Our Team
Georgene Troseth, Principle Investigator
GEORGENE TROSETH, Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology in the Department of Psychology and Human Development of Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. She has published scholarly articles and chapters about very young children’s symbolic development, and children’s learning from pictures, video images, touchscreens, and e-books. Dr. Troseth consulted with Sesame Workshop on the Sesame Beginnings videos and worked with the Fred Rogers Company on an experimental e-book. Her research has informed children’s media policy and the American Academy of Pediatrics media guidelines, and has been reviewed in the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, Parents Magazine, Discover Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal and featured on National Public Radio.

Undergraduate Research Assistants (2022)

Cassidy Latchford
Lab Manager

Sarah Eknoyan
Assistant Lab Manager

Nithya Vadakattu

Madelyn Shultz

Catherine McQueen

Sophia Podolsky

Bemnet Argaw

Julia Angell

Lorenz Chen

Grace Darcey

Lily Brand

Zoe Yarbrough

Lorena Cruz

Sophia Waugh
Interested in becoming a research assistant? Click here!
Alumni
Graduate Students
Zachary Stuckelman, Ph.D. 2022
ZACHARY STUCKELMAN, Ph.D., is a graduate student at Vanderbilt University. His line of research primarily focuses on how children’s learning interacts with different kinds of digital media. Additionally, Zach is interested in making rich language experiences convenient for families from different backgrounds through technology and digital media.
Israel Flores, Ph. D.2020
ISRAEL FLORES is a National Science Foundation graduate student fellow at Vanderbilt. Israel has two lines of research focusing on children and media. The first explores how interactive technologies affect the cognitive development of young children. The second examines how the act of translating can support learning in very young second language learners, as well as the support roles technology can take for those navigating a new language.
Colleen Russo Johnson, Ryerson University, Ph. D.2017
Dr. COLLEEN RUSSO JOHNSON, Ph.D. is the Chief Scientist and co-founder of The OK Company. As a developmental psychologist, she is the Co-Director of the new Children’s Media Lab at Ryerson University, and an Adjunct Professor of Creative Industries. She is also a senior scholar for UCLA's Center for Scholars and Storytellers, research advisor to Sinking Ship Entertainment, and co-author of bestselling children's book, Dino Dana: Dino Field Guide. She is passionate about bridging the gap between academia and the children’s media industry by conducting meaningful, applicable research and thoughtful dissemination.
Gabrielle Strouse, University of South Dakota, Ph. D.2011
Dr. GABRIELLE STROUSE, Ph.D. is currently an Assistant Professor in the Human Development and Educational Psychology program. She is an active member of the Science of Learning Research Group and the Center for Brain and Behavior Research. Her primary focus is on determining how and when young children struggle to learn from different types of media (e.g., books, videos, apps) and identifying methods for supporting children's learning from media. She is also interested in how children transfer information from the context in which it is learned for use in new contexts
Katherine O'Doherty, Ph. D. 2013
Dr. KATE O'DOHERTY is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago. She is the 2011 winner of the Departmental Susan Graw Award for Scholarly Writing as well as the 2013 winner of the Hardy Culver Wilcoxon Award for the most distinguished doctoral dissertation.
Brian Verdine, Ph. D. 2011
Dr. BRIAN VERDINE is currently the Head of Client Success at Yellowdig Technology, a social learning platform. After receiving his doctorate in developmental psychology at Vanderbilt, he went on to become a Professor of Education at the Unversity of Delaware.





