2020-2021 Hot Metal Bridge Alums

Alfred Rodriguez 

I’m from Southern California, born in Los Angeles and relocated east towards the Inland Empire where I’ve spent most of my adult life. I graduated three years ago with my degree in biology and a minor in anthropology at California State University: San Bernardino. Throughout my scholastic career, I always did work centered around my community. These experiences propelled me to think more about social inequities and sparked an interest in psychology. I am currently working with Dr. Josefina Banales at the University of Pittsburgh. Our work focuses in on critical race consciousness and youth political activism. My interests are with understanding intersections of race/ethnicity and queer identity and how these play a role in social inequities.

Ketura Elie

I am from Florida. I graduated from the University of Florida with BS in Psychology and a minor in Women's Studies. I am interested in examining imposter syndrome, sense of social fit, and belonging uncertainty, particularly in traditionally underrepresented minority groups. I am currently working with Dr. Kevin Binning in the Diversity and Equity Lab. I like to listen to music and play sudoku in my free time.  

Rasul Adams 

Rasul hails from St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and is a University of Pittsburgh graduate with a B.S. in Psychology. Previous research involved examining participants with aphasia who have had strokes on their ability to perform tasks involving qualitative and quantitative measures. His interests involve second language learning and the influence of external factors on an individual's learning. For HMB, he will be working with Dr. Natasha Tokowicz in the Psycholinguistic Underpinnings of Multilingualism (PLUM) laboratory.

2019-2020 Alums

Andrea Tovar 

Andrea is from El Paso, Texas and recently graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in General Business. Her previous research examined bilingual word activation, and priming effects on long-term word production among bilinguals. She is particularly interested in language switching among bilinguals, and second language learning. During her time in the Hot Metal Bridge program, she works with Dr. Natasha Tokowicz in the Psycholinguistic Underpinnings of Multilingualism (PLUM) laboratory.

Natalie Heywood 

Natalie Heywood is a Pittsburgh native, who recently graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati. She is interested in all aspects of childhood development and is currently working with Heather Bachman in the Parents Promoting Early Learning Lab. She is eager to learn more, apply new techniques and take full advantage of what the Hot Metal Bridge program has to offer.