newsletter) Amanda E. Schweder ('95) received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Yale University in May 2003. Starting in July 2003, she will be a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health in the Section of Development and Affective Neuroscience of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program. This section, headed by Dr. Daniel Pine, seeks to understand the relationships among brain development, emotion regulation, and risk for mood and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. A broad goal is to answer questions about the neural correlates of developmental changes in emotional regulation, risk or symptom patterns in mood and anxiety disorders, as well as the effects of treatments for mood and anxiety disorders on the developing brain. In reaching this goal, the section emphasizes application of fMRI to address questions on emotional development, performing fMRI studies using various traditional paradigms from cognitive and affective neuroscience, as well as behavioral measures of emotion regulation, genetically informative research designs, and treatment strategies. Dr. Schweder's research will focus on understanding the impact of trauma-related experiences, such as child abuse and exposure to extreme violence, on the relationships between neural functioning, emotion regulation processes, and the development of psychopathology.

5/03 Eileen Klein ('02) writes:I found out that a grant I wrote in February has been funded. In the grant, I proposed to train undergraduates to support our children with autism in extracurricular activities and summer camps. I was awarded $123, 430 from the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities.

I also recently had an article accepted for publication. I worked on the camp project last summer, so I wrote the article and then Brookman and Boettcher (the more advanced students) reworked it and added in all the literature references that I have yet to read!
 
Brookman, L., Boettcher, M. A., Klein, E., Openden, D., Koegel, R. L., Koegel, L. (in press).
Facilitating Social Interactions in a Community Summer Camp Setting for Children with Autism. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions.
 
I am also presenting at the Applied Behavior Analysis Conference in San Francisco this weekend. I am presenting data on the summer camp project.

5/03 Amy Redmond D'Agostino ('97) is graduating from law school and has been working for Purdue Pharma and living in Stamford CT.

6/03 Katie Kimer ('95) sends word that she just finished her Ph.D. in school psychology at the University of Oregon. She and her husband Lawry Simon ('96) are expecting their first child in the next few months. She sends her best to everyone.

7/03 Eric Prensky ('97) writes: I successfully passed my qualifying exam in early May (also called comps in some programs). Also, Texas Tech U was involved in the Graduate Psychology Education grant and I have been working on that grant since January. You may have heard about the grant in the APA Monitor, it involves working with minority and underserved populations here in Lubbock. Several other universities were funded for this grant.

I am in the beginning stages of applying for internship and getting my dissertation proposal together. I will be applying for internship this fall and also proposing my dissertation this fall. It will be a busy fall! As far as my internship I am interested in a major rotation in Health Psychology. My dissertation research is going to be on smokeless tobacco and the sensory aspects of a smokeless tobacco substitute. Although I am interested in getting a very good internship, I am also going to be a bit picky on the cities I will be applying to. I am going to try to apply to a variety of programs but I would mainly like to be in a hospital or medical setting. I think that is what the future holds for me.

I am teaching Abnormal Psychology this fall and Health Psychology in the spring, both should be interesting.

My lab worked on a book chapter in a new health psychology book. It is out now. Here is the citation:

Cohen, L. M., McChargue, D. E., Cortez-Garland, M., Prensky, E. H., & Emery, S. (2003). The etiology and treatment of nicotine dependence: A biopsychosocial perspective. In L. M. Cohen, D. E. McChargue & F. Collins (Eds.), The Health Psychology Handbook: Practical Issues for the Behavioral Medicine Specialist (pp. 101-124). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

7/03 Dan Slippen ('97) works for Pace University and his efforts to obtain FEMA funds for Pace in the wake of 9/11 were recently acknowledged in the Wall Street Journal.(His mug also appeared in a NY Times advertisement recently! Oh, and he just got married this fall!)

7/03 Katie Gifford ('02) has started working as a research assistant at the Boston Veteran's Hospital in the Normative Aging Department.

7/03 Darcy Burgund ('83) has accepted a faculty position at Rice University after several years as a post doc at Washington University.

7/03 Mimi Valderramma ('00) is going to begin the MSW program at NYU this fall after working as a research assistant in the department of Child Psychiatry at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (which she describes as an incredible learning experience).She remains in touch with other members of the Class of '00: Becca Freeman (in law school at American University), Antonia Batalias (PsyD program at George Washington, though she's now doing an internship in NYC), and Jessica Rodriguez (completing an MA at Queens College).

7/03 Katy Michos ('00) writes that she is looking forward to working in a school for the upcoming year (pursuant to her school psychology degree). Over the summer she is working part-time with one of the faculty at Widener. She writes, "We are trying to teach people in the Chester community about emotional intelligence to help them increase their chances of getting better jobs.  I've been responsible for creating training modules with my group and then presenting those modules.  I also do some screening or assessments to see if the person is eligible for the program." She has been able to enjoy some long weekends by going to Long Island and New York City to visit family and friends.

9/03 Amy Heald ('95) writes that she is now a guidance counselor at Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans, Vermont.

9/03 Jenna Ahearn ('03) writes that she is enjoying being part of the Page Program at NBC. She writes, "I work with amazing people and I'm involved with guest relations and production/research for Late Night with Conan O'Brien, SNL, Last Call with Carson Daly, The John Walsh Show, Dateline, and Nightly News. I also give tours of the studios...Im working ALL the time, but I love it. The city is great--I'm living with Jill Jefferson (business and dance), there are a lot of Skidmore grads here and I see them often!"

9/03 Ariel Brown ('01) is an author on a recent publication: McNamara, P., Durso, R., BROWN, A., & Lynch, A. (2003). Counterfactual cognitive deficit in persons with Parkinson's disease. Journal of Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 74, 1065-1070.

10/03 Sybil (Harcourt) Zildjian ('95) received her Masters Degree in Public Health from Boston University and has been working as a Clinical Research Associate for a small biotech firm in Cambridge, MA. She works on "phase III clinical trials for a very rare genetic disorder called Fabry Disease." She and her husband, Armen, just took off for Malaga, Spain, for one last vacation before the arrival of their first child in February, 2004.

10/03 Karl Schweitzer ('03) has just accepted a position as a research assistant at the Massachusetts General Hospital in their Pediatric Psychopharmacology area.

10/03 Alyssa Porter ('00) writes that she's still working at Praxis, Inc. where they are trying to develop educational software for the mentally disabled population by applying findings of behavioral research.She's currently working to prepare a presentation for the ABA convention and preparing to apply to graduate programs.

10/03 Jamie Belli ('02) writes that he's just started working at Tufts-New England Medical Center. He's working in the Health Institute's Division of Clinical Care Research for Dr. Dana Safran. Jamie writes, "There have been three studies that we have been analyzing. Dr. Safran has created all three measures with her team of experts here at the health institute. One survey is a measure of patients' perceptions/feelings about their doctors/health care provider. Another survey looks at perceptions of Medicare by participants using the system. Lastly, the project I was brought in for, is a 50-state study/survey on over 18,000 low-income prescription drug users and their perceptions of the government programs in place to help them. It's pretty exciting since we get our first batch of sample data from this year (it is a four-year, and hopefully eight-year with grant assistance program) in only a couple of weeks."

