Summary
Taissa Lytchenko started her higher education at Truckee Meadows Community College and finished her Bachelor’s in Psychology in May 2017 at the University of Nevada, Reno. Currently, she is pursuing her doctorate in the Cognitive and Brain Sciences program, under the direction of Dr. Gideon P. Caplovitz. Her research focus is in the field of attention, more specifically how humans perceive objects. Through her graduate experience, she is grateful to take part in several collaborative projects with other universities: MRI at Dartmouth and single cell recording at Montana State University, with funding kindly provided by an EPSCoR grant for the Attention Consortium.
Aside from her research, she is passionate about Neuroscience outreach at local schools and venues, teaching kids about topics such as anatomy, physiology, and perception. She also serves as a Neuroscience mentor for Frontiers for Young Minds Journal, which connects local students to an easy-to-read scientific literature and the peer review process. Likewise, she has been fortunate to be part of the Graduate Student Association since she began her doctoral journey four years ago, first as a Representative, and recently as the Internal Vice President. Some of her current advocacy includes: affordable graduate housing, both in the community and through expansion of housing availability on campus; stipend increase to meet rising costs of living; fairness in immigration, accessibility, and family/life balance; tech privacy, affordable parking on campus; and safe and efficient transportation choices.
Education
- B.A. in Psychology (Research Emphasis) with a minor in English Literature, University of Nevada, Reno, 2016
- A.A. in Psychology, Truckee Meadows Community College, 2013