Former Postdoctoral Fellows

Ivan Kroupin

Ivan is a postdoctoral fellow working on a Templeton Foundation-funded project regarding the origins and mechanisms of social cooperation (comity). More generally he is interested in first-principles theories concerning 

1. Mechanisms by which cultural features (e.g. social institutions, types of tools, subsistence practices) increase/decrease the success of the broader cultural system and
2. Mechanisms by which these features causally relate to changes in the cognitive organization of individual humans.

Current projects include work on the socioecology of (what we measure as) executive function/cognitive control, theoretical work linking cultural systems with theories of biological architecture, as well as ongoing fieldwork with small-scale societies in Bolivia and Namibia/Angola.

Robin Schimmelpfennig

Robin is an affiliated postdoctoral researcher from the Centre of Humans and Machines at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. In Berlin, Robin is working with Iyad Rahwan on research exploring human-AI interaction and tries to understand how both will culturally co-evolve. Before this, Robin earned a PhD with Charles Efferson at the University of Lausanne, and worked at Google Research in New York. Robin is currently a Fellow for Behavioural Science and AI at the United Nations and has lived in 9 countries on 4 continents.

Rachel Spicer

Rachel is a postdoctoral fellow working primarily on the Database of Religious History project. She has a background in bioinformatics,  completing her PhD at the European Bioinformatics Institute at the University of Cambridge in 2019. During her PhD she investigated whether open metabolomics data was sufficiently annotated to enable data reuse and meta-analysis. She has expertise in R and Python, Data science, open science methods, and metascience

Kiran Basava

Kiran is a postdoctoral fellow working on projects related to cephalopod intelligence. She completed her PhD student in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford working on the cultural evolution of warfare practices.

Tommaso Batistoni

Tommaso is a former visiting PhD student and former postdoctoral researcher. His research explores (i) the role of reputation in the production of large scale public goods and (ii) the dynamic of contributions in non-linear social dilemmas. He uses empirical tools (e.g. economic experiments) and mathematical modelling. [website]

Helen Elizabeth Davis

Helen is a postdoctoral fellow co-supervised with Joseph Henrich in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University. She uses the theoretical perspectives of evolutionary psychology and behavioral ecology to better understand cognitive development and cognitive decline in humans. In particular, she is interested in how variable access to resources, different learning environments, and ecological variation can affect cognition across the lifecourse. She works with the Tsimane of Bolivia and the OwaTwa & Himba of northern Namibia and is the founder of the OnePencil non-for-profit. [website]

Former PhD Students

Eric Schnell

Eric is a PhD student in Psychological and Behavioural Science at the LSE. His research interests revolve around cultural evolution, specifically relating to issues of human social network dynamics, cooperation, and competition. His background is in cognitive science and mathematics.

Theiss Bendixen

Theiss is a psychologist and an affiliated graduate student from Aarhus University. His main study area is in the cognitive and evolutionary sciences of religion, focusing on cultural evolutionary accounts of cross-cultural variation in religious beliefs, and how religion might relate to the emergence and stability of cooperation in human societies. He is also involved in meta-science research and science communication. Theiss is affiliated with the Muthukrishna Lab through the Templeton World Diverse Intelligences Initiative “A Theory for Cephalopod Intelligence: The Alien Intelligence in Our Midst”.

Ryutaro Uchiyama

Ryutaro is a PhD student in Psychological and Behavioural Science at the LSE. His overall interest is in how mental processes and cultural/collective processes mutually shape each other. His current research focuses on the co-evolution of the nervous system and culturally transmitted knowledge, as well as other topics related to cultural learning and cultural psychology. Ryu’s background is in neuroscience, behavioral biology, and cognitive psychology. He is currently training in methods and theory from cultural evolution in order to better analyze problems that slip through the boundaries that define the natural, social, and cognitive sciences. [website]

Max Winkler

Max is a visiting PhD student in Economics at the University of Zurich and affiliated researcher at the Culture, Cognition, and Coevolution Lab at Harvard University. His research interests lie at the intersection of Development Economics, Political Economy, Economic History, and Cultural Economics. He studies the determinants and implications of cultural beliefs, norms, and social networks, using novel longitudinal data sets and innovative empirical methods – including machine learning and natural language processing. He is particularly interested in the application of research in cultural evolution to public policy and the private sector.

