
Alena A. Rodman
Curriculum Vitae
Education
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Ph. D. Social Psychology
University of California, Los Angeles - Los Angeles, CA
Advisor - Prof. Martie G. Haselton
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A. L. M. Psychology
Harvard University Extension School - Cambridge, MA
Advisor - Prof. Max M. Krasnow
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B. A. Psychology
Fort Lewis College - Durango, CO
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Certifications​
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Notary Public
Colorado Secretary of State
Quickbooks Online Advanced ProAdvisor
& Payroll ProAdvisor
Intuit, Inc.
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Google Data Analytics
Google, Inc. & Coursera
Skills
Statistics & Programing
R, SQL (BigQuery), SPSS, Python (PANDAS, web scraping)
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Research Tools
Qualtrics, Google Analytics, E-Prime, Amazon Mechanical Turk, Datavyu
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Data Visualization
Tableau, Google Data Studio, RStudio
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Microsoft Office & Google Apps
Word/Docs, Excel/Sheets, Powerpoint, Access, etc.
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Accounting & Tax Preparation
Quickbooks Online, Quickbooks Desktop, Quickbooks Point of Sale, Quickbooks Payroll, Intuit Lacerte, Intuit ProConnect
Work Experience
Owner, Accountant, & Business Analyst 2019 - Present
Animas Accounting, LLC – Durango, CO
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Mange all accounting and bookkeeping for several small-to-medium sized businesses, including categorizing transactions, reconciling accounts, creating estimates, A/R, A/P, managing payroll, and providing financial reports using QuickBooks
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Create advanced business analyses and use visualizations to present findings to owners and management teams, including cash flow forecasts, A/B hypothesis testing, KPI metrics, cost analyses, pricing systems, and budgets
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Accounting Manager 2018 – Present
Durango Nursery & Supply Inc. – Durango, CO
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Manage all bookkeeping for a multi-million dollar retail/wholesale garden center
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Use Excel and R to create and clean datasets, run KPI analyses and projections, and create engaging visualizations to educate owner and management on financials
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Manage payroll in conjunction with a local payroll company for a team of over 20 employees
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Perform HR functions including setting wages, developing hiring paperwork, creating internal handbooks/policies, and managing unemployment claims
Tax Preparation Assistant 2020 – 2021
Beekman Financial Group – Durango, CO
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Prepared tax returns for individuals, Schedule-C businesses, corporations, and partnerships
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Performed research and implemented current tax laws with minimal supervision under a CPA
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Used Quickbooks to prepare business financials for taxes, including performing adjusting journal entries and generating advanced reports
PhD. Student Teaching and Research Associate 2017 – 2018
University of California, Los Angeles – UCLA
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Conducted multiple studies on biological and psychological research, resulting in two peer-reviewed articles in esteemed scientific journals
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Gathered, cleaned, and analyzed large-scale datasets using Excel, SQL, R, and SPSS, and developed visualizations and reports for both technical and non-technical audiences
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Assisted in teaching undergraduate courses and mentoring students
Laboratory Manager 2016 – 2017
Harvard Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory – Cambridge, MA
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Managed daily administrative operations and coded lab website
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Coordinated shipping and receiving of lab supplies, submitted expense reports to the accounting department, processed vendor invoices, and managed reimbursements for purchases and travel
Research & Faculty Assistant 2015 – 2017
Harvard Laboratory for Developmental Studies – Cambridge, MA
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Performed advanced technical writing and editing for academic publications
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Supervised and trained undergraduate research assistants
Research Assistant 2015 – 2017
Harvard Evolutionary Psychology Laboratory – Cambridge, MA
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Designed and conducted research with adults, children, and individuals with developmental disabilities, in online, university, and hospital settings, and managed a team of research assistants
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Scraped, organized, coded, analyzed, and visually presented data for publication in books and academic papers
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Publications & Presentations
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Peer-Reviewed Articles​​
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Mehr, S. A., Singh, M., Knox, D., Ketter, D. M., Pickens-Jones, D., Atwood, S., Lucas, C., Jacobi, N., Egner, A. A., Hopkins, E. J., Howard, R. M., Hartshorne, J. K., Jennings, M. V., Simson, J., Banbridge, C. M., Pinker, S., O’Donnell, T. J., Krasnow, M. M., & Glowacki, L. (2019). Universality and diversity in human song. Science, 366(6468).
