Dr. Sabrina Thurman (BA, 2011) is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Elon University, where she directs the Infant Development Lab. Research in the lab is aimed at understanding how postural-locomotor development in infancy influences children’s spontaneous discovery, exploration, object manipulation skills, and mother-infant interactions. Sabrina’s research has been published in numerous prestigious, peer-reviewed outlets, including Child Development, Developmental Psychology, Infant Behavior and Development, Kinesiology Review, and Journal of Motor Learning and Development.

Sabrina was among the most successful students in her undergraduate cohort at UNCG, earning Full University Honors, a Student Excellence Award, and the top prize in her division in the Undergraduate Creativity and Research Award Exposition. After graduating in 2011, Sabrina pursued a PhD in Experimental Psychology (with a developmental concentration) under the direction of Dr. Daniela Corbetta in the Infant Perception-Action Lab at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her success in graduate school mirrored her achievements at UNCG; she received numerous accolades for both teaching and research and earned her PhD in 2017.  

Concerning her time at UNCG, Sabrina notes that “I benefitted from working with many research mentors and the years I spent working in the DUCK Lab were instrumental to my success. The mentoring I received from lab Co-Directors Janet Boseovski and Stuart Marcovitch was incredible – my developing skills were consistently reinforced. I was always challenged to push myself further, encouraged to overcome inevitable obstacles, and supported every step of the way. Every time I finished one goal, another greater opportunity for advancement arose. Also crucial in my professional development was working with George Michel in his research lab, the Infant Development Center. Working with more than one mentor inspired me to follow my interests and passions, value the process of discovery, helped me learn to evaluate and integrate multiple perspectives, and think critically about complex problems facing the field of developmental psychology.”

We are very proud of Sabrina – she is an exemplary UNCG alumna – and glad to have her back in our neck of the woods.