10/03 Amy Natale ('97) writes that she's just started in a new position in the Winchester, MA school district after working for several years in Groveland, MA.She says, "I'm in two elementary schools and I do some counseling, some testing, and a lot of consultation with parents and teachers...I've already had the opportunity to take on quite a lot. One of the greatest things is that we have weekly consultation sessions with all district psychologists and social workers, which is facilitated by a psychiatrist."

10/03 Emily Bator ('02) writes that she's been "working as a teacher's assistant at a school for special needs children." She plans to further her education by getting a master's degree and certification in special education.

10/03 Mirka Vomela ('03), who is at George Mason University, writes that she's "busy with a stats course and a psych engineering course." She's also "doing research for my adviser, Matthew Peterson, on visual search and whether visual search has memory, either for location of object identity or both. We're also doing a sort of change blindness experiment."

10/03 Karen Chin ('98) and Wanda Vargas ('98) are both doing well in the Clinical/School Psychology Ph.D. program at Hofstra University. They are quite busy (as is true of all graduate students), and are conducting clinical assessments. They both serve as teaching assistants for the first graduate statistics course.

10/03 Katy Kimer ('95) and Lawry Simon ('96) are the proud parents of Sarah Amanda Simon (9/11/03). Katy is working as a school psychologist in Utah. Lawry is working for a company that writes software for credit unions.

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11/03 Ten alumni returned to Skidmore to talk to current students about how their lives have unfolded after graduation. The alumni were Jamie Belli ('02), Abby Bond ('02), Ariel Brown ('01), Sara Hougen ('01), Sarah Landy ('97), Emily Leckman ('96), Katie Page ('03), Lara Pence ('01), Amanda Schweder ('95), and Susan Smith ('02).

Brief biographical information about each of these alumni is provided below:

Jamie Belli is a full-time research assistant at the Health Institute at Tufts-New England Medical center. After graduating with a BA in Psychology, Jamie wanted additional research experience as a way of deciding the next phase of his professional development. Working under the guidance of Dr. Sana Safran, he is one of two research assistants responsible for two lines of research. One project focuses on participants’ feelings and impressions about the quality of care they received by way of their enrollment in Medicare.
Abby Bond is a full time research assistant on the Simmons Longitudinal Study at the Simmons College of Social Work. This study focuses on children who entered kindergarten in 1977 in Quincy, MA. The participants, now in their thirties, have been interviewed about every four years, with the goal of looking for risk and protective factors associated with depression and possible substance abuse. Abby completed her BA in Psychology, and her work with children during these years convinced her to pursue a research position involving a developmental project.
Ariel Brown is a full-time research assistant at the Boston VA Medical Center in the Department of Neurology. This is Ariel’s second research appointment since she completed her BA in Psychology where she completed a thesis on the study of implicit memory. The interests of her current lab group center around cognitive processes associated with Parkinson’s disease as well as those mediating sleep and dream cycles. With new studies on Sleep and Attachment and the Evolution of Sleep now underway, Ariel is a co-author on two recent publications one appearing in the Journal of Neural Neurosurgery Psychiatry and the second appearing in Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, Ariel is applying to graduate programs, planning to begin a PhD program in Behavioral Neuroscience this coming fall.
Sara Hougen graduated Phi Beta Kappa as a Psychology major with additional interests in music. While at Skidmore she was involved in the SGA, the honors program, and the outing club and spent her Spring semester junior year studying in Florence, Italy. After graduation, she completed a one-year post-baccalaureate program at Bryn Mawr College to fulfill her premedical requirements. Sara is currently a second year medical student at University of Rochester where she “is shoveling even more snow than she did in Saratoga Springs.”
Sarah Landy is the manager of production and development for Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr. Department. After completing her BA in Psychology, she joined this company working in many program areas. Currently, Sarah’s work involves the development and production of shows for children 2 to 7 years of age. With all of the children’s shows, Sarah works very closely with creators, writers, artists, and producers. Because all of their shows are educational with a set curriculum (e.g., emotional development), she also works with psychologists, other researchers and focus groups.
Emily Leckman is a PhD candidate in a doctoral program in epidemiology. Supported by an NIH Fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology, her dissertation focuses on maternal depression and its relationship to children’s socialization processes. She is also working on the study of the health consequences of moderate alcohol consumption. Before starting her graduate work, Emily completed a BA in Psychology.
Katie Page is a full-time research assistant in the Memory Disorders Research Center at the Boston Veterans Affairs Hospital. After presenting her thesis work at an undergraduate research conference this past spring, Katie completed her BA in Neuroscience, and soon thereafter, began her new research position. Katie works with people who have amnesic patients (e.g., due to anoxic events or Korsakoffs), comparing their performance with normal and alcoholic control groups.
Lara Pence is a graduate student in Clinical Psychology at Widener University. After completing her BA in Psychology, Lara spent the summer working on a film fest and then moved to Nashville, TN, working as a case manager in a mental health center. Part of the attraction of Widener’s program for Lara is its concentration on forensic psychology. She plans to complete their PsyD/MA program with a concentration in Criminal Justice. Her main research interests occur at the intersection of research on law and memory.
Amanda Schweder is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at the National Institute of Mental Health NIMH). After graduating Phi Beta Kappa as a Psychology major, she completed her PhD in Developmental Psychology at Yale University. At the NIMH, Dr. Schweder’s research focuses on exploring relationships among stressful experiences and affective functioning in children with mood and anxiety disorders. Giving special attention to the processing skills involved in the interpretation of facial expressions, she is also learning how to conduct functional MRI (fMRI) research to examine the neural bases for some of these processes.
Susan Smith is a graduate student in a Clinical Psychology PhD Program (Health Psychology track) at Drexel University. After completing her BA in Psychology from Skidmore, Susan began this graduate program, in part, because of her shared interests with faculty at Drexel (e.g., women’s health issues; the role of movement as a therapeutic tool for emotional expression). Her research now focuses on the study of emotional disclosure and she is working with women at risk for cardiovascular disease. Susan is also working with an organization (Women Organized Against Rape) to investigate the relationship between perceived control and “post-traumatic growth” in sexual assault survivors.

11/03 Rachel Mann ('94) and her husband, Seth, are the proud parents of Libby. They are now living in Saratoga Springs (just down the block from the Foley's), with Rachel working for the ARC.

5/04 Amanda Schweder ('95) returned to Saratoga to marry Nathan Guyer ('95) at the National Dance Museum. One of the bridesmaids was Anna (Nelson) Peterson ('94). Pictured below are the two former students and their thesis advisor.

5/04 Sharon (Bushman) Lango ('96) wrote to let us know that she and her husband (Craig) are the proud parents of Ian. Sharon works as a web administrator and she lives an hour outside Boston.

5/04 Stephanie Mahon ('03) lives in Brooklyn with her Skidmore roommate. She's working at a very small, really high-end skincare company in Soho, where she does marketing and customer development.

7/04 Lisa Korenman ('97) sent along a recent publication: Korenman, L. & Peynircioglu, Z. F. (2004). The role of familiarity in episodic memory and metmemory for music. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 30, 917-922.

7/04 Jen Gross ('04) writes that she's going to be working as a residential counselor for 18-22 year olds in Natick MA.

7/04 Eric Prensky ('97) writes that he's working as the Health Psychology intern at the Jesse Brown VA in Chicago. He's defended his dissertation, so the end is in sight for Eric.

