Cassandra (she/her/hers) graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2021 with her B.S. in Neuroscience and Behavior and a second major in Italian. While at Notre Dame, she worked as an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Laura Miller-Graff’s lab, where she completed an honors thesis on the relationships between financial and childcare stressors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and maternal depressive symptoms. After graduating, she worked as a Sara S. Sparrow Fellow in Clinical Neuroscience in Dr. James McPartland’s lab at the Yale Child Study Center for two years before joining the PINE lab. Cassandra is interested in researching how environmental factors shape children’s early social and emotional learning and using this information to support interventions that promote healthy neurodevelopment. In her free time, she enjoys trying new recipes, exploring Boston, playing the piano, and doing her best to keep up with her cat Matilda’s antics.