Liv Bjorgum is a fourth-year undergraduate majoring in psychology and sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. She is passionate about interdisciplinary and intersectional research, and she is thrilled to be a part of the HIGHER Lab. Outside of the lab, she is currently researching the impacts of the femtech industry on women’s health. She is also studying patterns of stillbirth as a mentee in the Social Sciences Research Pathways program. She volunteers with Kesem Berkeley and writes music journalism pieces. In her free time, she enjoys making zines, cooking, and practicing yoga.

Maria Castaneda (she/they) is a senior at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in  Psychology with a minor in Chicanx Latinx Studies. She is particularly interested in exploring how the intersection of multiple group identities—such as race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status—impacts access to valuable resources and opportunities, resulting in disparities in mental health, well-being, and education. Additionally, she seeks to understand how societal perceptions of these individuals further influence their life experiences and opportunities. Through her academic pursuits, she aims to understand and address the systemic barriers and biases that impact these individuals.

I am a first-year student at the University of California, Berkeley, studying Business Administration, Data Science, and Public Policy. My passions lie at the intersection of business, law, and public policy, where I strive to drive meaningful impact in Business Development. Currently, I am actively involved in the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) and engaged in two consulting projects for nonprofit organizations, applying analytical and strategic solutions to support their missions.

Hobbies: Guitar, Soccer, Volleyball, Boxing.

Fun fact: I am from Ecuador :)

Sanjana Rajupalem (she/her/hers) is a research assistant at HIGHER lab. She is a current undergraduate student majoring in legal studies with plans to minor in public policy. She is interested in the ways in which the law oftentimes justifies and reinforces inequality as well as how this relates to social psychology. In particular, she seeks to further understand what role psychological emotions play in codifying law and their broader societal impacts. She also wants to explore how emotions influence individuals within institutions such as higher education and the workplace. She hopes to use what she learns to inform her perspectives throughout undergrad, law school, and her future professional endeavors. 

Hello, my name is Inderpal Singh and I am a third year student studying Political Economy+concentration in US inequality. I am researching intersectionality here at the HIGHER lab. As a Queer Punjabi Sikh, I hope to combine my identity and growing knowledge of the greater intersectional struggle to frame my goals/aspirations within the professional field.  As a future lawyer, I aspire to assist in asylee cases ranging from 1984-Sikh-genocide asylees, to those escaping persecution from the Middle East/India for their sexuality/gender identities. When I am not deep-diving into systemic issues, I like to de-stress by running, playing tennis, and fighting my demons in the gym. During my freshman year, I was on the founding council for “Berkeley Sikh Law” which hopes to provide resources to first-generation low-income students so they can succeed within the field of law. Currently, as the president, I hope to expand on this mission at Berkeley.

Hi everyone, I'm Zhuoya! As a sophomore student, I double major in Psychology and Statistics, with a great love for Art History. My major research interest is the various emotions in organizations, why we have them and how they shape us. I particularly love positive emotions and prosocial interactions — even simply hearing words like “empathy” makes me smile. I therefore focus on empathy research in our lab. Outside academics, I love graphic design as the Marketing Director in one ASUC senator’s office. This semester, I also joined the ASUC Mental Health Commission to make mental health resources more accessible to every student. Moreover, I love baking cookies for my friends during weekends. My proudest achievement ever is that I managed to see 2024's total eclipse with solar prominence in cloudy Austin!

Gael is a senior majoring in Economics and minoring in Data science. Regarding research, he is interested in investigating how behavioral biases continue to impact income and wealth inequality across varying demographic identities - particularly between ethnic groups and across socioeconomic status - along with our perceptions of such disparities across time. Outside of the lab, he is interested in researching public equities and serves as an equity researcher and portfolio risk manager for the on-campus investment club Blacskies Investments.  In his free time, he enjoys weightlifting, hiking, and reading books.  Gael spent the past summer working as a wildland firefighter in Oregon.

Bharathi Arivazhagan (she/her) is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology on the pre-med track. She is interested in studying the application of psychology within institutional practices, as she is especially interested in how implicit and explicit bias shape disparities within healthcare. She seeks to explore how social trends of prejudice and discrimination lead to broader systemic inequities, influencing access to resources and services. She aims to uncover the psychological mechanisms that underlie biases and contribute to unequal treatment, with the goal of developing strategies to effectively promote equitable treatment. With aspirations of working as a physician, she aims to apply this knowledge to advocate for equitable healthcare practices and improve patient outcomes.

Robbie Brown is a fourth-year undergraduate psychology major at the University of California, Berkeley. He’s thrilled to be studying at the Higher lab, especially the work related to social psychology and the different forces at work in the formation of group hierarchies. He is also studying children’s attention spans with visually salient material at the Kidd Lab. At Berkeley he is on the club swim team, volunteers at the Lean On Me textline and writes for The Free Peach! Outside of school, Robbie enjoys snowboarding, swimming, surfing, video editing and good music. 

Chantel White is a third-year student from San Jose, CA, double majoring in Economics and Political Economy with a minor in Data Science. At HIGHER Lab, she researches the social psychology behind hierarchy and intersectionality, with a passion for applying these insights to workplace dynamics and market structures. As Vice President of Community Development for UC Berkeley’s Panhellenic Council, she oversees DEI initiatives across 13 sorority chapters, representing 2,000 members. Additionally, as Treasurer of the University Housing Rights Organization, she leverages data analysis and strategic communication to advocate for equitable student housing. Driven by an interest in bias within corporate environments, she seeks to bridge social psychology and economics in her pursuit of a legal career. In her free time, she enjoys reading, traveling, attending concerts, walking her dog, and spending time at the beach.

Leah Gutierrez (they/them) is interested in analyzing inequalities, examining their structural foundations, and exploring mitigating forces to ultimately enact revolutionary change. Over the Summer, Leah earned the opportunity to exercise their critical thinking skills while interning for the City of Oakland in the Department of Race and Equity, in which they assisted in designing a racial equity curriculum. Presently, Leah works for the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment in which they bridge language barriers to increase accessibility while surveying the conditions of ECE workers in both English and Spanish. During their first semester with HIGHER lab, Leah aided in running a study that inquired on how stereotype threat and gender atypicality impact young women’s performance. Leah is very excited to extend their insights of stereotype threat into their research on queer health stereotypes and stigma faced by gay men, with the hopes of also exploring how health stereotypes impact lesbians and trans individuals.