This oral history research explores silence as a meaningful form of communication rather than an absence of speech. Through documentary interviews with family members, the project examines how silence can express fear, shame, power, and agency, challenging dominant assumptions about listening and revealing how discomfort often prevents deeper understanding and connection.

This research examines how alcohol affects the severity and outcomes of suicide attempts among military service members and veterans. By analyzing documented attempts and personal narratives, the study reveals that alcohol often increases impulsivity and lethality, while occasionally interrupting attempts unintentionally, highlighting the need for alcohol-aware suicide prevention strategies.

This neuroscience research investigates how the brain assigns value during decision-making. Using low-intensity focused ultrasound and human single-neuron recordings, the study examines the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and its role in transforming perception into choices. The findings may improve understanding of disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and maladaptive decision-making.

Career paths and life patterns are often transmitted across generations not through explicit instruction but through embodied habits and daily behaviors. Analyzing a play about intergenerational military service, this research shows how subconscious routines shape identity, highlighting how recognizing these patterns allows individuals to consciously break cycles or build new legacies.

This talk explores emotional resistance to AI through a personal storytelling project. It argues that AI adoption is an adaptive challenge tied to identity, not just technology. Using Robert Kegan’s framework, it demonstrates how testing limiting beliefs can reduce resistance, emphasizing that successful AI integration depends on addressing human concerns about autonomy, competence, and connection.

This research shows that pauses in information streams alter decision-making. After a break, the brain increases effort, giving greater weight to subsequent information—a “peak-after-break” effect. A computational model explains this as a performance-effort tradeoff. Findings challenge traditional theories and suggest strategic pauses can shape attention, memory, and judgment.

This research investigates risk and protective factors in father–daughter intrafamilial child sexual abuse. Findings show abuse arises from combined individual and family-level factors, especially conflict and violence, while early caregiving and warmth are protective. The work aims to inform earlier intervention, improve prevention strategies, and enhance child safety within families.

Parental rage is common but often misunderstood. Surveying 400 parents, this research finds that 77% experience rage monthly, strongly linked to anxiety, overwhelm, and low support. Mothers, younger parents, and those with high anxiety are most affected. Social support emerges as the key protective factor, reframing rage as a mental-health signal.

Female travellers using Tinder often disclose personal information not because they misjudge risk, but because emotions override rational decision-making. Interviews reveal that excitement and connection can eclipse safety awareness. The research calls for safety-first travel apps and emotionally responsive tools to better protect women while travelling.