7/04 Elizabeth Mitchell ('01) writes: "I just wanted to let you know that I found a position as a data analyst/ research assistant at the Division of Functional Brain Mapping at the New York Psychiatric Institute of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. I work in a PET lab a few times a week pipetting plasma and the other days, I map and draw regions on PET scans and MRI's."

7/04 Crystal Meyer ('02) writes: "I'm still at Penn State working to get my degree in speech-language pathology. I have one more year left - it's been a tough program, but definitely rewarding. I absolutely LOVE the field - hands down, a great match for me. I'm finding my psychology background to be extremely helpful in many ways. My final research paper will be a lit review looking at studies that have examined the relationship between stuttering and social phobia. It's neat to be able to combine my two areas of interest. It's also a nice change of pace to be at a huge university compared to a small liberal arts college. I have to say there is something to be said about the education and community atmosphere you get in a small school. I do have a soft spot for both Skidmore and Saratoga Springs."

7/04 Michelle Harriman ('98) writes: "Wanted to share the news with you all: I've completed the final hurdle necessary to obtain my license to practice clinical psychology (I passed the final exam, the CA Jurisprudence, for those of you more familiar with the process). So I'm waiting to hear from the Board of Psychology with my license number." Congratulations Michelle!

8/04 Sarah Brink ('04) writes that she's found a position in human resources with Carat USA in NYC.

8/04 Margaret Gavian ('98) writes "I'm just wrapping up my Master's from Saybrook Graduate School - a distant learning humanistic program - that I've been doing part-time while working full time.  I'm still working at the same place I have been for the last 4 years - The Center for Mind-Body Medicine here in my hometown (Washington, DC).  Saybrook was a great experience - I've loved the curriculum and the open-mindedness of the community & professors, though I've discovered distant learning is not for me.  I'm craving  classroom interaction and structure and really being 100% IN school.  So, I've decided to finish with my Master's at Saybrook.  In this coming year I'm going to apply to full-time doctorate programs, hopefully for Fall 2005 entry.

 
The past few years I've been learning a lot and having some great experiences at my job.  I've been administrating training programs in MindBodySpirit medicine (meditation, journaling, guided imagery, movement, biofeedback, etc.) for health and mental health professionals working in areas affected by war and terrorism.  I've been to Kosovo twice, Israel and Gaza twice, did a workshop with NYC Firefighters and their families after 9/11 and now we're beginning work in Liberia.  Come to find out that trauma and PTSD is what excites me - as well as international travel.  My master's thesis was From Trauma to Transformation: Posttraumatic Growth as a Model for Global Healing.  Fun stuff."

8/04 Chad Snow ('97) writes that he's about to complete his PhD in Social Psychology at USC. He's been working with Steve Read, and has an article that has been recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (The Redux of Cognitive Consistency Theories: Evidence Judgments by Constraint Satisfaction. Simon, Dan; Snow, Chadwick J.; Read, Stephen J.; Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, Vol 86(6), Jun 2004. pp. 814-837). He writes, "Our basic line of research deals with how people process information and arrive at decisions.  My dissertation is related to this.  As you may recall from my senior research project at Skidmore looking at the relationship between music and religion, I like to tackle big questions.  So, my quals, which I’m now working on publishing, and my dissertation are offering a revised interpretation of Cognitive Dissonance.  I’m trying to show that dissonance is not always a bad guy.  It’s often a preferred state and in fact is a necessary experience, without which we couldn’t survive.  I won’t get into it over email, but in a nutshell, if you accept the research that’s been done on “optimal arousal” theory, it becomes clear that the experience of inconsistency is vital to maintaining optimal arousal.  I actually begin my argument with some fundamental examples from perception regarding what happens in a homogenous “consonant” environment.  You didn’t think that I forgot your white-plastic-spoons-over-the-eyes classroom activity did you ;)" In addition to his graduate school work, Chad has also been working at eHarmony.com.

9/04 Stephanie Ehrman ('98) writes that she completed her doctorate at Fordham (doing her internship in Arizona). She is now Director of the Extended Day Clinic at the Mid-Fairfield Child Guidance Center in Norwalk, CT. Stephanie says, "I am so happy and really enjoy my work.  I love working with the kids and families 5 days a week and it is both challenging and fun to supervise the staff."

9/04 Eric Rosenfield ('02) has moved to KS with his girlfriend (Megan). He's just accepted a position as Executive Recruiter in a Human Resources firm.

9/04 Debra Kamin ('04) writes that she's working as an intern at Variety. She heads off to Israel in December.

9/04 Noa Glick ('04) writes from Philadelphia where she's "working as an clinical worker/administrative assistant at the Renfrew Center; a center that primarily works with women and girls with eating disorders. I am working really closely with the Intensive Out Patient (IOP) program while organizing office accounting and management. IOP is a program that run three nights a week in which the clients come for dinner and approx 2 hours of group therapy. What I am finding most fascinating are the group sessions which I sit in on as well as the 'behind the scene' parts of the program of which I am often in charge." Noa is thinking of pursuing a Psy.D. program.

9/04 Annica Larsen ('01) writes that she's enjoying her time in Washington, DC, where she's in grad school and serving as Staff Assistant to the Chair of the Government Department at American University. She was able to get away to Saratoga for a brief visit in August and also went out to Minnesota to visit her family this summer (6 nieces and nephews!).

9/04 Jen Gross ('04) has just moved to Brighton MA, where she's living with a couple of Skidmore alums. She writes that in her new job "we have 4 clients in a 6-bed house, but we're supposed to be getting a 5th within the next few weeks. It's quite interesting - coed, 18-22 year olds, and a whole host of mental health issues - schizophrenia, borderline, ADHD, ODD, bipolar - you name it, it's there."

9/04 Katy Michos ('00) writes that she came up to Saratoga a couple of times this summer, where she managed to win big at the track! She's beginning to work on her thesis this year. Katy writes, "Currently, I am working at a health psychology site for my internship where I assess for depression, anxiety, and PTSD with patients who have just gotten heart surgery.  I also see patients through my supervisor/professor's practice, which is connected to the hospital. "

9/04 Liz Mobayed ('03) writes from London that she's managed to find employment at the National Treatment Agency, the branch of the National Health Service that deals with drug addiction and rehabilitation. Liz writes that she "is part of the research team, and already the work is very interesting! I have been working directly with some of the data, and it feels pretty neat to know that my work is going into a real government report!"

10/04 Jen Toran Sargent ('97) gave birth to twins on 9/17 (Ada Ruth and Jacob Daniel).

10/04 Sarah Boyne ('03) writes that she is living quite happily in Portland, Maine. She is working at the psychiatry department for Maine Medical Center as an admitting representative. She is in the process of applying for a MS program at USM to become a psychiatric nurse.

10/04 Missy Heins ('03) writes that she is teaching preschool and coaching gymnastics on Long Island, though she is in the process of moving to Chicago.

10/04 Andrea Konig ('98) writes "Since I graduated from Skidmore in '98 I moved to Baltimore, Md. where I received a Master's in Clinical Psychology (Research Track) from Loyola college. Now finally, I am in a Doctoral program! I am currently in my first semester in the Clinical PhD (Behavorial Medicine) program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond...Currently, I am working with a professor at VCU who specializes in psychophysiology and emotion as well as anxiety disorders. I am currently developing a dissertation project integrating Lang's bioinformational theory and Pennebaker's writing paradigm to look at the impact of emotional disclosure on health...Ironically, one of my classmates is from Skidmore. Her name is Sarah (Meshberg) Cohen. It's definitely a small world!"

