February 22, 2022

The U.S. National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences has awarded 50 early-career researchers with postdoctoral fellowships. The fellowships will support research on a range of human-focused topics, from using brain imaging to understand the neural mechanisms that support psychological well-being to developing new computational methods that can help American families build greater financial security.

Each fellowship award will support an early-career researcher for two years. In addition to conducting fundamental research, fellows are mentored by a sponsoring senior researcher to help prepare them for a career in science. 14 of the fellowships were supported by funds provided by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to help bolster institutions and researchers who were impacted particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Early-career scientists pave the way for future innovations and breakthroughs,” says Josie Miranda, director of the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships program. “It is critically important to support them during the postdoctoral period so they can gain the scientific expertise and training necessary to do cutting-edge research. The additional funds we received through the American Rescue Plan Act allowed us to support a greater number of promising researchers and their future scientific advancements.”

2021 Postdoctoral Research Fellows in the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences:

Kirsten Adam (University of California, San Diego)
Sponsoring scientist: John Serences

Omer Ali (Duke University )
Sponsoring scientist: William Darity Jr.

Sebastian Benthall (New York University)
Sponsoring scientist: Katherine J. Strandberg

George Borg (Science History Institute of Philadelphia)
Sponsoring scientist: Charlotte A. Abney Salomon

Gina Buckley (University of Missouri Research Reactor Facility)
Sponsoring scientist: Virginie Renson

Paul Connor (Columbia University)
Sponsoring scientist: Jonathan Freeman

Kristin Dobbin (University of California, Los Angeles)
Sponsoring scientist: Gregory Pierce

Tess Doeffinger (University of Delaware)
Sponsoring scientist: A.R. Siders

Hayley Dorfman (Harvard University)
Sponsoring scientist: Elizabeth Phelps

Shiloh Drake (University of Oregon)
Sponsoring scientist: Melissa M. Baese-Berk

Lauren Drakopulos (Cornell University)
Sponsoring scientist: Jenny Goldstein

Natasha Duell (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Sponsoring scientist: Keely A. Muscatell

Erin Eife (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Sponsoring scientist: John Major Eason

Michael Esbach (Princeton University)
Sponsoring scientist: João Biehl

Alejandro Figueroa (University of Missouri)
Sponsoring scientist: Brandi L. MacDonald

Julia Fine (College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University)
Sponsoring scientist: Corrie Grosse

Raquel Fleskes (University of Connecticut)
Sponsoring scientist: Deborah Bolnick

Samantha Floyd (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Sponsoring scientist: Edward Gibson

Alon Hafri (Johns Hopkins University)
Sponsoring scientist: Michael F. Bonner

Jacob Harris (University of California, Los Angeles)
Sponsoring scientist: Brian M. Wood

Fred Ariel Hernandez (University of California, Irvine)
Sponsoring scientist: Kim Fortun

Daniel Horschler (Yale University)
Sponsoring scientist: Laurie Santos

Sa-kiera Hudson (Yale University)
Sponsoring scientist: Jennifer Richeson

Emily Hite (Northern Arizona University)
Sponsoring scientist: Denielle Perry

Ashley Jordan (Princeton University)
Sponsoring scientist: Kristina Olson

Sophie Kuchynka (Rutgers University)
Sponsoring scientist: Luis M. Rivera

Ethan Kutlu (University of Iowa)
Sponsoring scientist: Bob McMurray

Elise Laugier (Rutgers University)
Sponsoring scientist: Dan Cabanes

Yoonjeong Lee (University of Michigan)
Sponsoring scientist: Jelena Krivokapić

Jennifer Lu (University of California, Berkeley)
Sponsoring scientist: Mahesh Srinivasan

Ian Lundberg (University of California, Los Angeles)
Sponsoring scientist: Jennie E. Brand

Julia Marshall (Boston College)
Sponsoring scientist: Katherine McAuliffe

Weston McCool (University of Utah)
Sponsoring scientist: Brian F. Codding

Melisa Menceloglu (Brown University)
Sponsoring scientist: Joo-Hyun Song

Joao Moreira (University of California, Los Angeles)
Sponsoring scientist: Carolyn Parkinson

Emma Mullaney (Michigan State University)
Sponsoring scientist: Laura Schmitt Olabisi

Dung Nguyen (University of California, Irvine)
Sponsoring scientist: Lisa Pearl

Erik Nook (Yale University)
Sponsoring scientist: Dylan G. Gee

Madeleine Oakley (North Carolina State University)
Sponsoring scientist: Jeff Mielke

Sam Patterson (New York University)
Sponsoring scientist: James Higham

Benjamin Pitt (University of California, Berkeley)
Sponsoring scientist: Steven Piantadosi

Marie Plaisime (Harvard University)
Sponsoring scientist: Mary Bassett

Lauren Schiller (Teachers College Columbia University)
Sponsoring scientist: Robert S. Siegler

Cara Steger (Cornell University)
Sponsoring scientist: Karim-Aly Kassam

McKenzie Stokes (Virginia Commonwealth University)
Sponsoring scientist: Fantasy Lozada

Marijke Stoll (Indiana University)
Sponsoring scientist: Stacie M. King

Andrea Torvinen (Arizona State University)
Sponsoring scientist: Kostalena Michelaki

Talia Waltzer (University of California, San Diego)
Sponsoring scientist: Gail Heyman

Amanda Wissler (University of South Carolina)
Sponsoring scientist: Sharon DeWitte

Maro Youssef (University of Southern California)
Sponsoring scientist: Rhacel Salazar Parennas

---

The U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2023 budget of $9.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.

 Get News Updates by Email 

Connect with us online
NSF website: nsf.gov
NSF News: nsf.gov/news
For News Media: nsf.gov/news/newsroom
Statistics: nsf.gov/statistics/
Awards database: nsf.gov/awardsearch/

Follow us on social
Twitter: twitter.com/NSF
Facebook: facebook.com/US.NSF
Instagram: instagram.com/nsfgov