Nicole Pochinki–CORE Lab researcher and former Coop Research Coordinator–is cleaning up in terms of research honors and awards. She is the recipient of the Paul and Grace Ward Martinez (’48) Research Fellowship from the Psychology Department, and has also earned an Advanced Research/Creative Endeavor Award from the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. Pocha’s project, The Effects of Neuroscience Study on Psychological Essentialism, examines the degree to which studying the brain may actually reify essentialist thinking about social categories such as gender. As one reviewer noted, This study proposes to examine whether deep academic exposure to a sort of biologically determinist way of thinking, as exemplified in the behavioral neuroscience curriculum, encourages “essentialist” beliefs about certain social groups. While the scope of this project is necessarily constrained, it touches on profound questions related to the philosophy of science and the epistemological regimes that currently hold sway in the academy and in society. As a Martinez fellow, Pocha will receive a stipend for the semester, and her UGRCE award will provide her with $2700 to fund her research. Congratulations, Pocha. Rock on!