10/04 Molly Maxfield ('99) writes that she's pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Geropsychology at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. She presented her first poster at the APA meetings in Hawaii this summer.

11/04 Stephanie Dennington ('04) writes that she's doing well in her elementary education program at Lesley University. She wrote, in part, to talk about a children's book that used negative color afterimages. Stephanie says, "I am student teaching in a kindergarten class this semester and I love it.  I am taking classes at night and even some on weekends so I can finish it all by June or July.  Next semester I'll be in a first grade placement so that should be exciting too.  I can't wait to have my own classroom!"

11/04 Jenna Ahearn ('03) writes that she's now working for People magazine in their advertising sales department. She continues to enjoy living and working in NYC.

11/04 Adoria Tudor ('04) says, "I am working at an insurance agency now and interviewing for management training programs with various
corporations. I think it's the best thing for me right now to explore the real world and see what it's like outside of the academic arena. I like this
city though, so I'm planning on sticking around Boston for a while."

12/04 Lisa Elisofon ('96) teaches French at Roland Park Country School in Baltimore, MD. She sounds really happy in her position there, which makes extensive use of laptops/tablets and the internet.

12/04 Karla Runquist ('04) writes that she backpacked around Europe with her boyfriend and is now back in Maine where she's working in daycare, as well as taking courses.

12/04 Steve Schoenfeld ('04) writes, "I accepted a position last monday to work as a research assistant in the pediatric psychopharacology unit at Mass General." He seems to enjoy living in the Boston area and is excited about his new position.

2/05 Kate Fichthorn ('04) writes that she has been "working as an Academic Coordinator for Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions for the past 6 months. A large part of my job is recruiting tutors and matching them with high school students who are preparing to take their SATs." Kate lives near Jen Gross ('04), so they see each other frequently.

2/05 Jamie Belli ('02) has just accepted a position as a financial manager at Mellon Financial in Everett, MA.

2/05 Kristen Lommele ('04) writes that she has just accepted a position with Information Resources (IRI) as a project manager.

Living the Liberal Arts: Life During and After Majoring in Psychology

From left to right: Coordinator Gove Effinger (Math & CS)
Lisa Korenman '97: Neuropsychologist/Research Director, InterActive Therapy Group
Rachel Mann '94: Supervising Clinical Psychologist, Saratoga Association for Retarded Citizens
Damion Grasso '00: Research Associate, Yale University Psychiatry Department
Adam Arsenault '04: Counselor, SuperKids/Mid-Fairfield Child Guidance Center
Ariel Brown '01: Graduate Student in Behavioral Neuroscience, Boston University

On 2/22/05, five psychology alums returned to campus to tell current students about their experiences while at Skidmore and after leaving Skidmore. The panel was sponsored by a grant from the Mellon Foundation, with Gove Effinger coordinating similar panels for four other departments.

3/05 Colin Northup ('03) writes that he has "worked in wine for over a year (after getting a start from Purdy's in Saratoga Springs).  However, after finding this line of work unfulfilling, I am applying to an Expressive therapies grad program at Lesley University.  The program preps students for Mental Health Counseling Licensure in Massachusetts and 30 other states.  Moreover, it also prepares students for certification by the AMTA (American Music Therapy Association)  The expressive therapies component emphasizes the arts as a method of healing.  While students must familiarize themselves with five modes of expressive therapy; art, dance, drama, poetry, and music, I plan on concentrating in music.  Lesley has the largest and one of the first programs in the country within this domain.  Moreover, I live just down the street from the school in Cambridge, MA." Best wishes for success with your plans Colin!

3/05 Jonathan Gilmour ('00) has been working as a zoo keeper in Boston (http://www.skidmore.edu/scope/fall2003/features/zoo.html). He's currently looking to further his education at a program in Edinburgh Scotland. He writes, "This particular program concentrates on the latest theories and practices encompassing animal behavior and welfare.  Studying this field would not only be greatly exciting for me, but would also fit perfectly with my plans to expand my job title at the zoo.  I would ultimately like to travel around with our outreach program (critters included), teaching children and adults about the exotic world of animals."

4/05 Ben Tabak ('03) writes that he "will be attending the Adult Clinical Psychology PhD program at the University of Miami this Fall. I just found out this past Friday that I got in, and I am super excited! My Post-Baccalaureate Research Fellowship here at NICHD will be ending in a few months, at which point I will be taking a vacation to Central America and then relocating to Miami for the next 5 years."

4/05 Margaret Gavian ('98) writes, "I've just made my decision...to go to the University of Minnesota for a PhD in Counseling Psych.  I'll be working with Dr. Pat Frazier and will focus on Posttraumatic Growth.  Minneapolis will be great since I'll have access to its diverse refugee population. I swore after I left Skidmore I would never live somewhere that cold again, but I must have acquired some form of amnesia since now I will be spending five years in the bitter cold."

4/05 Jamie Arndt ('83), who is now on the faculty at the University of Missouri, won the Provost's Outstanding Junior Faculty Teaching Award. [http://psychology.missouri.edu/people/ja.htm]

4/05 Kamila O'Neill ('98) is a graduate student at the University of Missouri. She writes, "Life is pretty good here in Missouri (but very busy). I'm in my fourth year of graduate school in clinical psychology and am finishing my comprehensive exams. I study eating disorders (specifically the etiology of bulimia nervosa) and recently completed a serious of studies on the effects of viewing pro-anorexia web sites. I hope to propose my dissertation this fall. In other news, I will be getting married this June, here in Missouri, and am looking forward to the big day."

4/05 Eric Prensky ('97) writes "I wanted to let you know that I am finishing up my internship at the VA and I have accepted a post-doc fellowship position at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL. This is a clinical health psychology position. Also, I will (finally) be receiving my doctorate in August 2005!"

4/05 Liz Mobayed ('04) stopped by for a visit with her new husband (Andrew). Liz continues to do quite well in England, though she and Andrew may one day choose to live in the USA. (No surprise, but Andrew is a really nice guy!)

5/05 Nicole Hemmett Griffiths ('00) now has a second child. Evan joins older brother Wesley, as seen in the pictures below.

5/05 Kristin Quirin ('02) continues to live and work in Saratoga Springs. If you watch Wheel of Fortune routinely, you may have recognized Kristin on that show last year.

5/05 Meaghan Geary ('03) has completed her MA at Brandeis. She will be working as a project coordinator in charge of a study on trauma and injury in children at Boston Medical Center.

5/05 Eileen Klein ('02) has been advanced to candidacy at UC Santa Barbara, where she is working on her dissertation on training paraprofessionals in social interventions for children with autism.

6/05 Stephanie Dennington ('04) writes that she's completed her studies at Lesley and will begin teaching first grade in Northborough, MA in the fall.

7/05 Kate Fichthorn ('04) will soon begin working as a Research Data Coordinator at The Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI), which is associated with UMass-Boston. ICI "conducts research related to the quality of life for disabled children and adults. They have even done research related to speech and hearing disabilities, which of course is one of my primary interests."

