Our Research Team
Jennifer L. Coffman, PhD (She/Her)
Lab Director, Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Jennifer Coffman's program of research is focused on understanding the development of children’s cognitive and affective skills with an emphasis on conversations in the home and school contexts that impact developmental change. She examines a variety of factors at home and school that may contribute to children’s acquisition of effective memory strategies, metacognitive knowledge, gratitude, regulation, mathematics, and academic achievement. Moreover, she is interested in general questions regarding the contexts that support children’s adaptation and learning. Dr. Coffman focuses primarily on basic developmental questions involving social forces in the home and school settings that foster growth in children’s cognitive, social, and academic performance while simultaneously working toward interventions that can positively impact children’s developing skills.
Amber E. Westover, PhD (She/Her)
Amber Westover is a former doctoral student in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at UNC Greensboro. Before attending graduate school, she worked as an elementary school teacher. Her research interests center on the socialization of cognition during the early elementary school years. She is specifically interested in how parents and teachers can support children’s cognitive development in areas such as memory, metacognition, and academic skills.
Miranda Denham Sanford, PhD (She/Her)
Miranda is a former doctoral student in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at UNC Greensboro. She worked for three years as an early interventionist, conducting home visits with families of children ages 0-3 with developmental delays or disabilities. Miranda's research interests are centered on children's play and informal learning in the first years of life and how these experiences change across contexts, such as outdoors and in museums. She is passionate about creating opportunities for children of all backgrounds and abilities to have access to high-quality spaces for play.
Amanda Buchanan, MS, MEd (She/Her)
Graduate Student & Research Assistant
Amanda taught the NC Pre-K program with Guilford County Schools for seven years before branching out to the world of educational research as a research assistant while completing the Early Childhood Intervention and Family Support Master of Education program at UNC-Chapel Hill. As a doctoral student at UNC-Greensboro Amanda’s goals are to further explore the roles of language and literacy development in young children as they expand their abilities to engage in episodic forethought. Additionally, Amanda aims to find ways to further incorporate evidence-based practice from the fields of language and literacy into curriculum development and teacher preparation programs in the hopes of more broadly providing the availability of nurturing and inclusive early childhood classroom environments.
Namitha Rajasekhar (She/Her)
Graduate Student & Research Assistant
Namitha completed a B.Sc. (Hons) in Psychology at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. After working in developmental psychology labs at Indiana University and Boston University, she earned an M.Ed. in Educational Psychology from the University of Virginia in 2026. Namitha’s doctoral research interests focus on how caregiver–child relationships and children’s experiences across home and school contexts shape emotion regulation. She is especially interested in examining these processes among diverse and historically underrepresented communities, including South Asian families, and in understanding how cultural and contextual factors influence children’s development. Namitha aspires to pursue a career in academia, building a research program that informs culturally responsive, evidence-based interventions for children and families.
Charlotte Vaughn (She/They)
Graduate Student & Research Assistant
Charlotte graduated from UNCG in May 2025 with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies and a minor in Philosophy. After spending some time as a preschool teacher, they found their way back to UNCG to pursue a MS/PhD in the HDFS program. Their research interests focus on how adults' communication strategies with young children shape cognitive and emotional development, especially in the context of early education. Their goal is to inform policy and programming that strengthens teacher confidence and improves student outcomes.
Future Lab Member
Undergraduate or Graduate Research Assistant
The Cognition in Context Lab recruits undergraduate research assistants on a rolling basis. Please reach out to Dr. Jennifer Coffman if you are interested in working in our lab!
Prospective Graduate Students: Please refer to the UNCG Department of Human Development and Family Studies webpage for more information. Please feel free to reach out to Dr. Jennifer Coffman with any questions you may have at jennifer.coffman@uncg.edu
Lab Alumni
 Dr. Amber WestoverDr. Amber Westover MS/PhD Graduate (2025) Postdoctoral Researcher at UNC Chapel Hill |  Dr. Miranda Denham SanfordDr. Miranda Denham Sanford MS/PhD Graduate (2025) Instructor at UNC Greensboro and Chattanooga State Community College |  Jordan TollisonJordan Tollison Bachelor of Science Graduate (2025) |
|---|---|---|
 Anna BerothAnna Beroth Bachelor of Science Graduate (2025) |  Lianny Araujo MartinezLianny Araujo Martinez Bachelor of Science Graduate (2024) |  Maya HareMaya Hare Bachelor of Science Graduate (2024) |
 Kylan DavisKylan Davis Bachelor of Science Graduate (2023) |  Kaitlyn L. TranKaitlyn L. Tran Bachelor of Science Graduate (2023) M.S./Ph.D. HDFS Student at UNC-Greensboro |  Dr. Olivia CookDr. Olivia Cook MS/PhD Graduate (2023) Postdoctoral Researcher at Florida State University |
 Dr. Keadija WileyDr. Keadija Wiley MS/PhD Graduate (2023) Instructor UNC Greensboro Postdoctoral Researcher at UNC-Chapel Hill |  Sydney RevellSydney Revell Master of Science Graduate (2023) PhD Student at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign |  Catherine RicciCatherine Ricci Bachelor of Science Graduate (2023) |
 Amarre ReidAmarre Reid Bachelor of Science Graduate (2023) |  KellyAnn BonannoKellyAnn Bonanno Former Project Coordinator PhD Student at University of Cincinnati |  Dana ConlinDana Conlin Master of Science Graduate (2019) |