Meet our Advisors

Hi! My name is Anishi (she/her) and I’m a fourth year majoring in Cognitive Science and Data Science. I’m a Projects Developer and former news reporter with The Daily Cal, as well as a former Marketing Chair at Asha for Education. I've worked as a Research Assistant with the Coleman Research Lab on data privacy and as a volunteer with the Basic Needs Center’s CalFresh team. My favorite classes so far include AGRS 36, Data C100, and CogSci 190 and my favorite CogSci distributions are Cognitive Psychology and Linguistics. I’m interested in data analytics, so please reach out if you’d like to chat! My recommendation for your Berkeley bucket list: visit the Ferry Building Farmers Market in SF on Saturday mornings (the F bus takes you super close!).

Major Courses Taken: Data 8 (Adhikari & Wagner), CS 61A (Hilfinger & Fox), Math N55 (Farahmand), CogSci 190-01 (Chan), Psych 117 (D'Esposito), Psych 110 (Foster), CogSci C100 (Chan), AGRS 36 (Ferrari), & Rhetoric 167* (Weston), Data C100 (Perez & Fithian), CogSci 131 (Ramirez), Educ 140AC (Hull), CogSci 144 (Croom), Data C104* (Edmundson & Mazzotti), & Eng 177* (Saha)

Current Courses: IndEng 172 (Pirutinsky)

*Course approved via elective petition

Hello! I’m Ashleigh (they/them) and I am a fourth-year Cognitive Science major. I currently work as a Research Assistant at Professor Eason’s UC DREAMS Lab, studying racial socialization among children. I additionally work as a Marketing Assistant at the Greater Good Science Center. I am passionate about creating inclusive, encouraging, and accessible educational spaces, previously working as a Director of Mixed @ Berkeley, one of the Recruitment & Retention Centers apart of the bridges Multicultural Resource Center. My favorite CogSci courses include CogSci 190-01 and Psych 163, and my favorite distribution is Society, Culture, and Cognition.

Outside of academics, I have an affinity for the arts. You can usually catch me dancing (across various campus dance orgs), visiting museums (where I previously worked), or jamming out to local concerts at the UC Theatre (where I currently work)! I'm very excited to meet everyone and have an amazing!

Major Courses Taken: Data 8 (Wagner & Sahai), CS 61A (Hilfinger & Fox), Math N55 (Farahmand), MCB C61 (Presti), CogSci 190-01 (Chan), AGRS 36 (Ferrari), CogSci 131 (Ramirez), CogSci 144 (Croom), CogSci C126 (Whitney), Psych 147 (Kidd), Psych 163 (Eason), CogScie 190-02 (Croom), Socio 150 (Kaiser)

Current Courses: IndEng 172 (Pirutinsky)

Hi there! I am Brianna (she/her) a fourth year studying Cognitive Science and Data Science interested in Healthcare Business Intelligence and Data Analytics! I am a first generation college student passionate about community service and education equity. In an effort to support the Latinx community have served as Fundraising, Alumnae, and Marketing Chair of Lambda Theta Nu Sorority, Inc.

Among the distribution groups, Cognitive Psychology & Society, Culture, and Cognition have been my favorite to study!

One course I really enjoyed is COGSCI C100: Basic Issues in Cognition which discusses really fascinating cognition topics & phenomena. Another is EDUC 140AC: Educational Perspectives on Literacy and Learning in a Global World which explores a range of symbolic creativity and meaning-making techniques in education.

I would love to be a resource for anyone interested in CogSci or wanting to discuss courses, Healthcare Data Analytics, selecting a major, doubling majoring, etc!"

Major Courses Taken: Data 8 (DeNero & Sahai), CS 61A (DeNero & Farid), Math 1A (Sun), MCB C61 (Presti), CogSci 1 (Li), Math N55 (Farahmand), PBHLTH 116* (Villa & Francis), CogSci C100 (Chan), AGRS 36 (Ferrari), Data C100 (Perez & Fithian), CogSci 131 (Ramirez), Educ 140AC (Hull), CogSci 144 (Croom), & CogSci 132 (Ramirez) 


Current Courses: IndEng 172 (Pirutinsky)

*Course approved via elective petition

Hi! My name is Kriti (she/her) and I’m a senior majoring in cognitive science and minoring in data science. I am working as a research assistant at three cognitive neuroscience labs: the D’Esposito Lab, the Knight Lab, and the Aphasia Recovery Lab. I completed my Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) project this summer on the relationship between a network measure called Trait Modularity and Executive Functioning. I’ve also worked as the Outreach Director at the Cognitive Science Student Association (CSSA) for two years and I participated in the Fung Fellowship last year. My favorite distribution group is Cognitive Neuroscience and my favorite classes in the major have been CogSci C127, Philos 3, and MCB 161. Outside of CogSci, I love dancing an Indian classical dance form called Bharatanatyam. I am interested in pursuing a career in cognitive neuroscience research in the future. Feel free to reach out to me if you want to talk about neuroscience, research, CSSA, or anything else!