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Kotler, J., Mehr, S. A., Egner, A. A., Haig, D., & Krasnow, M. M. (2019). Response to vocal music in Angelman syndrome contrasts with Prader-Willi syndrome. Evolution and Human Behavior, 40(5), 420-426.
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Conference Talks
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Mehr, S. A., Singh, M., Knox, D., Ketter, D. M., Pickens-Jones, D., Atwood, S., Lucas, C., Egner, A. A., Jacoby, N., Hopkins, E. J., Howard, R. M., O’Donnell, T. J., Pinker, S., Krasnow, M. M., & Glowacki, L. (May 2019). A natural history of song. Talk presented at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference, Boston, MA, USA.
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Mehr, S. A., Singh, M., Knox, D., Ketter, D. M., Pickens-Jones, D., Atwood, S., Lucas, C., Egner, A. A., Jacoby, N., Hopkins, E. J., Howard, R. M., O’Donnell, T. J., Pinker, S., Krasnow, M. M., & Glowacki, L. (April 2019). A natural history of song. Talk presented at the European Human Behavior and Evolution Association Annual Conference, Toulouse, France.
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Kotler, J., Mehr, S. A., Egner, A. A., Haig, D., Krasnow, M. M. (June 2017). Evaluating the origins of music in individuals with imprinting disorders. Paper presented at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. Boise, ID, USA.
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Howard, R. M., Spokes, A., Mehr, S. A., Egner, A. A. & Krasnow, M. M. (January 2017). Welfare tradeoff ratios in children. Paper presented at the Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development. Budapest, Hungary.
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Conference Posters
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Egner, A. A. & Krasnow, M. M. (May 2018). The effects of life history strategy on individual differences in sexual selection. Poster presented at the California Workshop on Evolutionary Social Sciences. Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
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Egner, A. A. & Krasnow, M. M. (June 2017). The effects of life history strategy on individual differences in sexual selection. Poster presented at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. Boise, ID, USA.
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Academic Awards, Honors, & Funding
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Harvard Extension School Thesis Grant
UCLA Palevsky Graduate Fellowship
UCLA University Fellowship
Harvard Extension School Grant
Harvard Summer Scholarship
Fort Lewis College Dean's List
Fort Lewis College Presidential Scholarship
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Teaching & Academic Service
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Teaching Assistant - UCLA Psych 10 - Introductory Psychology
Mentor - UCLA Graduate-Undergraduate Mentorship
Psychology Representative - UCLA Biological Sciences Council
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Media
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Webinar Interview - Harvard Extension School Career Path Spotlight: Pathway to a PhD
Radio Interview - Deadline LA KPFK 90.7FM - Academics Writing for Wikipedia
Podcast Interview - The Reality and Brutally Honest Truth about Special Needs Planning. Episode 2: Harvard University Music Study
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Research Experience
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Ph.D. Student Researcher
UCLA Evolutionary Psychology Laboratory August 2017 – August 2018
P.I. – Prof. Martie G. Haselton
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The effects of hormonal contraceptives on ovulatory shifts in mate preferences: A meta-analysis
Egner, A. A., Haselton, M. G. (on hold).​
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Began gathering and meta-analyzing published and unpublished data on the effects that hormonal contraceptives have on shifts in female mate preferences across the ovulatory cycle
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Used Bayesian statistics and p-curve analyses
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Received funding support from the UCLA Department of Psychology for the project
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The microbiome and attraction
Egner, A. A. & Haselton, M. G. (on hold).​​​
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Designed a research program on the effects of the skin microflora on the attractiveness of scent and appearance in humans, and the effects of the ovulatory cycle on changes in skin microflora
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Research Assistant
Harvard University Laboratory for Developmental Studies October 2015 – May 2017
P.I. – Prof. Elizabeth Spelke
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Replication and extension of “Shared musical knowledge in 11-month-old infants”
Egner, A. A., Mehr, S. A., & Spelke, E. S. (on hold).​
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Lead all aspects of a replication study including:
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Designing new conditions and study materials
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Recruiting, training, and testing all infants and their families
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Coding infant gaze data
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Supervising and training research assistants on testing and coding procedures
