People
Principal Investigator
Dr. Sydney Trask
After completing her undergraduate degree at Kent State University, Sydney earned her PhD at the University of Vermont and conducted her postdoctoral work at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Outside of lab, she likes to spend time outside with her family and dog, and can usually be found running or listening to Taylor Swift. Sydney is currently the Executive Director of Women in Learning, and serves on the Executive Committee for the Pavlovian Society.
Sydney is currently a Faculty Associate with:
The Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience
The Purdue Center on Aging and the Life Course
The Purdue Center for Research on Brain, Behavior, and Neurorehabilitation
The Purdue University Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Program (PULSe)
Graduate Research Assistants
Erisa Met-Hoxha
Erisa received her BS in Psychology from the University of Houston, where she was a member of the Brain Health and Plasticity Lab studying the competing effects of alcohol and exercise on the brain. In the Trask lab, Erisa is looking forward to exploring the learning and memory circuitry in the aging brain.
When she is not in the lab, Erisa enjoys running, hiking, and spending time with her family.
Research Technician
Payton Robinson
Payton received her bachelor's in Psychology at Purdue Fort Wayne where she was also a member of their women's track and field team. Seeking more research experience, she is now a part of two labs at Purdue University. In her free time, she likes to hang out with her husband and fur baby, think about working out, and finding new shows to watch.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Kaitlyn Greer
Kaitlyn is a junior double majoring in Psychology and Spanish and minoring in Drawing & Illustration. She enjoys reading, traveling, and being a mother to one energetic pup and three slightly less energetic hermit crabs.
KT Reyna
KT is a senior double majoring in Health Sciences and Brain and Behavioral Sciences with a minor in Biological Sciences and in her free time she enjoys working out and drawing.
Michael Kuczajda
Michael is a senior Psychology and Global Studies major at Purdue University who enjoys playing tabletop games both with his siblings and in clubs at Purdue.
Blake Loomis
Blake is a super senior double majoring in Brain & Behavioral Science and Spanish who enjoys traveling, health and fitness, and practicing his Spanish every chance he gets.
Destine Williams
Destine is a junior in Psychology on the pre-med track. She spends her free time watching Netflix and finding new music to enjoy.
Honorary Trask Lab Members
Dr. Nicole Ferrara
Nicole completed her undergraduate work at Albion College before earning her PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Nicole is currently an Assistant Professor in the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science Discipline of Physiology and Biophysics within the Center for Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders.
In her lab, Dr. Ferrara and her trainees study the impact of environment on innate and learned fear and social behaviors as well as the neural mechanisms that underlie these changes.
Ellie Bonanno
Ellie received her BS at Purdue University in 2020 where she studied Brain and Behavioral Sciences with a minor in Computer Science. She continued at Purdue University joining Susie Swithers's lab in the Neuroscience and Behavior area of the Psychological Sciences department. She earned her MS in 2022 for her work investigating dietary and health correlates of sweetened beverage intake in humans. Ellie is currently working on a collaboration exploring learning and memory circuitry in the aging brain as well as the impact of a westernized diet in these areas in young and adult brains. She is currently working on her Ph.D. dissertation and plans to graduate in December 2024.
Lab Photos
