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Meet Our Research Team
Principal Investigator (PI)
Dr. Drew Abney
- Email: Drew.abney@uga.edu
- Current position:
- Associate Department Head & Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Georgia
- Faculty Affiliate in UGA's Institute for Artificial Intelligence
- Postdoctoral Fellow (2016-2019) in Developmental Psychology at Indiana University
- Ph.D (2016) in Cognitive and Information Sciences at the University of California, Merced
- M.S. (2012) in Quantitative Psychology and Cognitive/Behavioral Science at Illinois State University
- Click here for CV
Graduate Students (GS)
Grace Steffen
- Email: Grace.steffen@uga.edu
- Graduate School: Psychology (BBS), Year Three
- Undergrad: University of Alabama (2023)
- Majors: Bachelor of Science in Biology | Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
- Minors: Spanish and Liberal Arts
- Research Interest: The relationship between behavior and physiology during development.
- Click here for CV
Christian Jerry
- Email:Christian.jerry@uga.edu
- Graduate School: Psychology (BBS), Year Four
- Undergrad: Indiana University Bloomington (2021)
- Majors: Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
- Research Interest: How early sensorimotor experiences impact infant behaviors.
- Personal Website
Christopher Bell
- Email: Bellchri@uga.edu
- Graduate School: Psychology (BBS), Year Five
- Undergrad: Grinnell College (2018)
- Majors: Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (w/ Honors)
- Research Interest: How motor skills develop in infants and toddlers.
- Click here for CV
Research Assistants (RA)
Samantha Sands
(Major: Biology): Samantha plans to attend medical school and pursue a career in pediatric medicine.
Lola Russell
(Major: Psychology): Lola plans to attend graduate school in psychology, with a focus on developmental psychology.
Sathvika Varahala
(Major: Psychology): Sathvika plans to attend medical school and pursue a career in pediatric psychiatry.
Hannah Dutton
(Major: B.S Psychology & B.A. Criminal Justice): Hannah plans to attend graduate school and become a school psychologist. Her research area focus is school violence prevention.
Alumni
2026
- Sabrina Golden (RA)
- Avery Criss (RA)
- Angeline Justus (RA)
- Emma Gartland (RA)
2025
- Amanda Kolberg (RA)
- Samira Butts (RA)
- Kaitlyn Meland (RA)
- Sarah Jane Ellington(RA)
- Delaney Mendoza (RA)
- Jade Harris (RA)
- Alexa Knightlinger (RA)
2024
- Sabina Lee (RA)
- Sophia Mozzella (RA)
- Bhumy Patel (RA)
- Avery Hughes (RA)
- Jemeya Thomas (RA)
- Neelie Perno (RA)
- Ava McDonald (RA)
2023
- Sara-Ashley Collins (RT)
Team profiles from devdynlab.com · Source updated October 7, 2026.