Kenzie Dye – Graduate Teaching Associate
Kenzie is in her fifth year of the Industrial/Organizational Psychology Ph.D. program, and has directed the EHWB lab since the fall of 2021. She is passionate about occupational health psychology, with specific foci on work boredom, the work-non-work interface, and experiences of employees with chronic illnesses. Kenzie likes cooking, playing video games, listening to indie music, and hanging out in the Mills 50 and Milk districts. She has a cute, croaky half-ragdoll cat named Nico.
“A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do” – Bob Dylan
Mounia Barakat – Alumni Research Assistant
Mounia Barakat, a graduate of the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, is making a significant impact on employee well-being and retention. Employed at a leading Mental Health care provider in the Middle East. Serving as a research and project assistant, and actively working to motivate employees and understand their needs, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This dedication ensures optimal patient outcomes and a supportive work environment. Additionally, a dedicated research assistant in the Employee Health and Well-being lab under Dr. Steve Jex’s mentorship. Off the clock, investing around 18 hours a week in tennis training for local tournament while pursuing a master’s degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology. Mounia’s commitment to enhancing the workplace and employee satisfaction is evident across her academic and professional endeavors.
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” – Benjamin Franklin
Jenna Beltramo – Data Science Expert, Lodestone People Consulting
Jenna Beltramo is a doctoral student in the Industrial and Organizational Psychology Program at the University of Central Florida. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Writing & Rhetoric from Oakland University and her master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University of Central Florida. Jenna’s research passions center around how individuals respond to and ultimately overcome adversity in the workplace, with a particular focus on the topics of resilience and posttraumatic growth, as well as the development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions. More recently, Jenna has been exploring processes of recovery among individuals suffering from chronic health conditions. Jenna and her husband rescued a cairn terrier named Oliver who has anxiety and hates the outdoors, but loves to play inside, cuddle, and meet new people. In her spare time, Jenna loves to volunteer at the local food pantry, work on her impossibly long reading list, cook for her friends, and travel even if it’s just a day trip.
“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.” ― Disney’s Mulan
Wei-Cheng Chang – Graduate Teaching Assistant
Wei-Cheng is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Industrial- Organizational Psychology at University of Central Florida. He earned his M.S. in Psychology from National Chengchi University. His academic interests include employee well-being, aging, and retirement, and he has a ongoing research project studying the effect of preretirement social context on older workers’ engagement in bridge employment. Other than academics, he is a board game player, and he also enjoys playing video games and watching animation.
“Nothing is perfect, just want no regrets in my life.”- Bowen Liu
Yeeun Choi – Graduate Teaching Assistant
Yeeun is currently a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Industrial and Organizational Psychology Program. Her research interests include but are not limited to, workers’ well-being, work-nonwork (family) interface, work orientations (calling), aging, prosocial behaviors, and research methods. Recently, she has been working on the HRS (the Health and Retirement Study) archival data to study the impact of family factors on retirees’ well-being. In her free time, she enjoys taking a walk and visiting theme parks with her family.
“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” Ella Fitzgerald
Madeline Filippi – Graduate Research Assistant
Madeline Filippi is a second-year Ph.D. student under Dr. Mark Ehrhart. Madeline graduated from Texas Christian University with a B.S. in Psychology with a focus on Child Development. Madeline is interested in research involving worker well-being, leadership development in teams, and organizational climate. When Madeline is not on campus studying and reading she loves cheering on the UCF Knights and TCU Horned Frogs football teams. Charge On and Go Frogs!
“We’ll fight ’em until hell freezes over, then we’ll fight ’em on the ice.” – Dutch Meyer
Amanda Grinley – Graduate Teaching Assistant
Amanda is a Ph.D. student in the Industrial-Organizational Psychology program at the University of Central Florida. As a member of the EHWB lab, Amanda is interested in studying mistreatment, occupational health psychology (OHP), employee stress, and aging. Her ongoing research projects with Dr. Jex include investigating the influence of factors such as empathy and age on counterproductive work behavior, mistreatment, and the stress process. Amanda earned her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida.
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
Junyoung Hong – Graduate Teaching Assistant
Junyoung is a 4th year student in the IO psychology Ph.D. program. His research interests lie in people’s thoughts and values about their work, and the various indicators of well-being that are influenced by them. For example, research topics that he is fascinated with are work ethic, workaholism, work-life balance, burnout, and so on. Other than research activities, there is nothing special about personal hobbies. He just takes a walk every day, enjoying the warm weather compared to his home country.
“It’s time to start living the life you’ve imagined.” – Henry James
Boram Kim – Graduate Teaching Assistant
Boram is now a third-year student in I/O psychology PhD program at the University of Central Florida. Boram earned a B.S. in Economics at University of Seoul, and she had worked at Samsung Heavy Industries as a buyer for over 5 years. After that, Boram realized that she wanted to study psychology specifically for employees’ mind, and she went to Sogang University to study psychology for her master’s degree. Now Boram has interested in workplace mistreatment – incivility, aging, and meaning of work. In her free time, Boram tries to walk or run with her husband, and she also enjoys watching television shows.
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” – Jane Goodall
Casey Oberdick – Graduate Teaching Assistant
Casey is a second-year master’s student in the Industrial-Organizational Psychology program at the University of Central Florida. She graduated from Florida State University in 2022 with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Music. Casey is working on a research thesis investigating pre-retirement job characteristics as a predictor of bridge employment outcomes. Her general research interests include aging and retirement, bridge employment, and mental health in the workplace. Casey loves to play the flute, read books at cute coffee shops, and run outdoors on nature trails.
“Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.” ― C.G. Jung
Nina Steigerwald – Graduate Teaching Assistant
Nina is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the I/O Psychology program with a strong research interest in occupational health psychology. Identifying workplace stressors and hazards, creating healthy and safe work environments, helping individuals achieve work-life balance, and ultimately enhancing organizational performance and effectiveness are something she is very passionate about and would love to dedicate her life’s work to. In her free time, Nina enjoys traveling, being out in nature, and exploring new restaurants.
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” –Benjamin Franklin
Barret Vermilion – Graduate Teaching Assistant
I’m a doctoral student at UCF. My research interests include mental health as it relates to the workplace, neurodiversity, leadership, thinking styles, and ambivalence. I’m currently exploring the effect of seasonal affective disorder on health and performance outcomes and writing an integrative review about neurodivsersity. I’m also collaborating to define and study the ‘quiet quitting’ construct. My hobbies include collecting and mixing records, mycology, learning about computer networking, reading, and practicing the art of doing nothing. I have two cats, Meursault the Himalayan, and Claude the ragdoll.
“Gentleman. You can’t fight in here. This is the War Room!” –President Merkin Muffley, Dr. Strangelove