Meet the Team

Family Development Lab Director

Rebecca Brock, Ph.D.

Rebecca Brock, Ph.D 
rebecca.brock@unl.edu

Faculty Website

Dr. Brock is an associate professor in the Clinical Psychology Training Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is the Quantitative Training Coordinator in the Department of Psychology and provides instruction in the application of statistics in psychological research. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Iowa. In her free time, she enjoys camping, hiking, homesteading, gaming, and reading all the books. 

Graduate Students

Frannie Calkins, M.A.

Frannie Calkins, M.A.
fcalkins@huskers.unl.edu

Frannie Calkins (she/her) entered the UNL Clinical Psychology Training Program in 2018. She graduated from UNL in 2018 with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in child, youth, and family studies. Frannie’s program of research investigates inter- and intrapersonal risk and resilience factors that contribute to family and couples functioning. Outside of the lab, Frannie enjoys taking her dog Nemo for walks and teaching dance.

Lauren Laifer, M.A.

Lauren Laifer, M.A.
llaifer@huskers.unl.edu

Lauren (she/her) entered the Clinical Psychology Training Program at UNL in the fall of 2018. She graduated from Tufts University in 2015 with a B.A. in Clinical Psychology and a minor in Child Development. Before coming to UNL, she worked as a research coordinator at Massachusetts General Hospital. Lauren’s program of research explores how perinatal psychopathology, specifically trauma, impacts parenting and child internalizing behaviors. In her free time, Lauren enjoys reading mystery books, cross-stitching, and spending time outdoors.

Eric Phillips, B.A.

Eric Phillips, B.A.

Eric is a doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at UNL. He graduated from California State University, Sacramento in 2019 with a B.A. in Psychology and an emphasis in research methodology and multivariate statistics. Eric is interested in applying advanced methodologies to investigate modifiable factors in the development and maintenance of various mental and physical health outcomes, particularly in children and adolescence. Outside of the lab, Eric enjoys writing music, hiking, and reading.

Emily Hamburger, M.Ed.

Emily Hamburger, M.Ed.

Emily Hamburger is a doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at UNL. After completing a B.A. in psychology from Coe College, she graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2016 with an M.Ed. in clinical psychological assessment. Her research interests center around child and adolescent mental health, and the impacts of family factors and physical health. Outside of academia, Emily enjoys reading, baking, and spending time with her dog.

Rachel Martin, M.Res.

Rachel Martin, M.Res.

Rachel is a doctoral student on the Clinical Psychology program. Rachel graduated from University College London in 2018 with a Master of Research in Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology and spent the second year of this program working as a Research Fellow in the Yale Child Study Center. Her research interests focus on the transition to motherhood, particularly in considering how stress and anxiety influence the experience of pregnancy and childbirth, in addition to caregiving behaviors and mother-infant bonding in the early postpartum period. In her free time, Rachel enjoys traveling, hiking in Colorado, spending time with family and friends, baking, community service and watching documentaries.

Seth Finkelstein, B.A.

Seth Finkelstein, B.A.

Seth Finkelstein (he/him/his) entered the UNL Clinical Psychology Training Program during Fall 2023. He graduated from the University of Michigan in December 2020 with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Community Action and Social Change. Seth is interested in studying youth internalizing disorders through a family systems framework, primarily how parental relationships impact long-term outcomes for children. In his free time, Seth enjoys spending time with friends and family, going for walks, cooking, and playing basketball.

Allison Sparpana, B.A.

Allison Sparpana, B.A.

Allison (she/her) entered the UNL Clinical Psychology Training Program in 2023. She graduated from the University of Michigan in December 2020 with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in education policy. Allison is interested in how emotion regulation during pregnancy affects parental mental health and parenting over the transition to parenthood. Outside of the lab, she enjoys finding little free libraries in her neighborhood, reading in parks, and seeing all the shows that come to town.

Research Assistants

Tess Barnes, B.A.

Tess Barnes, B.A.

Tess graduated from UNL in 2016 with a B.A. in Psychology and Advertising/Public Relations. She currently works as a Research Technician at UNL's Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab. Tess plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and hopes to study externalizing behaviors in children and adolescents, particularly as they relate to emotion regulation, executive function, and social interaction. When she's not working, Tess enjoys cycling, antiquing, and spending time with her cats.

Dani Koch

Dani Koch

Danielle (she/her) is an undergraduate at UNL majoring in Psychology and minoring in Art. She is interested in modeling the interactions between various aspects of the early childhood environment and their impact on child emotion regulation development and plans to pursue a master's in Data Analytics. In her free time, she enjoys riding horses, creating art, and playing the piano.

Sarah Omar

Sarah Omar

Sarah (she/her) is an undergraduate student at UNL majoring in Psychology. She is interested in the role of parental psychopathology, more specifically trauma-related distress in emotion socialization and child internalizing behaviors, in addition to exploring how larger sociodemographic factors play a role in both trauma-related distress and emotion socialization. On campus, she is involved in the UNL Honors Program, McNair Program, UCARE Program and is a member of Psi Chi. After graduation, she plans to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology. In her free time, Sarah enjoys traveling, home decorating, cooking, and spending time with her cat Leo.

Lab Alumni

Past Graduate Students

Molly Franz, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland Baltimore County

Erin Ramsdell, Ph.D.Postdoctoral Fellow, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan

Shaina Kumar, Ph.D.Postdoctoral Fellow, Boston School of Medicine

Research Assistants
  • Dominick Vanlaningham
  • Hannah Schulof
  • Chelsea Wisehart
  • Seth Finkelstein
  • Taylor Brumbaugh
  • Emily Starr
  • Olivia Maras
  • Jennifer Blake
  • Sage Volk
  • Haley Adams
  • Lizzy Isaacson
  • Yifu Hu
  • Eastyn Klink
  • Yixin Wang
  • Lakyn Baker
  • Cody Meyer
  • Kristlin Mogensen
  • Jaime Stephenson
  • Beth Alexander
  • Lauren Schar
  • Ashley Miller
  • Summer Nielsen
  • Bergen Johnston
  • Chelsea Rock
  • Sara Reyes
  • Rosa Torres
  • Shayla Wieser
  • Katie Orr
  • Mai Pham
  • Michelle Ebrahim