Today’s Friday Feature is Caroline G. Richter!
Caroline G. Richter was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at UConn from 2021-2022. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham collaborating with Dr. Fumiko Hoeft, Professor of Psychological Science and Director of BrainLENS at UConn. She’s originally from Brazil, where she received her BA in Psychology and MA in Developmental Psychology; she earned her PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Louisville.
In her lab, they conduct research with typically developing children and with children who are neurodiverse. They are interested in understanding the cognitive and socio-emotional aspects that contribute to the variability on the academic achievement and adaptive outcomes of children who are neurodiverse. They focus their work particularly on children with Specific Learning Disability, Williams syndrome, and Down syndrome. They hope that the results of their research can be used to inform targeted assessments and interventions, leading to improvements in the quality of life of children and their families. You can find more about their lab here: Science of Child Development and Neurodiversity (STARS) Laboratory.
Currently, Caroline is studying how socio-emotional constructs, such as motivation, resilience, and stigma impact mental health and academic outcomes of children (11-14-year-olds) who have a learning difference, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, or ADHD. You can learn more about their study in the BrainLENS website and here.
In her free time, Caroline enjoys meditating, doing yoga, hiking, reading, traveling, and spending time with her husband, friends, and family. Caroline also loves to spend time with her pets from Brazil.
