Istneydina Thomas (’24)

Istneydina Thomas is a fourth-year student and McNair Scholar from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, studying English and Psychology with plans to graduate in spring 2024. As an English major, Istneydina has a concentration in cultural studies, through which she enjoyed reading autobiographies and novels about social justice. This insight led to her interest in social psychology, with a particular focus on translating psychological research to promote cohesion, foster intergroup relations, and combat racism, sexism, and classism. Istneydina plans to attend graduate school to earn a doctoral degree in social psychology and ultimately join the faculty of a research institution where she can further explore the factors that create division and alienation within society.

Istneydina is currently a research assistant in two labs at Penn State. She has been working with Dr. Nancy Dennis in the Cognitive Aging and Neuroimaging Lab for two years, focusing on aging and memory in older adults. She is also a member of the Fly-Fishing for Conservation and Inclusion Project with Dr. Jen Agans and Dr. Danielle Dawson. This project is focused on evaluating how fly-fishing courses taught at Penn State contribute to the health and well-being of students and their connection to nature. Istneydina is currently working on a paper based on this project. As a McNair scholar, Istneydina has worked on an independent project titled, “Neural overlap in the MTL (Medial Temporal Lobe) for young adults during successful memory in item and associative encoding conditions.” In this project, she analyzed brain activity to understand the role that placing items close together plays in improving memory.

Istneydina is a member of the International Honor Society in Psychology (Psi Chi) and a resident assistant on campus. In her free time, she enjoys fellowshipping at church, spending time with family and friends, cooking, and reading.

The CSC wishes Istneydina all the best in her future academic pursuits!