7/05 Kim Davidson ('04) plans to get married to David Young on July 8, 2006. She writes: "I have just finished my first step toward certification as a School Psychologist! I graduate September 1 with a MS in Applied Educational Psychology and have already begun coursework toward a CAGS in School Psychology at Northeastern University. I absolutely love the program, faculty, and students here! This fall I start a part time internship at the Sprague Elementary School in Wellesley, MA. I was very excited to be offered an internship in such a prestigious district! The schools are well funded, progressive in their practices, and produce students who perform exceedingly well on standardized achievement tests. It should be a great experience during which I'll surely learn to implement best practice!

A separate but related note... NASP (the National Association of School Psychologists), of which I have become a member, has developed a Power Point presentation to inform the public about what School Psychology is and what it is professionals in this field do. NASP encourages its use by members of the association. It seems to be perfect for presentation to undergrads who may be interested in/ are thinking of pursuing a career in School Psych."

7/05 Scott Hayes ('98) continues to keep us up-to-date on research positions available in the neuropsych area. We're delighted that he's returning to the Northeast with a year-long neuropsych internship at the Jamaica Plains VA in the Boston, MA area. Scott has recently become engaged to Jasmeet Pannu. Congratulations Scott!

7/05 Marta Krajniak ('04) writes that she remains in touch with Eric Lewy and Miriam Lipstein (in NYC). She is working as an Early Intervention Servie Coordinator for TLC (Teaching and Learning Center) in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

8/05 Michael Schreiber ('97) stopped by on his way to Montreal. He's recently married and still working in journalism.

9/05 Brooke Miller ('99) has successfully defended her doctoral dissertation at Northwestern and is about to begin a post doc at Scripps East.

9/05 Shana Pallotta ('97) is starting in a business program at UCLA.

9/05 Kristin Alphin ('04) writes "I have been working at Mass General since this summer, as a patient service coordinator for a vascular surgeon. I am learning quite a lot and really enjoy working at the hospital. So guess what, I have definitely decided I want to be a Nurse Practitioner and am applying this winter to a bunch of schools in Boston."

9/05 Chris Twombly ('05) is enjoying the weather in Atlanta as he pursues a degree at Argosy University. He's now in the process of memorizing the DSM.

10/05 Ria Jodrie ('05) writes "I am loving my job at the New England Center for Children and excited about my counseling psych classes." Ria is in the counseling program at Framingham State.

10/05 Krista Keeler ('05) writes that she "got a job at McLean Hospital as a Community Residence Counselor in the Women's Unit."

10/05 Maris Prichett ('02) was just back in Saratoga for a crew meet. After graduation, she worked for a while in the Boston Medical Center as a research assistant. Maris then moved to Two Brattle Center, where she is a milieu conselor in an adolescent intensive DBT day program. Maris has a number of responsibilities in her position, including working with the adolescents and their families on skill development, interfacing with the outpatient treatment team, etc. Based on her experiences, Maris is now applying to clinical programs.

10/05 Jen Gross ('04) writes, "I'm still at my 2nd job since moving out to Boston. I am the executive assistant to the psychiatrist-in-chief at Tufts-New England Medical Center (my first job, as the residential counselor for 18-22 year olds with mental illness, unfortunately was more frustrating/draining than rewarding for me). I've been here since the end of January. I am less of a research assistant in my job than I thought I would be, but I am getting exposure to things like grant requests (on a small scale, from pharmaceutical companies) - I was put in charge of organizing our Psychiatry Grand Rounds series for this year. So, over the past several months I've been doing a lot of thinking and organizing to take the next step in my life. I have decided that I want to go to school to be a Nurse Practitioner in either Psych/Mental Health or Women's Health. As you both probably remember, women's issues are very important to me, and I obviously have pretty extensive background in Psych. The school I want to apply to is Mass General Hospital's Institute of Health Professions. One really appealing thing about their program is the Science Summer session they offer in the summer before you start."

10/05 Kate Fichthorn ('04) writes, "I have been working as a Research Data Coordinator for UMass Boston's Institute for Community Inclusion. I love it! We primarily research employment outcomes for persons with disabilities (where people are employed and how much they are earning). We also do research with children and education. Potentially, the information we gain will impact the way in which state and federal agencies provide employment and educational services to individuals with disabilities--the goal being a shift from segregated placements towards community integration."

12/05 Pritha Mani ('04) writes, "I have finished my Msc in Psychoanalytic Developmental Studies. During the summer I worked as a teacher in an NGO in India that dealt with educating and empowering young children and women. I taught children English during the weekdays and mentored high school dropouts on weekends. At the moment I am interning with the World Health Organization in Geneva in their department of Child and Adolescent Health. I am developing a brochure that advocates the importance of implementing early childhood programs in developing countries. This brochure will be passed on to other UN agencies." She's heading off to India where she has interviews with international schools, marketing executives, and tv companies.

1/06 Marissa Krukowski ('01) writes, "As it is my fifth year reunion this year I have been thinking a lot about Skidmore. So I decided to write and see how you were doing and to give you an update on my life. As you may or may not remember, after graduating I moved to New York City and started working for Cravath, Swaine and Moore. I decided to pursue a career in law and moved to New Orleans to attend Tulane Law School. Law School wasn't quite what I expected and after a year I took a leave of absence. I began to see what my life would be like if I ended up as an attorney and it wasn't the prettiest picture. However, I stuck around New Orleans for almost another full year trying to figure out whether I wanted to go back to law School or not. In the mean time I worked for another law firm. I actually worked for the Cochran Firm New Orleans, for one of Johnny Cochran's national partners. It was a good experience and made me reconsider returning to law school. However, I wanted to move back North. So finally I decided to leave New Orleans and move back to New York. My move date was supposed to be the day Katrina hit. But luckily for me my roommate in New York (who I met in New Orleans) wanted us to move our stuff early August. I continued working through August and actually ended up leaving New Orleans the Saturday before Katrina hit due to the evacuation. So now I am back in New York City. I am working for another law firm, Kramer Levin Naftalis and Frankel, as a senior paralegal. I am so happy to be back here! I haven't decided what to do as far as school goes yet. I am actually going to take the GREs sometime in the summer. Depending on those results, I think I want to go back to my original love and try and get a PhD in psychology either clinical or cognition/perception. So I guess I have kind of come full circle."

1/06 Marta Krajniak ('04) is working in NYC at the Therapy and Learning Center. She runs into Kevin DeSimone, with whom she has discussions about perception (of all topics!). :-)

2/06 Rachel Marsh ('97) completed her Ph.D. in experimental psychology at CUNY in 2003 and now works at Columbia University in the Brain Imaging Lab/Division of Child Psychiatry. She is quite happy with her position and hopes to remain in the lab for a while.

3/06 Kim Maresca ('05) continues to pursue her acting dreams. After graduating, Kim tells us that she "interned at the Westport Country Playhouse for four months (and got to rub elbows with the likes of Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman, Christopher Plummer...lots of fun people)" She has also been interning at Abrams Artist Agency (a top talent agency in the city) and Suzelle Enterprises (a top personal manager in the city). Kim will soon be appearing in a community theater production of "Pirates of Penzance."

3/06 Scott Jacoby ('93) stopped by for a visit. He's doing well and working away on his music career at his own company (www.scojacmusic.com) in NYC.

