Lab Director & Principal Investigator:
Dr. Riana M. Brown (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at The Ohio State University (OSU). She completed her PhD from New York University and undergraduate studies from University of Miami. Before NYU, she lived in Amsterdam where she served as a Fulbright Fellow and completed her M.S. in Social Psychology Research from the Vrije University Amsterdam. Before starting at OSU, she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) at the University of Pennsylvania.
Her research focuses on understanding the ways people seek to address and mitigate social problems, such as inequality, poverty, and climate change. She hopes her work can shed light on the complexities of society’s social ills to create long-lasting social change (for a further description, please see her faculty page or the lab’s Research page).
When she is not discussing or researching social problems, you can find her biking around, drinking coffee, hiking, or practicing handstands in the park.
Email: brown.9677@osu.edu
Affiliated Postdocs:
James Hillman is broadly interested in how people think about change and progress both in the past and future. He studies misperceptions of change based on motivations and heuristic thinking, particularly how people may lean on (potentially false) cultural narratives to direct their thinking. Beyond perceptions of change, he also studies how people perceive and engage with disagreement with others. This is currently reflected in ongoing research exploring people’s perception of public messaging, particularly uses of ‘whataboutism’ (for further description, please see his professional website).
Email: hillman.218@osu.edu
Primary & Secondary Graduate Students:
Isabela Castilla (she/her) received her B.S. in Social Psychology with a minor in Communication from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Isabela is currently a first-year PhD student in the Social Psychology program, primarily working with Dr. Brown. Her research interests revolve around individual’s identity formation, sense of belonging, and intersectionality. Specifically, she focuses on what factors make a person more or less likely to confront societal ills (racism, sexism, etc.). Outside of academics, Isabela loves visiting cute cafes, baking/cooking, traveling, and karaoke! Fun fact: Isabela can speak three languages (English, Japanese, and Spanish)!
Email: castilla.15@osu.edu
Dan-Tam Pham-Nguyen (Tam) (she/her) is an international student from Vietnam and holds her B.A.(Hons) in Psychology with a Minor in Social Studies from Fulbright University Vietnam. She is currently a second-year student in the Social Psychology program, working with Drs. Kentaro Fujita & Riana Brown. Her research interests broadly include mindset beliefs, motivation, goal pursuit, and interpersonal relationships. Outside of academics, Tam loves exploring cute cafes, decorating, and binge-watching thrillers!
Email: pham.673@osu.edu
Owen Stanczak received his B.S. in Psychology and Philosophy, with minors in Criminology and Theology, from the University of Scranton in 2024. He is currently a second-year Ph.D. student in the Social Psychology program, working with Drs. Kentaro Fujita & Riana Brown. His research examines motivation and goal pursuit, particularly in the contexts of organizational behavior, group functioning, and decision-making about social issues. His current research focuses on how people associate different organizational ranks with different levels of regulatory scope.
Email: stanczak.9@osu.edu
Dr. Brown will be recruiting graduate students for the 2025 application cycle (to begin 2026).
Research Assistants:
Sam Froehle is a third-year Psychology and Statistics double major with a minor in Architectural Studies. She is mainly interested in social and behavioral psychology and plans on pursuing a PhD in social psychology post-graduation.