Xueheng Li

Li completed his PhD in Economics at the University of Nottingham in 2018 and accepted a job as an Assistant Professor at Nanjing Audit University in his native China. His research interests include social and economic networks, behavioral and experimental economics, and applied game theory. [website]

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Former Lab Managers

Zoé Vanhersecke

Former Role: Lab Manager/Executive Assistant Zoé worked as a lab manager / executive assistant, and helped on projects related to cephalopod intelligence and cultural fragmentation within the NHS.

Rachel Service

Former Role: Lab Manager Rachel worked as a Lab Manager. She also worked on a variety of projects related to culture, cultural distance, and education.  

Sudha Jagatheesh Jayanand

Sudha is an undergraduate BSc Psychological and Behavioural Science student at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is currently working as a lab manager / executive assistant.  

Riya Sabherwal

Riya is an undergraduate BSc Psychological and Behavioural Science student at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is currently working as a lab manager / executive assistant.

 

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Former Research Assistants

Diana Panizo Madrid

Diana is currently an undergraduate student at the London School of Economics, working on a project commissioned by the UNDP exploring the role of AI in developing countries.

David Feng

David is an undergraduate student studying psychological and behavioural science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is currently working on a project related to cultural distance.

Nicole George

Nicole is a current BSc student in Psychological and Behavioural Science at the LSE. She is currently working on a project related to Cephalopod intelligence.

Alexander Leonhard

Alexander is a current graduate student in Psychology from Aarhus University. He is currently working on a project related to cephalopod intelligence and evolutionary theories.

Agnieszka Sobala

Agnieszka is an undergraduate student in Psychological and Behavioural Science at LSE. She is currently working on a project related to assessing the impacts of cultural groups diversity among NHS staff on patients.

Labadé (Joshua) Omotosho

Joshua was an undergraduate student studying Psychology at the University of Lethbridge. He is working on projects related to cephalopod intelligence, artificial neural networks, and informal young carers.

Karlijn Vanoppen

Karlijn Vanoppen is a final-year Psychological and Behavioural Science student at LSE, set to begin a master’s in Behavioural and Decision Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania in fall 2025. Her interests include behavioural science, computational social science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. She hopes to apply behavioural and psychological insights in a data-driven way to support academic research and inform policymaking.

Hanying Yao

Hanying Yao was an undergraduate student in Psychological and Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She worked on a project conducting policy analysis on global AI education and applying concepts of cultural evolution. She is particularly interested in applying computational methods to understand how cultural, social, and political contexts shape human cognition and behaviour. Hanying will be joining the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago as a Pre-doctoral Researcher.

Nivain Goonesekera

Nivain is an undergraduate student in Psychological and Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics. He has a particular interest in how psychology can be applied to communications, technology and everyday decision-making. He is also the founder of a student-led podcast, The Psych Voice, which explores the intersection between psychology and other fields in the digital age.

Sumayyah Chaudhry

Sumayyah is an undergraduate BSc Psychological and Behavioural Science student at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is currently working alongside Michael as a social media manager to promote his book and research.

Amelia Moores

Amelia worked on a project related to cultural distance within the NHS.

Layla Razek

Layla was an undergraduate student in Biology and Political Science at McGill University. She worked on projects related to the paradox of diversity.

Emma Carta

Former Role: Research Assistant Emma worked on a project looking at psychological differences caused by exposure to multiple cultures during childhood. These individuals are sometimes referred to as “Third Culture Kids (TCKs)”.

Ojasvi Goel

Former Role: Research Assistant Ojasvi (OJ) worked on a project looking at psychological differences caused by exposure to multiple cultures during childhood. These individuals are sometimes referred to as “Third Culture Kids (TCKs)”.