3/06 Eric Rosenfield ('03) writes that he's still in Kansas City and will be there for a while, because he's applying to the MBA program at KU and his fiancee (Megan) will continue in her American Studies Ph.D. program there.

3/06 Krista Keeler ('05) stopped by to say hello. She's doing well in the Boston area, where she routinely runs into Skidmore alums. Krista is currently working at McLain Hospital.

3/06 Lisa Korenman Krasner ('97) gave birth to a daughter (Maren Paige) on 3/19. The future Skidmore student is beautiful!

3/06 Hartley Bramhall ('05) writes that she's enjoying her new position working in the adolescent unit of Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, CT.

3/06 Mary Bates ('02) writes "I will be attending Brown University's psychology program in the fall. I'll be working with Andrea and James Simmons, who do behavior/communication work with frogs and bats, respectively."

4/06 This fall Elizabeth Mitchell ('01) begins a graduate program in neuropsychology at Rosalind Franklin University in North Chicago. With her new faculty advisor, she will be investigating age-related cognitive decline as well as cognitive decline following head injuries. Best wishes to Liz!

4/06 Damion Grasso ('00) has just learned that he's this year's recipient of the Zigler-National Head Start Association Research Scholarship. The award will surely help Damion as he pursues his Ph.D. at U. Delaware.

4/06 Chris Twombly ('05) writes, "I have recently gone through an interview process for practicum placements and received two offers. Next fall I will be starting my therapy practicum at Inner Harbour Hospital working with children and Adolescents who have a wide range of disorders. The disorders range from depression, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, eating disorders, substance abuse, to sexual and physical abuse. I am looking forward to starting my endevours as a therapist and cannot wait to get to know the children I will be working with. In the summer I will be applying to the Psy. D. program."

4/06 This fall Kevin Wozniak ('05) will be attending American University's Ph. D. program in Justice, Law, and Society. He's currently living in Stamford and working for the American Institute for Foreign Study, so he'll soon be making the move to DC. We were able to visit with Kevin in the fall because he returned to campus to speak to those attending the Sciences Open House program.

4/06 Sara Boilen ('02) writes "I'm living in NW Montana, and have been for awhile, working as a 'dorm parent' for ten developmentally delayed teenage girls at one of the best therapeutic boarding schools in the country (Montana Academy). I'm studying for the GREs in psych (got the other ones over with) and am on my way to pursuing a doctorate (in the hopefully not-so-far future). I've been working with the adolescent population since graduation (mainly in psychology minus a brief stint as a baker!) and love it... I'm hoping to pursue research in the field of attachment, especially related to adoption."

4/06 Cassidy Gutner ('04) writes that she has been accepted to Boston University's clinical program where she will be a member of Michael Otto's Translational Research lab. Cassidy writes that she "will also have some training through CARD (Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders). I am going to be funded through a NIDA grant dealing with substance dependence and drug counseling. As a result I will be working in a Methadone clinic for the first two years in exchange for my stipend. The first year will consist mostly of assessments and the second year will involve therapy within the clinic. I will also have a few cases with anxiety and mood disorders. In the following years I may have the opportunity to teach in exchange for my stipend. I am also going to be able to work on some research involving pharmacology. Needless to say I will definitely get the trauma and physiopsych education that I was hoping for! Another added bonus is that one of the postdoc's from the National Center now works at BU in this lab (and happens to be a good friend of Jenn's), so I will get to continue to work with her!"

4/06 Kristen Lommele ('04) writes "I'm currently living in Arequipa, Peru, where I'm teaching elementary school. Things are going very well with the kids, and I really enjoy working with them, but at the same time I'm looking forward to moving back to Boston in a few months :) "

4/06 Stephanie Ehrman ('98) married Mark Beitel (who is also a clinical psychologist with a degree from Fordham University).

6/06 Caitlin Shepherd ('06) is working as a Domestic Violence Counselor at the Schenectady YWCA.

8/06 Kevin Wozniak ('05) is settling in to an apartment in DC, getting ready to start his graduate program at American University, where he'll be working with Robert Durant (who specializes in environmental poicy). Kevin has just learned that he's been awarded a Jacob K. Javits federal fellowship.

8/06 Maggie Busser ('98) writes, "For the past three years I have owned my own business – a holistic living magazine that we distribute for free around NE Ohio (Cleveland area). We focus on wellness, environmentalism, personal growth and the regional community." You can check out her web site at http://www.BalancedLivingMag.com .

9/06 Noa Glick ('04) is continuing in the Psy.D. program at Nova Southeastern. She writes, "I am still working at the Renfrew Center, an inpatient center for eating disorders. I was simply transferred from the Renfrew in Philadelphia to Florida, so it worked out very well for me. I am seriously considering specializing in eating disorders which I hope will let me combine my psychology and women's studies backgrounds."

9/06 Curry Walker ('00) has been all over the map since graduation (Boston, New York, San Francisco), but most recently has been in Guatemala. She and her husband (Pedro) currently live in San Francisco. Curry is planning to pursue a degree in nursing.

9/06 Maggie Sullivan Roberts ('95) is back in town! Her work took her to various parts of the country, but we're happy to report that she's now back in Saratoga Springs. She's working for Thomson Learning Corporation in Clifton Park, where she works in human relations.

9/06 Christi Tritton ('05) writes that she's still in NYC working in Private Equity. She was recently on campus (on her way to an engagement party in VT) and was surprised by the changes on campus. She also writes,"NYC is good, I am taking a class right now about Production at the New School...it is really interesting. I interned in the Production and Development department at Nickelodeon, and I wanted to learn more about it! It is funny, because I feel like it relates to psychology, especially in developing new shows, and trying to figure out what people will enjoy, and why!"

9/06 Diane Ventura ('06) is a Mental Health Worker at Arbour-HRI Hospital.

9/06 Lindsay Dell ('04) writes that she's just accepted a position as a case manager for Community Partners in Rochester, NH. Lindsay writes, "I will be working with adults suffering from a major mental illness who are living at home. There are no residential mental health facilities whatsoever in Strafford county, NH, so all of the people who would be placed in group homes, etc., are living on their own. It will be my job to help them manage their day to day lives." She's also moved into an apartment in Dover, NH.

9/06 Molly Maxfield ('99) writes, "I'm still seeing a few clients, but really focusing on research this year. I am also teaching my first class - very different from the TA thing. I have about 75 students for Social Psych. They are continually worried about what will be on the test - I know I'm not the first person to run into this, but it's a little frustrating. But for the size of the class, I have definitely been impressed with how much they participate and ask questions.

I was in Saratoga briefly in March, and couldn't believe all the changes - there has been so much development since I was there. The campus too - I walked around with a friend from college and we felt a little lost in Case Center. On the plus side, we went to a great Thai restaurant, which was definitely lacking while I was there.

I hope to be coming back east for my internship year. As much as I love living here and being so close to the mountains, I am beginning to miss family and friends. I have a new nephew, and he changes too much between my visits, so I want to be a little closer to home. It looks like I won't apply for intership this year though - too many exciting research projects to tackle!"

9/06 Aaron Stone ('04) has been working in New Haven CT and in New York City since graduation. He's now heading off for a little R&R (i.e., skiing) in Colorado before heading back to school.

