About the OSR

At Roosevelt University, students ask significant questions. They seek answers through research and creative inquiry.  They share and apply their knowledge in ways that actualize the university’s mission of creating socially conscious citizens.  Roosevelt encourages this engagement from the moment you arrive on campus.

Through fellowships and learning opportunities, the Office of Student Research aim to foster students’ disciplinary competencies as well as various transferable skills, including leadership, collaboration, active learning, critical thinking, intellectual independence, and creative problem solving. Our website is intended to be a hub for information about developing and funding research. We welcome you to browse through and learn more about research and creative inquiry activities around the university, the city and beyond!

We also welcome students at any stage of the research or creative inquiry process to participate in OSR workshops, graduate student talks and  student working groups. We also welcome students seeking guidance to set up meetings, to learn about students’ goals and discuss the best path forward. During individual meetings, staff will review proposals, work through ideas, connect you with resources, and help identify mentors.

Director: Dr. Laura Nussbaum-Barberena

Laura Nussbaum-Barberena, PhD is a socio-cultural anthropologist with a long career in fostering student research and inquiry engagement, as well as conducting research in partnership with community and policy-focused organizations focused on transforming systems that perpetuate exclusion. 

 

Graduate Fellows

Victoria Marie Limon, MSc, MPH, PsyD Student – Victoria is from South Texas and is currently a third-year clinical psychology doctoral student at Roosevelt and has worked with the OSR since Fall 2019. Her primary research and clinical interests include working with the forensic population, including current and former inmates and parolees. As a future clinical psychologist, she is interested in finding the best forms of treatment for individuals with severe mental illness and substance use disorders. She hopes to make a positive impact by helping this population with symptom management and preventing relapse and recidivism, while also working towards ending the stigma on mental illness.

Faith O'Leary is currently a third-year student in the Organizational Psychology MA program at Roosevelt University and has worked with the OSR since Fall 2020. Faith received her BA in Psychology from Roosevelt and was a McNair Scholar while attending. Faith's academic work focuses on addressing institutional impacts on feelings of shame and pride. Faith is also passionate about inclusivity in higher education and developed the OSR's graduate fellow podcase, The Podgrads, which focuses on demystifying research, graduate school and academic careers while exploring the roots and forms that exclusion takes. 

Vanessa Ayala, PsyD student. Vanessa is in her first year in the Clinical Psychology doctoral program at Roosevelt University. Vanessa is a peer mentor, in addition to her work as a graduate fellow in the OSR. Vanessa completed her BA at Roosevelt University, where she was a McNair Scholar and a Peer Mentor. Vanessa will be supporting outreach and content development for the OSR  related to the Research & Inquiry fellowships, as well as external fellowships and opportunities.