Current Unicorns
Dr. Thekla Morgenroth
Principal Investigator
My research examines why and how people maintain social categories and hierarchies, especially when these are challenged, with a particular focus on the gender/sex binary and its consequences for women and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Some of my current projects include research on opposition to policies and practices that challenge the gender/sex binary, the psychology of different feminist ideologies, the link between gender nonconformity and identity denial, and moral arguments made in the context of regulating women's bodies (e.g., in the context of sex work or abortion).
Kira Kay Means
3rd year graduate student
I am broadly interested in studying feminism, gender-based prejudice, and prejudice occurring within social groups. As a member of the UNICORN lab, I am excited to integrate my interests in feminist and queer theory with social psychological research on gender. I am also interested in advanced quantitative methods and best practices in data analysis. In spring 2017, I earned a B.A. in Psychology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the University of Montana. After graduating, I participated in a year of AmeriCorps VISTA service in Washington, DC. I received my M.S. in Experimental Psychology from Western Washington University in spring 2021 and then was Lab Manager of the Brauer Group Lab at the University of Madison-Wisconsin during the following academic year.
Pronouns: She/her
Contact: means6@purdue.edu
Favorite magical creature: Also unicorn! I actually have a tattoo of a unicorn, so joining the UNICORN Lab was clearly meant to be. 🦄
Heejoo Jennifer Chung
2nd year graduate student
I am interested in studying how conceptions and ideas of gender shape and are shaped by personal identity, relationships between groups and individuals, and the sociocultural environment. I am excited to conduct social psychological research on gender while construing it as a multidimensional, not binary, and possibly flexible construct. Prior to joining the UNICORN lab, I earned a B.A. and M.A. in Psychology from Yonsei University in South Korea.
Austin Zeng
Lab Manager
I am interested in examining causal attributions and moral judgments in the context of intergroup relations. More specifically, I am interested in how majority group members make attributions about the disadvantages minority groups face as well as how moral judgments about individuals derive from these attributions. Before Purdue, I received my B.S. in Psychological & Brain Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Tina Wang
Undergraduate Research Assistant
I’m a junior at Purdue University majoring in Psychology and Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies, and minoring in Philosophy. I’m co-running a social media account about comprehensive sexuality education in China. For research interests, I’m broadly interested in the marginalization of minority groups from intersectional lens across culture, and perception on intimate relationship of people with BDSM-related interests.
Carter Skeels
Undergraduate Research Assistant
I am a Junior majoring in Psychological Sciences! I am also the treasurer of the Fiber Arts Club here at Purdue. I am interested in transgender inclusion in sports, and also how the general public perceives transgender issues
Maura O'Sullivan
Undergraduate Research Assistant
I am a Junior majoring in Psychological Sciences and Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, with a minor in Anthropology. At Purdue I am the Mental Health Chair, Risk Manager, and Recruitment Chair of Devonshire Cooperative. My research interests are the stereotypes and stigmas of psychological disorders and how they can lead to internalization, discrimination, or exclusion in minority groups.
Shelby Lehman
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Howdy! I’m a senior double majoring in Psychological Sciences and Sociology, with a minor in Classical Studies and an eye on Law School. I’m a member of the Climate Action Collective of Purdue and am working in the Sociology department researching American perceptions and reactions to German Socialists before and during WW1. I’m interested in Law and the philosophy of discrimination on an individual and societal level.
Trisha Desai
Undergraduate Research Assistant
I am a junior at Purdue majoring in Psychology and minoring in Sociology. On campus, I assist with a research project that studies the mental health of Arab and MENA individuals. My research interests encompass the many social systems that uphold various forms of inequality and how intersectionality plays a role in discrimination.
Jake Huemmer
Undergraduate Research Assistant
I am a Junior at Purdue University Double Majoring in Brain and Behavioral Science and Philosophy with a focus on Ethics. I am also a Purdue Posse Scholar, which is an organization that identifies leaders and trains them to be a catalyst for individual and community development. I am interested in exploring how relations with transgender individuals affect cis-gender persons' own self expression, sexuality, etc..
Kartoffel
Lab mascot
My research interests include (1) food inequity with a specific focus on why the humans in my home always seem to get more exciting food than I do, (2) the best things to play with (preliminary results suggest that strings and kale are particularly great), and (3) finding the best spots to nap.
Pronouns: She/her
Favorite magical creature: Myself! I am the most magical creature there is.
Least favorite magical creature: Vacuum cleaner.
UNICORN alumni
PhD Students
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Layla Dang (currently a post-doctoral fellow at Michigan State University)
Master Students
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Finn Frohn (designer of the UNICORN lab logo!)
Research Assistants
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Estefani Olguin
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Abi Click (currently graduate student at the University of Connecticut)
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Allie Mueller
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Olivia Lewis (currently graduate student at UMass Boston)