(The HINTS Lab)
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Peter H. Kahn, Jr. is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Information School at the University of Washington. He is also Director of the Human Interaction with Nature and Technological Systems Lab (HINTS) at the University of Washington. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988. His publications have appeared in such journals as Child Development, Developmental Psychology, Human-Computer Interaction, and Journal of Systems Software, as well as in such proceedings as CHI, HRI, and Ubicomp. His 1999 award-winning book (MIT Press) is titled The Human Relationship with Nature: Development and Culture. His edited volume (MIT Press, 2002) with Stephen Kellert is titled Children and nature: psychological, sociocultural, and evolutionary investigations. His research projects are currently being funded by the National Science Foundation. |
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Brian Gill is an Associate Professor in the Mathematics Department at Seattle Pacific University. In 1999, he received a Ph.D. in Mathematics and an M.S. in Biometry and Statistics from the State University of New York at Albany. His research in pure mathematics is in geometric function theory, a branch of complex analysis. He also has interests in issues in undergraduate mathematics education, with a particular focus on the impact of classroom technology on student learning. Brian has been PI or co-PI on three grants supporting changes in the calculus sequence, and he was selected in 1999 as a Fellow in Project NExT, a program of the Mathematical Association of America for new Ph.D.’s who are dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of undergraduate mathematics. More recently, his interest in educational technology has expanded into a more general concern with issues related to the impact of technology on its users. Combined with his interest in applications of statistics in social and health sciences, this led Brian in to become the statistician for the HINTS Lab. |
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Patricia H. Hasbach is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and clinical psychotherapist with a private practice in Eugene, Oregon, and adjunct faculty at Lewis & Clark College. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1986. As a clinician, she incorporates ecopsychological practices with traditional theory to address issues of anxiety, depression, relationship concerns, health-related recovery, and wellness in adults and couples. She has consulted extensively with hospitals, schools, businesses, and community environmental activist groups. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the journal, Ecopsychology. Her academic interests focus on the processes and mechanisms that underlie the development of an environmental sensibility and on what can be called “the rewilding of the human species.” She has a particular interest in how experiences in the natural world map onto the internal landscape of client reflections and thus enrich the therapeutic process. |
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Rachel L. Severson is a doctoral candidate in Developmental Psychology at the University of Washington. She received a B.S. (1997) in Environmental Policy from Western Washington University, and an M.A. (2004) in Psychology from Antioch University Seattle. Her publications have appeared in such journals as Human-Computer Interaction, Journal of Environmental Psychology, Interaction Studies: Social Behavior and Communication in Biological and Artificial Systems, and Anthrozoös. Her research focuses on children’s animistic and moral conceptions of “other”, whether the other is natural (e.g., animate and inanimate nature) or computational (e.g., robots). One of her questions is whether new ontological categories are emerging that move beyond long-standing canonical categories (e.g., between alive and not alive). |
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Jolina H. Ruckert is currently pursuing her PhD in Developmental Psychology from the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington. She received a MA in Psychology from Pepperdine University (2006) and a BA in Psychology/Biology from the University of Miami (2004). She has been a student member of The Explorers Club since 2004. In 2002 she completed a year-long study of psychology and biology at The University of Westminster in London, England and Flinder's University in Adelaide, Australia. While in Australia she worked with the Australian Research Council, researching the sandy and rocky shores of South Australia. In 2000 she was an apprentice to a dolphin assisted therapist at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Jolina's research interests center on the human relationship with the natural world. She is particularly interested in (a) the development of moral considerations regarding nonhuman animals, (b) children and adolescents’ experiences with and conceptions of nature and technologically mediated nature (e.g., as occurs through robotic animal forms), and (c) building theory of the human-nature relation that integrates ontogenesis, ontology, and culture. |
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Aimee Reichert is a doctoral student in Developmental Psychology at the University of Washington. She received a MA in Wilderness Therapy from Naropa University (2007) and a B.S. in Biopsychology from the University of Vermont (2002). During her master's studies Aimee focused on children's emotional well-being with an emphasis on the developmental importance of nature in children's lives. Her current research questions are focused on the psychological importance of human interactions with natural envrionments. For example, she is interested in how "wild" nature and "urban" nature differentially impact early conceptions of nature, healthy physical development, and the developing brain. Aimee is also interested in understanding how the evolution of techonology has been and will continue to impact children's access to and experience of the natural world. |
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Heather Gary is a doctoral student in Developmental Psychology at the University of Washington. She received an Ed.M. in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (2007) and a B.A. in Psychology from Middlebury College (2004). Her research questions center on how children and adolescents conceptualize, reason morally about, and engage meaningfully with nature. She is interested in exploring how the human-nature relationship is changing in our increasingly technologically mediated world. Since graduating from an alternative high school founded on Kohlberg’s stage-theory of moral development, Heather has maintained a strong interest in the educational implications of research in developmental psychology. She has always been driven by a passion for the outdoors, and enjoys how her research and personal interests flow into and inform one another. |
Solace Shen is a doctoral student in Developmental Psychology at the University of Washington. She received a Master of Pacific International Affairs with an international management concentration and regional specializations in China and Japan from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.A. (2002) in Asian Studies from California State University, Sacramento. After obtaining her master's degree, she worked in Shanghai, China as a marketing professional for three years. More recently, her increasing research interests in the psychological ramifications of growing up in a culture of technological immersion combined with a desire to effect changes on a humanistic level led her to her current pursuit of an advanced degree in psychology. Specifically, she is interested in investigating (i) how technological immersion influences the childhood experience and the way children conceptualize the world; (ii) the extent to which children attribute theory of mind and morality to personified computational entities (e.g., humanoid robots and androids); and (iii) how to integrate these entities into society in a way that augments children's social and moral experience. Moreover, she is interested in looking at the psychological effects of rapid urbanization, technologization, and environmental degradation on Chinese children. |
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[top]Nicole Kennerly Nicole Kennerly is a research assistant with the HINTS lab. She received her M.A. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where she studied RNA decay. Her B.S. is from Rice University in Biochemistry & Cell Biology. Her interests include understanding how children working and playing with technology affect their social and moral developments, as well as their imaginations. In particular she’s curious how the scientific method and a quantitative approach can be applied to understand phenomena such as creativity, accountability, and meaningful human interactions.
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Lorin is a Senior at the University of Washington pursuing a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy. He is interested in answering questions surrounding non-verbal behavior and value-sensitive design applied to HRI. He is currently investigating whether aspects of a robot's eye behavior are correlated to attributions towards it of sociality, morality, and status as a thinking thing by humans who interact with it. Lorin is also interested in game theory, logic, human and animal behavior, and child development. |
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