10cea conference committee
byron G. Adams, Conference chair
Byron G. Adams is an interdisciplinary identity psychologist and work and organizational psychologist. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and a Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Byron's research focuses on identity across different groups (i.e., cultural, gender, and national groups), life stages (i.e., adolescents and emerging adults), and life domains (i.e., school and work). He has recently co-editing two books. The first on Methods and Assessment in Culture and Psychology (with Dr. Mihcael Bender), launching in Spring 2021. The second on "Non-Western Identity: Research and Perspectives ( with the Late Prof. dr. Fons van de Vijver), launching in Summer 2021. He currently serves on the Governing Council for the Society of Emerging Adulthood and the Commission for Cultural Diversity in the Dutch Psychological Association (NIP).
Kristin M. Anders, conference committee
Kristin M. Anders, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Human Sciences at Kansas State University. She earned her Ph.D. in Child and Family Studies from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 2017. Her research areas focus on identity development, sexual development, and romantic relationships during adolescence and emerging adulthood. She also examines how cultural and social norms can impact sexual development and experiences of sexual and dating violence during emerging adulthood. She aims to use her research to better inform and strengthen sexual and relationship education programs in high schools and colleges.
angela dedios, conference committee
Angela deDios is an assistant professor of psychology at Cypress College and has been part of SSEA since 2008. Her research focuses mainly on cultural and ethnic identity development in emerging adulthood.
Royette T Dubar, Conference committee
Royette T Dubar, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT, U.S.A). Her research program examines the link between sleep and psychosocial adjustment among adolescents and emerging adults. She examines sleep characteristics using both subjective and objective measures and investigates a wide range of psychosocial indices, including social media use, depressive symptoms, substance use, and emotional well-being. A secondary line of work examines meaning-making within a narrative identity framework.
Goda Kaniušonytė, Conference committee
Goda Kaniušonytė, PhD, is an Associate Professor
in the Institute of Psychology and hold a senior
research position at Applied Psychology Research
Laboratory at the Mykolas Romeris University.
As a developmental psychology scientist, she is
interested in the developmental paths of adolescents
and emerging adults analyzing various individual and
relational antecedents and outcomes. In her research
she focuses on positive factors that shape
development of young people.
Luzelle Naudé, Conference committee
Luzelle Naudé is a Professor in Psychology, at the
University of the Free State, South Africa where she
is involved in the training and supervision of
postgraduate students. Being committed to the
development of emerging adults who can make a
contribution to a diverse and humane South African
society, both her teaching and research strategies
are focused on gaining insight into and facilitating
psychological development, with a strong
appreciation for the dynamics of diversity in the
unique multicultural milieu of South Africa.
She regards developmental psychology, specifically
related to late adolescence and emerging adulthood
as the theoretical framework for her work and use
the unique South African context as lens. The focus
of her research is on all processes and dimensions
of identity development in African heritage
settings. She follows mixed-methods, quantitative
and qualitative approaches when exploring topics
such as students’ transformational journeys
regarding self and society and the challenges of
forming an integrated identity in contexts of change
and transition.
Joseph (Joey) Schwab, conference committee
Joseph R. Schwab is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, MA, USA. His research focuses on the narrative construction of identity in adolescence and adulthood, aiming to better understand how people create meaning and purpose in their lives through the stories they tell. He has been a member of SSEA since 2011 and is the former chair of the Identity Topic Network.
Angela Sorgente, Conference committee
Angela Sorgente is a post-doctoral researcher at the Catholic University of Milan, Italy. Her main research topic is emerging adults' financial well-being. She is also interested in Quantitative Methods and teaches courses about statistical analysis and research methods. She currently serves as the elected emerging scholar representative to the SSEA Governing Council and the chair of SSEA Emerging Scholar Topic Network.
Nadia Svirydzenka, conference committee
Dr Nadia Svirydzenka is a social and cultural psychologist at De Montfort University, Leicester and deputy director of the Mary Seacole Research Centre. Her research interests lie in understanding mental health of vulnerable populations and emerging adults though culturally framed identities, attitudes, stigma, and behaviours. In her research she uses critical research paradigms employing mixed methods and inclusive participatory methodologies to explore how resilience can be developed in response to social challenges like migration, homelessness, conflict, and gender violence; what factors mitigate the adverse mental health consequences; and how they can be mobilized from within communities for effective interventions. She is part of UK and International UKRI funded projects on exploring mental health literacy in Kerala, India using theatre; COVID impact on health of young children in temporary accommodation in the UK, and gender-based violence in slum communities in Pune, India.
rimantas vosylis, conference committee
Rimantas Vosylis, Ph.D., is a full-time post-doctoral researcher and part-time Associate Professor at the Institute of Psychology, Mykolas Romeris University. His major research interests include the development of identity and financial capabilities in emerging adulthood. He currently serves as an assistant editor for the Emerging Adulthood journal and is a co-chair of the SSEA Emerging Scholar Topic Network and a co-chair of the SSEA Membership Committee.
Rose Wesche, conference committee
Rose Wesche is an Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Science at Virginia Tech. She studies how diverse interpersonal relationships create health-related challenges and opportunities in adolescence and emerging adulthood. Dr. Wesche has attended SSEA conferences since she was in graduate school, and she is excited to contribute to planning the SSEA conference in 2021.