Five undergraduate members of the Adolescent Transitions Lab, the lab’s manager, and Dr. Mendle all journeyed south to Baltimore March 31-April 2 for the 2016 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence. Seniors Taylor McGuire and Kathleen McCormick presented a poster on the associations of rumination and depression at puberty, and Dr. Mendle presented in a panel on interdisciplinary approaches to research on puberty.

In addition to attending sessions and engaging in conversations about the latest findings in adolescent research, lab members also joined members from Dr. Burrow’s lab for dinner on the town!

This week, research assistants from the Adolescent Transitions Lab are kicking off this summer’s research project. Two research assistants are at each of two 4-H summer camps, 4-H Camp Bristol Hills and 4-H Camp Hidden Valley, collecting data on life changes in adolescence experienced by girls ages 10-13.

To learn more about the fun and idyllic settings our research assistants will be enjoying this summer in Upstate New York, check out the websites for Camp Bristol Hills in Canadaigua and Camp Hidden Valley in Watkins Glen!

Sarah Moore Presents at Annual BGA Meeting

Adolescent Transitions Lab graduate student Sarah Moore presented at the annual meeting of the Behavior Genetics Association in San Diego, California this Saturday. Her talk, entitled “Are ‘Plasticity’ Alleles Related to Sensitivity to the Environment: An Investigation of Divergence in Depression Scores in Twin Pairs,” proposed a theoretical approach to studying plasticity in specific phenotypes using random effects regression models. Congratulations, Sarah!

More information on the Behavior Genetics Association can be found at their website.

Kirsten McKone, lab manager of the Adolescent Transitions Lab, presented on her recent work on inaccurate responders in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) at the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research at Cornell last week. Add Health is popular data set for developmental scientists and has come under scrutiny for the presence of “jokesters” that may have deliberately responded inaccurately to survey questions.

Recently, undergraduate research assistant Kathleen McCormick presented to Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) staff on her experience last summer as a CCE research intern.  Sharing via web conference, Kathleen summarized her summer work with the Adolescent Transitions Lab and outlined the importance of the intervention currently being tested. She also discussed the benefits of participating in research as an undergraduate student, emphasizing the value of the introduction to the research process and the connection to community the project facilitated. Additionally, she detailed some of the challenges she encountered while conducting research in a non-research setting, discussed the benefits of that unusual environment, and answered questions about the role of CCE student interns as both research assistants and members of the communities in which they are conducting research.

Professor Mendle spoke as part of a panel titled “From Menarche to Menopause: Women’s Reproductive Trajectories and Risk for Depression” at the 2015 International Convention of Psychological Science in Amsterdam.  The convention was the first of its kind and attracted researchers from over 75 countries. For more information on the conference, visit the ICPS website.

Professor Jane Mendle was named a Institute for the Social Sciences (ISS) fellow-in-residence for the 2015-16 academic year. The program, which is open to associate and assistant professors, “gives exceptionally strong social science faculty members a semester away from the daily demands of teaching and departmental service to advance and publish their scholarship.” ISS fellows are nominated by their department chairs and deans, and selected by an interdisciplinary review committee in a university-wide competition.

More information on the ISS fellowship program and the Institute for the Social Sciences is available in the Cornell Chronicle.