Elizabeth
elizabeth shewark, ph.d.
Elizabeth is a postdoctoral research fellow working with Dr. S. Alexandra Burt. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, summa cum laude, from the University of Mary Washington and attained her Masters of Arts in Applied Developmental Psychology from George Mason University (GMU) under the mentorship of Dr. Susanne Denham. Elizabeth earned her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Penn State University working with Drs. Jenae Neiderhiser and Kristin Buss. Her research interests focus on examining the development of children’s social and emotional competency, within the context of the family, schools, and neighborhoods using a behavioral genetics framework. More specifically, she is interested in the role of the child in these contexts, and the mechanisms by which children impact and are impacted by their environment via gene-environment interplay. Her dissertation work examined genetic influences on the child and how that association may evoke different or similar responses across the family and school contexts and subsequently impact later adjustment.