Colin Xu

Former Role: Senior Research Assistant Colin began as a Research Assistant in 2014 and worked on several projects till he graduated in 2015. In September, 2015, he began work as a Graduate Student in the Psychology Department at the University of Pennsylvania.

Shayan Pourahmadi

Former Role: Honours Student Shayan began as both a Research Assistant and a Research Engineer in 2014. He primarily worked on a project focused on cooperation and corruption, but also assisted with a project focusing on testing formal models of human social learning. In September, 2015, he began work as a Graduate Student in the Economics Department at Columbia University.

Anita Schmalor

Former Role: Senior Research Assistant Anita worked as a Research Assistant in 2015 on several projects, including a project focused on cooperation and corruption, and a project focused on overconfidence. In September 2015, she began work as a Graduate Student in the Psychology Department at The University of British Columbia.

Brooke McDonald

Former Role: Senior Research Assistant Brooke began as a Research Assistant in 2013 and worked on several projects. She primarily focused on a project looking at how social learning cues change physiology and behavior. She will graduate in 2017.

Gabriela Freitas

Former Role: Senior Research Assistant Gabriela (Gabby) began as a Research Assistant in 2013 and worked on several projects till she graduated in 2015. She is currently deciding on her next steps after graduation.

Jonathan Zajonc

Former Role: Senior Research Assistant Jonathan (Jon) began as a Research Assistant in 2014 and worked on several projects, but primarily on a project looking at cross-cultural differences in cognition and attention. He is currently studying biology at The University of British Columbia and will graduate in 2018.

Sarah MacDonald

Former Role: Directed Studies Student / Project Leader Sarah began as a Research Assistant in 2013 and worked on several projects till she graduated in 2015. She then accepted an industry position in a technology company.

Mona Sabzevari

Former Role: Senior Research Assistant Mona began as a Research Assistant in 2013 and worked on several projects until she graduated in 2015. She then accepted an industry position and plans to pursue a graduate degree in Counselling Psychology.

Peter Senften

Former Role: Directed Studies Student Peter began as a Research Assistant in 2012. He primarily worked on a project looking at how social learning cues change physiology and behavior. Peter later began as a graduate student in Neuroscience at The University of British Columbia.

Chan Jeon

Former Role: Senior Research Assistant Chan began as a Research Assistant in 2014 and worked on a project looking at how social learning cues change physiology and behavior. Chan later began graduate school in Psychology at Memorial University.

James Pho

Former Role: Senior Research Assistant James began as a Research Assistant in 2014 and worked on a project looking at how social learning cues change physiology and behavior. He graduated in 2015 and accepted an industry position.

Marianna Pereira

Former Role: Visiting Research Assistant Marianna was a visiting research assistant in 2013, studying Acturial Science at the University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. She worked on a project looking at cultural change in the World Values Survey and on state-level measures of overconfidence.

Negah Mortazavi

Former Role: Honours Student Negah worked on her honours project with me in 2013. She was recently accepted into graduate school at The University of British Columbia.

Jeremy Lewis

Former Role: Project Leader Jeremy began as a Junior Research Assistant in January 2013. He was involved in several projects, but primarily an acculturation project. He was later promoted to Project Leader and he led the project until its completion.

Joe Deng

Former Role: Senior Research Assistant Joe began as a Junior Research Assistant in 2012. He was involved in several projects including two cultural transmission studies, a cross-cultural study on overconfidence, and a cultural identification study. He was was later selected to assist in a literature review on cetacean cognition and social behavior, where he assisted in collecting quantitative data.  In 2013, Joe started work as a Lab Assistant in the Functional Neurogenesis Lab at UBC.

Sania Ahmed

Former Role: Senior Research Assistant Sania began as a Junior Research Assistant in 2012. She was primarily involved in a cultural transmission project. Sania graduates in 2014, after which she is hoping to apply to graduate school.

Jinseok Oh

Former Role: Senior Research Assistant Jinseok began as a Junior Research Assistant in 2012. He initially worked on a cross-cultural study of overconfidence, but was later selected to assist in a literature review on cetacean cognition and social behavior, where he assisted in collecting quantitative data. Jinseok graduated in 2013 and is now applying to graduate schools in Cognitive Psychology.

