The William Lee Science Impact Program (Lee SIP) is a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) within the College of Natural Sciences designed to expand and broaden participation in undergraduate research. The program provides students the opportunity to work on fun, novel, and interesting scientific questions by matching them with faculty members with similar research interests.

What are some of the steps you took in life or influences that brought you to your current area of research?

My primary line of research examines influences of social factors (e.g., social networks, mimicry, conformity) on alcohol use.   However, my research did not focus on alcohol use in graduate school— my master’s examined HIV risk behavior and my dissertation examined sun protection.  I soon realized, though, that alcohol use was the ideal domain for examining peer influences on health.  I therefore sought out postdoctoral training in Brown University’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies.  It provided the exposure and experiences I needed to be able to conduct informed research in this area. 

Danielle Samuels received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of California, Riverside in 2018. Her research focuses on the development of internalizing problems across the transition from childhood to adolescence. Specifically, she is interested in the roles of puberty and sociocultural factors in explaining the emergence and changes in anxiety and depression during this transition period.