Major Courses Taken: Data 8 (Wagner & Sahai), CogSci 1 (Isaac), Philos 3 (Alva Noë), CS 61A (Hilfinger), MCB C61 (Presti), Psych 160 (Gorchoff), CogSci C127 (Gallant), Linguis 100 (Jenks), Math 55 (Srivastava), CogSci C131 (Piantadosi), Psych 117 (D’Esposito), MCB 160 (Gomez, Isacoff, & Bateup), CogSci C126 (Whitney), MCB 161 (Feldman, Tsao, & Dan), Psych 111 (Weiner), Psych 140 (Xu), Data C100 (Fithian & Perez)

Current Courses: Data C104* (Edmundson & Carson)

*Course approved via elective petition

Hello! My name’s Sophie (she/her) and I’m super excited to be a CogSci Peer Advisor this year. I’m a fourth year majoring in Cognitive Science and minoring in Data Science. I was born and raised in the Bay Area but I never get tired of exploring our local museums, cafes, and parks (I’m always happy to give recommendations)! I’m a Fung Fellow on the Health + Innovation track, an RA for the Transfer Living and Learning Community, and an Art Editor for Atrium Magazine. I’ve also done professional work in luxury design and city government. Also, I’m always happy to chat about Disabled Students Program (DSP) and being a transfer student so please reach out if you have questions about either! In my free time, I love to paint, sew, play guitar, and read. Fun facts about me include; I love spooky stories, I’m trained in beekeeping, and CogSci 115 is one of my favorite classes of all time (therefore Cognitive Psychology is my favorite CogSci distribution). I’m looking forward to helping out in any way I can!

Major course taken: CogSci 1B (Croom), CogSci 144 (Croom), Cogsci 115 (Chan), Data 8 (Gonzalez & Sahai), Coms 316 (Blau)*, ES/WGS 350 (Wesner)*, PSY-318 (Bartlett)*

Current Courses: Social 150 (Kaiser), Philos 3 (Campbell), Data C88C (Ball)

*Course approved via elective petition (taken at different institution)

MacKenzie Moore (she/her) is the Student Services Lead & Program Development Coordinator. In addition to providing on-on-one student advising, she oversees Cognitive Science advising and student services and conducts strategic planning for the program as a whole. She began her career in higher education upon admission to the PhD program in History here at UC Berkeley. She worked as a history instructor and lecturer for 9 years, through which she discovered her passion for working directly with students as an advisor. She first worked as student advisor with the American Studies program at UC Berkeley before transitioning to the Cognitive Science program. She loves talking with students about all aspects of their academic lives. She is a skilled educator with tremendous problem solving skills just waiting to help students when they need it!

Catherine Byrne (she/her) earned her Master's degree in Counseling from Sonoma State and has worked in Higher Education since 2010. In 2017 she joined the Cognitive Science program as a Student Services Advisor. Catherine is grateful for the opportunity to work with students one-on-one and enjoys watching students progress through their college careers. Catherine is passionate about providing individualized, strengths‐based, and culturally competent services to students. She's also interested in food, art, music, and international travel, and speaking to students about what makes them tick. She enjoys getting to know her students and following them through their academic and personal development.

Meagan Mason (she/her) earned her Master's degree in Higher Education from the University of Michigan and joins us as a Student Services Advisor in the Cognitive Science Department. Meagan began her career in Higher Education in 2019 working with other community college transfer students at UC Davis. She served as an EAOP college advisor in East Contra Costa through UC Berkeley's Center for Educational Partnerships, promoting college access throughout the Bay Area. At Michigan, she worked as an Academic Advisor in University of Michigan School of Information and Research Assistant in the U-M Institute for Social Research. Meagan is passionate about centering students' stories and voices, building community, and developing equitable ways to make resources and information more accessible throughout students' higher education journeys.