Rikki Laser is a doctoral candidate in psychological sciences and human development from Vernon Hills, Illinois. She earned her B.S. in neuroscience at the University of Iowa and now studies how the interaction of temperature and parental behavior shape development of social behavior and neurobiology under the guidance of Alexander G. Ophir at Cornell.
What is your area of research and why is it important?
I study how temperature and parental behavior interact to shape development of social behavior and neurobiology. My research will allow us to better understand how our physiology, environment, and behavior interact to shape development across the lifespan and beyond. More broadly, my work shows that how we perceive our environment affects our behavior and physiology throughout our lives. Consequently, how we respond to changes in the environment affects health and happiness now and across generations.
What does it mean to you to be a Bouchet Scholar?
To me, becoming a Bouchet Scholar feels both like a recognition and a challenge: a recognition of the excitement and effort I have put into my research, outreach, and community building work at and beyond Cornell; a challenge to continue and expand this work as I continue to develop as a scholar and a person. In meeting this challenge, I feel like I have the support of both the current communities I engage with as well as the new-to-me community of the Bouchet Honor Society.
How do you exemplify the five pillars of the Bouchet Society—character, leadership, advocacy, scholarship, and service?
I embody the five pillars of the Bouchet Society through my commitment to community and access both within and beyond my integrative research. Over my time leading programming in my department, initiatives across the Graduate School, and outreach events across the region, I have sought to provide opportunities for connecting with people and with research to enrich the Cornell community and expand public interest and belonging in science.
Read the full story on the Cornell University Graduate School website.
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