10/06 Damion Grasso ('00) writes, "I'm doing well... Jen and Eddie are as well. Jen started an MSW program at Widener part time and Eddie should be finished up with high school in the spring and then starting a Tech school in automotive.

My personal research projects thus far have focused on neural correlates of parent-child relationship quality in humans... stemming from rat and primate models that suggest that the dopaminergic reward circuitry may be ethologically important in terms of promoting a parent's appetitive motivation to care for its young and an infant's 'attachment' to its mother. I am exploring two event-related potential components related to motivation and reward in both birth/foster/adoptive mothers and in children. I am also interested in how the parent-child relationship and the activation of the general motivational/reward system and suppression of the fear/avoidant system - demonstrated when a mother is proximal to her infant - influences a child's fear response... so I am most recently looking at how presenting pictures of a child's caregiver, familiar adults and unfamiliar adults affects the magnitude of the child's acoustic startle reflex... working off of Lang and Bradley's motivational priming hypothesis - that motivationally significant stimuli can attenuate the startle response. Ultimately, I want to see how this is related to symptoms of posttraumatic stress in traumatized children and begin to understand the mechanisms behind why the existence of a stable and supportive parent is one of the only factors that has been shown to protect against the development of posttraumatic stress following trauma... even in the face of significant risk factors... and also why the participation of a parent in a treatment for PTSD predicts a much greater reduction in symptoms... and I want to tie this into child welfare policy and practice and interventions for maltreated children. I'll have a poster about it at SRCD.

I'm also working with the state of Delaware and researchers from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network on an effectiveness and dissemination study of Trauma-Focused CBT for PTSD developed by Judy Cohen and Esther Deblinger (who went to Stony Brook..don't know when). In the end we hope to know more about barriers to implementing this treatment in the 'real world' and perhaps come up with new ideas for the treatment. One of the things we're doing is looking at the process of change (using latent growth modeling) in terms of symptomatology during and after treatment. Adele Hayes at UD (who also went to Stony Brook) is collaborating with me on that... and of course I'm collecting data on the caregivers and will be looking at how they influence treatment outcomes and chance processes.

I'm seeing three adolescent clients adjudicated and placed in detention. I'm also running a group...which is a challenge with these kids.

And one of the cool things I'm doing this semester is taking a course on structural equation modeling using Lisrel. It is very fun... and visually engaging!

Non-academic related stuff includes continuing to explore Philly and the Brandywine valley... as well as Lancaster and the surrounding cities... admiring art, theatre, and outdoor recreation like canoeing and hiking."

10/06 Steve Schoenfeld ('04) writes, "I am approaching the end of my committed tenure here at Massachusetts General Hospital [where Steve's a Clinical Research Coordinator]. I will have been here for two years in January. Since I have been here I have worked on a number of different projects from a trial investigating the potential for abuse of a number of ADHD medications to coordinating a few different industry sponsored trials investigating the efficacy and safety of Concerta (double-blind and open-label). While working on these projects I have done a number of things I never expected to be doing in this type of job out of college such as spinning blood and separating plasma, administering and learning to interpret EKG's, and being responsible for ordering a class 2 substance through the DEA. Overall it has been a very rewarding experience by gaining experience working with the IRB, working with a clinical population while conducting research and being involved in writing papers for publication, two of which I have been on (both are still in the review process at their respective journals, but hopefully they will actually be published soon-ish)."

11/06 Eric Lewy ('04) and Carrie are currently living in NYC, where he works in the field of social work with young children (up to 3 years of age) and their families. He has recently been promoted to supervise the entire staff of Service Coordinators and appointed as part of the Leadership Team to help the agency grow. He's also making music with some of his best friends in a band (MayOrWest) that is playing a lot of gigs around the NYC area and Boston. You can learn more about the band at www.myspace.com/mayorwestmusic. They're about to go back to the studio to record their second album.

11/06 Eric Prensky ('97) writes, "I just started a new position as Visiting Assistant Professor at University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago. I also got married over the summer, to Ariel Teitelbaum (her twin sister is '98 Skidmore alum). Here is the website that describes what I am doing at UIMCC:

http://ccm.psych.uic.edu/People/Investigators/prensky.aspx

I like that it is a variety of health psychology work and involves clinical work, teaching, and research."

11/06 Students in the audience heard from a panel of nine psychology alumni who talked about their experiences after leaving Skidmore.

Members of the panel were Kristie Weibust '05, Kevin Wozniak '05, Kate Fichthorn '04, Leah Langsam '06, Nika Makhmali '05, Dan Slippen '97, Jeremy Borer '01, Sarah Landy '97, and Eileen Klein '02. Coincidentally in town to give a talk at Skidmore on the day before, Scott Jacoby '93 (SCOJAC Music Productions) was in the audience. While here Scott also touched base with Chris Gregory '94, who lives in town and operates his own business (C. G. Stone).

11/06 Jamie Belli ('02) writes, "I've found the business world a great fit for my skills. I'm working at Mellon Financial, and while I tell people I'm in investment banking (it sounds sexy), it's not the case at all. I have adapted to the 9-5 world quite well, and partake in all the cliches from "power lunches" to international business teleconferences to network-building social events. I've risen through the ranks and have found myself as a member of management complete with my own crop of college-grads to do my bidding (they refer to me as "the man", in a strictly derogatory sense). I try and bring my own take on life, personal interaction, and civil disobedience to the workplace every day...in an attempt to turn the world of the cubicle a bit more personal. But, I've made some good friends there, and have enjoyed my 18 months on the job.

In my spare time I've taken up brewing my own beer, and found that it is in fact my true calling. There's nothing like cracking open an ice cold beer, pouring it into a glass, and sitting down to watch the game on Sunday, knowing that you molded the nectar out of a few gallons of water, some grains, a dash of hops, and yeast. I've already started fantasizing about the brew pub I'll open right back there in good old Saratoga. Ah, dreams....what life is all about."

12/06 Pritha Mani ('04) writes, "I am now working at an NGO in Delhi called Learning Matters. I teach children with learning difficulties. On weekends I volunteer at a local orphanage for girls. Recently I got invited to interview for a CEO position for one of the leading children's NGOs in Bombay called Mejol. I am enjoying my time in Delhi and hope to return to the USA sometime soon for a visit...It's funny how small the world is - I had an interview with a woman a couple of months ago and she happened to be an old Skidmore Alum!! We spent the entire interview reminiscing about Skidmore."

12/06 Amy Heald ('95) is in her fourth year as a guidance counselor at Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans, VT. She got married in October to a chef from New Orleans!

12/06 Marta Krajniak ('04) is "still working at the Therapy and Learning Center in Brooklyn with kids with developmental disabilities." She's also planning to start the graduate school process for Fall 2007.

2/07 Brooke Miller ('99) has a new publication: Miller, B. et al. (2007). Circadian and CLOCK-controlled regulation of the mouse transcriptome and cell proliferation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 104, 3342-3347.

1/07 Katy Kimer ('95) and Lawry Simon ('96) are the proud parents of Sarah's brother Benjamin Teller Simon (1/24/07). Rumor has it that they may move eastward (PA), providing greater opportunities to visit with these alums and future Skidmore students.

3/07 Micah Alpern ('98) is the lead designer for Yahoo Answers. You can learn more about Micah at his web site.

3/07 Jennifer Pittman Clarke ('93) is an Assistant Research Professor in the Duke University Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics.