Rochelle Picardo

Former Role: Project Leader Rochelle began as a Junior Research Assistant in 2012. After working on two projects, a cross-cultural study on overconfidence and a cultural transmission study, Rochelle began working on a large scale study on acculturation, which she eventually took over as Project Leader. Rochelle graduates in 2014, after which she will be applying graduate programs.

Ben Shulman

Former Role: Directed Studies Student Ben began as a Junior Research Assistant in 2011. After working on a cultural transmission project, Ben worked as a Directed Studies student, where he ran a follow-up study based on his own ideas. Ben is a co-author on a paper based on his study. In 2013, Ben started work as a Graduate Student in Health Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Vlad Vasilescu

Former Role: Directed Studies Student Vlad began as a Junior Research Assistant in 2011. After working on a cultural transmission project, Vlad worked as a Directed Studies student, where he ran a follow-up study based on his own ideas. Vlad is a co-author on a paper based on his study. In 2013, Vlad started work as a Lab Manager in the Social Cognition and Emotion Lab at UBC and will begin a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology at the Adler School of Professional Psychology in September.

Caitlyn White

Former Role: Project Leader Caitlyn began as a Junior Research Assistant in 2012. She worked on several projects on cultural transmission, acculturation, and overconfidence. She was quickly promoted to the project leader for an overconfidence project. In 2013, Caitlyn graduated and will be applying for jobs after returning from vacation.

Helen You

Former Role: Project Leader Helen began as a Junior Research Assistant in 2012. She worked on several projects on cultural transmission, cultural identification,  acculturation, and overconfidence. She was quickly promoted to the project leader for a cultural identification project. In 2013, Helen began work as a Student Advisor in the UBC Arts Co-op Program.

Setrag Avakian

Former Role: Project Leader Setrag began as a Junior Research Assistant in 2012. He worked on several projects on cultural transmission and overconfidence and was quickly promoted to the project leader for a cultural transmission project and later an acculturation project. In 2013, Setrag returned to his native Los Angeles, where he plans to work for a year and then apply to graduate school for 2014.

James Wai Chuen Loke

Former Role: Directed Studies Student James began as a Junior Research Assistant in 2010. He primarily worked on a cultural transmission project, which he later took on as Directed Studies project. In 2012, James began work on a Directed Studies project at the Center for Infant Cognition at UBC.

Jenina Singian

Former Role: Senior Research Assistant Jenina began as a Junior Research Assistant in 2012. She worked on several projects on cultural transmission, acculturation, and overconfidence. In 2013, Jenina graduated from UBC and is currently working in industry in Vancouver.

Jon Papez

Former Role: Senior Research Assistant Jon began as a Junior Research Assistant in 2011. He primarily worked on a cultural transmission project. In 2012, Jon began work as a Research Assistant in the Peer Relations Lab at UBC.

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Former Research Engineers

Victor Møller Poulsen

Victor is a research consultant working primarily on the Database of Religious History project. He has a background in cognitive science, completing his MSc at Aarhus University in 2022. He has worked on statistical modeling, networks science, and machine learning approaches to understand culture and psychology. He has expertise in social data science broadly, and mostly conducts advanced statistical analysis in Python and R.

Shayan Pourahmadi

Project Area: Institutional Punishment Languages: HTML/JS/CSS Shayan went on to graduate school in Economics at Columbia University.

Oliver Zhang

Project Area: Institutional Punishment Languages: HTML/JS/CSS Oliver went on to work for SAP.

Daisy Luo

Project Area: Institutional Punishment Languages: HTML/JS/CSS Daisy went on to work for SAP.

Emily Bird

Project Area: Social networks. Languages: Python Emily went on to work for SAP.

Jennifer Lui

Project Area: Gene-culture coevolution. Languages: C++ Jennifer went on to work for UBC’s web development team.

Kevin Lee

Project Area: Gene-culture coevolution Languages: C++ Kevin went on to work for IBM

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