In this interview, Mariah shares how an initial interest in an introductory psychology class inspired her to pursue, and customize, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology with a minor in Cognitive Science from the University of Minnesota-Duluth Department of Psychology. She discusses her areas of study, research, and presentations at professional conferences as well as her role with the Mobile Neuroscience Lab for UMD Neuroscience outreach.
She also shares how she learned about, and attained, a position as Clinical Research Coordinator in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Minnesota after she graduated from UMD.
Mariah describes how specific psychology classes helped to shape her perception of the world and enrich her personal life. She comments “I try to help people around me as much as I can, that is all I can ever do…help them feel comfortable, safe, and loved and maybe that will help shift their perception of something being a failure to a learning opportunity.”
Mariah also talks about her ability to see colors associated with words (a.k.a., synesthesia) as well as her thoughts and experiences while travelling abroad for 9 months. She reveals her favorite psychology terms and shares her advice for others searching for a graduate school in psychology.
https://vimeo.com/437547990
Research Interests
Mariah’s primary research interests include neural development, cognition, psychoneuroimmunology, and neural correlates of consciousness.
Publications/Presentations/Poster Sessions
Schumacher, M.J., Hjelle, R., & Lloyd, R. (November, 2017). Autonomic and central correlates of empathic response and sub-clinical psychopathy as reflected in heart rate variability and cerebral activity. Poster session presented at the Society for Neuroscience conference, Washington, D.C..
Schumacher, M.J., Hjelle, R., & Lloyd, R. (April, 2017). Empathic Response and Sub-Clinical Psychopathy. Poster session presented at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research, Memphis, TN.
Mrkonjich, M., Schumacher, M., Warneke, B. (April, 2016). Parenting Style and its Effect on Children's Adult Romantic Relationships. Poster session presented at the Twin Ports Undergraduate Psychology Conference, Superior, WI.
Bachelor of Science, Psychology (2017); University of Minnesota – Duluth.
Update: Mariah Schumacher is applying to the Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Graduate Program in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota.
Podcast Transcription
BradleyWelcome to the master's in psychology podcast. One of our goals for this podcast is to interview and highlight psychologists, psychiatrists, educators and practitioners to better understand what they do, how they got there and share the advice they have for students wanting to receive a Master's Degree in Psychology. For one of our first podcasts we wanted to talk to a student who recently finished her undergraduate degree in psychology. Today I have the pleasure of talking with Mariah Schumacher. Mariah has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in cognitive science from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Mariah has presented at multiple conferences in various states, including Wisconsin, Tennessee and Washington DC. In 2017 she received the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Grant for her research project titled empathic response and subclinical psychopathy. She previously held a role with a mobile neuroscience lab for UMD neuroscience outreach. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree from UMD, she then joined the Department of Psychiatry as a full time clinical research coordinator in the fetal alcohol spectrum disorders lab at the University of Minnesota. Mariah's primary research interests include neural development, cognition, psychoneuroimmunology and neural correlates of consciousness. Mariah, welcome to our podcast.MariahOh, thank you. I'm super excited to do this podcast over webcam.BradleyYes, and and in today's world, with the COVID and the riots and everything else that have been happening more and more people are doing the virtual meetings like through zoom and anything else. So I think more and more people are getting comfortable doing it, but it's still a little strange, because you're not with that person and you don't really pick up on those non verbals as much as you would if you were in person, but we see you. You look great. You got a good background I see all the tattoos. So tell me, first of all, what made you think about getting tattoos? And how long have you been getting tattoos?MariahWow, that's a question. Um, I guess my first tattoo was when I was 18 or 19 and I've been in college pursuing my bachelor's in psychology for about a semester and really was loving everything in my life and the place where I was, was up in Duluth, Minnesota. Next to Lake Superior. And I just wanted some sort of symbol and being an 18 year old wanting a tattoo on my body. I ended up getting Minnesota and Lake Superior on my ankle and this very cool watercolor. It wasn't the most above board operation for my first tattoo and they didn't ask for our IDs and we had to pay all in cash. And it was a little bit questionable. But I was really excited to have it. And then after that. More things just came up in my life that I wanted to put on my body for various reasons. And now I have some tattoos. BradleyHow many do you have?MariahI lose count sometimes, I think its 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Something like that.BradleyAnd what is your most recent tattoo?MariahI most recent Tattoo is this mosquito on my arm. Let's see, how can you see it like that.BradleyRight there.MariahMosquito right above the brain tattoo that I have that I love a lot. Also, I got right after I graduated mosquito tattoo I got in Cluj Romania in August this past summer.BradleyOkay. And speaking of that, you mentioned a couple things related to some of the questions I was going to ask. So the first one was obviously you were at the University of Minnesota up in Duluth. So tell me some of your fondest memories, while you were up in Duluth.MariahThe city itself is a really magical place because of being on a hill, all the time and gravity kind of feels like it is pulling you toward the water because at the bottom of this hill is the Great Lake Superior. We built a really nice relationship over my years living in the city. And but one thing that's coming to mind for memorable moments when I was at the University of Minnesota Duluth are not actually so much to do with my psychology courses but with how I implemented the knowledge. I think it was pretty sub conscious at that point, but also not. I worked at a radio station at the time, and was a DJ at night and during the day. And a lot of times while I was in the radio station, I would have really good one on one conversations with people. So I would either be doing my show and then while songs are playing someone would be in there with me and we'll be chatting. Or I would be the one hanging out in the radio station while someone else was doing their show and it became a really special intimate place to kind of use my inquiry tools that I was learning so much about in my classes and get to form some really strong connections because of those conversations and being able to use my tools that I had been gaining on the human psyche and how to inquire with other humans about their experience more accurately.BradleySo, You know, I have so many questions for you. And I'm trying to flow naturally with what your responses were. And one of them was some of your interests. And you know why you went to the University of Minnesota Duluth and I guess one basic question for the listeners and viewers, because this is going to be both in the audio and the visual visual form is what what initially got you interested in psychology?MariahYeah, I was thinking about this earlier today. Um, I thought I had an answer. But the more I thought about it. I'm not exactly sure. I really enjoyed my general psych course that I took in Community College. I actually got to see in that class. But it was so challenging and I loved the materials so much that definitely had an influence but I had this other type of motivation that drew me towards thinking about thinking, which is how psychology was often presented to me. And I knew that was something I was Interested in for a long time. I remember in middle school and high school thinking I was going to grow up and do my doctorate on why people acted the way they did. And one of those little sub sections being how if someone was in a gifted and talented program in elementary school. Someone else was not. How the pressure of that system changed outcomes for people who, if they had been the same ones in separate situations would have different experiences. And so I had these kind of questions coming to me throughout my I guess pre college education. And when I found psychology. It seemed to really connect kind of give words to these questions that I had been asking.BradleyAnd so what areas of psychology did you find the most interesting back then and have those changed now?MariahUm, well, it's kind of hard. A lot of people really like abnormal psychology. I did find it very interesting. That's a specific mental disorders, I suppose, schizophrenia, bipolar kind of learning more about these Illnesses, mental illnesses, that people survive with. But I am actually remembering that I connected really well with developmental psychology that was fascinating to me, learning how the brain formed and grew and over time really was impacted by so many factors. So that was a big one. Another class I really enjoyed was transpersonal psychology. Was very different, very different. And I liked the different quite a bit.BradleySo, you know, a lot of people remember some favorite teachers and or courses and you've talked about a couple of courses. Do you remember,