3/07 Alyssa Porter ('00) and Ryan Griffin welcome their son, Cian Charles Griffin (see here with their puppy Quinn).

3/07 Kevin DeSimone ('03) has a new publication: Sabine Kastner, Kevin DeSimone, Christina S Konen, Sara M Szczepanski, Kevin S Weiner, and Keith A. Schneider (2007). Topographic Maps in Human Frontal Cortex Revealed in Memory-Guided Saccade and Spatial Working Memory Tasks J Neurophysiol (March 14, 2007).

3/07 Kristie Weibust ('05) writes that she's been awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

3/07 Molly Maxfield ('99) was in town for a visit. She's enjoying her program at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, especially the research she's conducting. Molly is looking forward to her internship, which may bring her back to the East Coast.

4/07 Mike Breus ('91) has been busy since getting his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. His specialties are sleep disorders and neuropsychological testing. He has recently published his first book, GOOD NIGHT: The Sleep Doctor’s 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health (Dutton/Penguin, 2006). You can learn more about Mike's work at his web site.

4/07 Dan Slippen ('97) is the proud father of Grant Henry Slippen (4/3/07).

4/07 Kaarin Anderson Ryan ('90) received her Ph.D. from SUNY Stony Brook and is now the clinical supervisor at Positive Behavior Support Consulting, where her "research and clinical interests include friendship development and social inclusion, positive behavior support, person centered planning, and broad lifestyle change."

5/07 Erin Mulrane ('05) writes that she's completed her master's degree at NYU and is "getting more involved at my local Women's Center where I already volunteer on the domestic violence/sexual assault hotline."

7/07 Phillipa Allebon ('04) writes that she's been working as "a teacher/ behavioral therapist at the Jacksonville School for Children with Autism. I do one-on-one therapy with two students, 7 and 12 years old, using mainly ABA and verbal behavior." In September she begins a research position at the Mayo Clinic there.

8/07 Danie King ('07) writes that she's settled into her graduate program and will be taking perception and statistics in her first semester. She's also engaged in research on laterality, some of which will involve working with a split-brain patient.

8/07 Sharon Bushman Lango ('96) and her family have moved back to the Saratoga Springs area (Clifton Park). She will be working for Nuculus Solutions.

8/07 Ian Connole ('06) writes "Since graduation I've directed youth sports camps in Boston, lived in Brookline and the North End of Boston, and also driven cross country to visit friends, family and grad schools. I also coached high school track at the Winsor school in Boston...I'm now at Cal State Fullerton in the Kinesiology masters program studying sport psychology/performance enhancement. I couldn't be happier. The masters program for sport psychology here is stellar. I am extremely excited to be working closely with Ken Ravizza."

9/07 Zeynep Turmen ('04) writes that she's about to become a mother. She's also recently changed jobs, working for both UNICEF and ICC (International Child Center) a previously French Organisation and now located and partnered with Bilkent University.

9/07 Caroline Golden ('07) stopped by for a visit on her way to Spain, where she will be teaching English to Spanish high school students.

9/07 Jeremy Borer ('01) writes that he's hard at work creating a new band called Before Balance. His "Letters Lost" music has been finding its way onto some great TV shows (e.g., Ghost Whisperer). Jeremy says that "If you don't have the Letters Lost music or just need a re-fresh to know what "Want You Now" "Eastern European Girls" and "Wish" sound like, you can download a few songs on my site JeremyBorer.com or if you need the whole album, download it for free at Evanparness.com/letterslost.html" Go to Jeremy's site for more info on his life.

9/07 Dinha Kaplan Siegel ('96) has given birth to a daughter (8/28), Olivia Finn Siegel. Dinha and her husband Steven are now conducting sleep-deprivation studies.

10/07 Katie Gifford ('02) writes, "Grad school is good, busy but good. This December I will have completed my Master's level coursework, and I am moving right ahead with my doctoral work. I have been enjoying the clinical aspect much more than I had expected, but neuropsych assessment continues to be my main interest. I am working for 2 private practice neuropsychologists as a psychometrist, but I love it. I have also been involved at the local Memory Clinic, screening patients for memory loss and differential diagnosis. It looks as though I will complete my research within the area of dementia. As it stands now, I am going to collaborate with Mt. Sinai hospital and the Wien Center in Miami to investigate the relationship of dementia, depression and apathy on diagnosis, disease progression, cognitive performance, and cortical atropy. I am extremely excited, and hope everything works as planned."

11/07 Sam Shuman ('04) writes that after spending a year in the Virgin Islands, she's now living and working (at a small PR firm, Cogent PR) in New York City, where she see many Skidmore alumni.

11/07 Lisa Korenman ('97) is doing well at West Point (USMA), where she will be teaching an advanced introductory psychology class. Her daughter (Maren) is talking up a storm! Lisa and her family have just moved into a new home in Newburgh, NY.

11/07 Jennifer Przybylinski Peluso ('93) wrote in inticipation of her 15th reunion in the spring. Jenny is now on the psychology faculty at Florida Atlantic University, where she teaches General Psychology and serves as the Undergraduate Coordinator. Jenny and her husband Paul have two beautiful daughters, Helen Frances (5 years) and Lucy Anne (14 months). Her twin sister Janine is on the faculty at Seton Hall University.

11/07 Jen Toran Sarget ('97) and her husband Jonathan have a new baby girl--Anna Marie! Now her siblings (Jacob and Ada) have a new playmate.

12/07 Karl Schweitzer ('03) writes that he's successfully completed his first semester of law school. Before beginning the semester, he got engaged to his girlfriend Rinad.

12/07 Lisa Kranz ('06) writes that she's "started a new job (at a different ad agency called Atmposphere BBDO) and moved into a new apartment (in New York City)...My company only does interactive advertising so I'm learning a lot about the online
realm, which is really cool."

12/07 Caroline Golden ('07) writes from Spain, where she is experiencing the challenges of teaching English to 5th graders in a Spanish public school. Caroline is doing well and looking forward to a holiday in Malaga.

1/08 Susan Rivers ('97) and Joe Jolly have added another child to their lovely family. Benjamin Jolly joined big sister Ellie on 1/4/08. Unfortunately, Susan and Joe were unwilling to accept Ellie's suggestion of "Applesauce" as the name of her new sibling. Let's hope it sticks as a nickname!

1/08 Amy Santo ('07) write that she's enjoying her graduate program in nutrition at NYU, as well as living in New York City.

1/08 Nick Vogt ('03) writes that he's working in LA casting people for various reality tv shows ("Deal or No Deal," "Don't Forget the Lyrics"). He's also considering the possibility of returning to school to pursue a degree in counseling.

2/08 Belinda Bank ('99) writes that she's currently the Associate Director of Beauty Promotions at Vogue magazine.

4/08 Danie King ('07) writes, "Things are going great for me in Santa Barbara. I have learned an enormous amount already, and I really really enjoy the work that I am doing. I've learned an enormous amount about fmri and eeg methods, and have had many opportunities to work with each of the technologies. I am currently working on a project examining the relationship between the degree of cortical connectivity in the corpus callosum, non-dominant activation, and performance on a memory task. Last quarter I had the opportunity to travel to Ohio to do some testing on a split-brain patient (which was so cool!) and I will likely be returning to do some more testing in the near future."