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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Life Story Lab

Lab Team

Our amazing lab team in their Summer and Fall Chapter! 

Dr. Susan Bluck, Professor, Lab Director

For more information on Dr. Bluck, visit her profile.

Kiana Cogdill-Richardson, Graduate Research Assistant

Kiana is currently a third year Ph.D student in Developmental Psychology at the University of Florida, studying under Dr. Susan Bluck. She is a proud triple gator, having received a M.S (Psychology), B.S (Psychology) and B.A (English) all from UF. She has had a special interest in studying death since she took a course in UF’s English Department that primarily focused on how authors’ fiction was influenced when they were aware they were dying. As a PhD student, Kiana’s research interests include understanding how the structure and features of adults’ narratives signal adaptive storying of autobiographical memories of challenging life events, specifically death-related events. She employs a mixed methods by integrating content-analytic, qualitative and quantitative, and linguistic text analysis to investigate what directs individuals to narrative memories in adaptive ways, and whether this relates to individual differences such as personal wisdom. In her free time, Kiana likes to camp in the Florida Springs and learn to cook new recipes.

Hope Schroeder, Research Assistant and Lab Manager

Hope is a fourth-year student studying General Psychology with a minor in Early Childhood Studies. Her interest in the Life Story Lab stems from her own experiences with grief and losing multiple loved ones from a very young age. After her own experiences, she became intrigued to understand how the death of a loved one can affect someone’s life and memories. After undergraduate, Hope wishes to pursue a Ph.D. program in child clinical psychology. Hope’s other campus involvements include being a teaching assistant for CLP2001: Personal Growth, volunteer research assistant for the Pediatric Behavioral Health Lab at the University of Florida, and being a Gator-2-Gator Ambassador. In her free time, Hope enjoys reading, spending time with her friends and puppy, and working out at the gym.

Keegan Whitacre, Research Assistant

Keegan is a fourth-year Psychology major with minors in Anthropology and Business Administration. His interest in the Life Story Lab comes from his curiosity on how death shapes our identity and perspective on life. After graduating in Spring 2025, he plans on pursuing a Ph.D. in counseling psychology. For volunteer work, Keegan is a hotline operator at the Alachua County Crisis Center. Other campus involvements include the UF GRiP Pawsthetics team, beach volleyball, and Outdoor Adventure Recreation club. In his free time, Keegan enjoys reading, backpacking, and watching movies.

Gaya Prabhakaran, Research Assistant

Gaya is a third-year student studying Psychology, Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience. Her interest in the Life Story Lab is rooted in the desire to gain wisdom by consciously considering her own death and processing the death of her loved ones who have passed on. She is curious to investigate how compassion, wisdom and peace can grow through such experiences. She hopes to delve deeper into these questions as she does further research in the future. Gaya is a certified yoga teacher and teaches yoga at UF RecSports. She also works as a gymnastics coach to young athletes with special needs at Balance 180 Gymnastics. In her free time, she likes to spend time with friends and family, meditate and practice yoga, and run.

Victoria Fernandez, Research Assistant

Victoria Fernandez is a rising third-year Psychology major with a minor in Statistics. Her interest in the Life Story Lab is driven by a deep awareness of her own mortality and a fascination with the unique, complex narratives that shape each individual’s life. A topic that intrigues her is the differences in accepting and coping with death among different cultures and age groups. After completing her undergraduate studies, Victoria plans to pursue a graduate program and build a career in academic psychological research. In her free time, she crafts the soundtrack to her own life story through her passion for music.