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Origins of the concepts cause, cost, and goal in prereaching infants
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Publications
Liu, S., Brooks, N. B., & Spelke, E. S. (2019). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.​
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Ran all tests with 3-month-old infants and their families
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Trained and supervised undergraduate assistants
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Infant-directed song regulates infant arousal
Mehr, S. A., & Spelke, E. S. (on hold).​
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Assisted with development, creation, and piloting of study
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Recruited and tested over 80 infants and their families
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Coded infant facial expression and gaze data
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Supervised undergraduate assistants on data coding
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Shared musical knowledge in 11-month-old infants
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Publications
Mehr, S. A., & Spelke, E. S. (2017). Developmental Science.​
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Coded infant gaze data
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Supervised undergraduate assistants on data coding
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Research Assistant
Harvard University Evolutionary Psychology Laboratory July 2015 – May 2017
P.I. – Prof. Max M. Krasnow
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Life history strategy predicts individual differences in sexually selected traits
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Publications
Egner, A. A. (2019). Masters Thesis. ​
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Created original hypotheses and online survey study design
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Wrote and piloted survey to tailor questions to specific sexes, genders, and
sexualities before gathering 300 participants from M-Turk
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Cleaned, organized, and analyzed, and created visualizations for all data
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Wrote up results for masters thesis and presented at multiple conferences
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Response to vocal music in Down Syndrome
Egner, A. A., Mehr, S. A., Kotler, J., & Krasnow, M. M. (on hold).​
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Lead research on all aspects of the study, including:
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Traveled to test children with Down Syndrome at their schools
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Designed and implemented developmentally appropriate testing materials
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Supervised research assistants
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Response to vocal music in Angelman Syndrome contrasts with Prader-Willi Syndrome
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Publications
Kotler, J. L., Mehr, S. A., Egner, A. A., Haig, D. & Krasnow, M. M. (2019). Evolution and Human Behavior​.
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Assisted in testing participants with Angelman Syndrome and their families at Harvard University and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
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Assisted in designing and creating study materials appropriate for the developmental level of participants with Angelman Syndrome
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Genomic imprinting is implicated in the psychology of music
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Publications
Mehr, S. A., Kotler, J., Howard, R. M., Haig, D., & Krasnow, M. M. (2017). Psychological Science.​
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Developed E-Prime program for computer-based testing
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Assisted in testing over 100 child subjects ages 5-17
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Coded qualitative data and supervised undergraduate assistants in data coding
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Welfare tradeoff psychology is present in children and adults
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Publications
Howard, R. M., Spokes, A., Mehr, S. A. & Krasnow, M. M. (In Preparation). Preprint.​
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Assisted in recruiting and testing over 100 child subjects ages 4-11
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Organized and prepared data for statistical analysis
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Universality and diversity in human song
The Natural History of Song Project
Publications
Mehr, S. A., Singh, M., Knox, D., Ketter, D. M., Pickens-Jones, D., Atwood, S., Lucas, C., Egner, A. A., Jacoby, N., Hopkins, E. J., Howard, R. M., Hartshorne, J. K., Jennings, M. V., Simson, J., Bainbridge, C. M., Pinker, S., O'Donnell, T. J., Krasnow, M. M., & Glowacki, L. (2019). Science.​
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Mehr, S. A., Singh, M., York, H., Glowacki, L., & Krasnow, M. M. (2018). Current Biology.
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Media
New York Times: Can You Tell a Lullaby From a Love Song?
The Atlantic: A Study Suggests that People Can Hear Universal Traits in Music
Smithsonian: Your Brain Knows What Songs are for, No Matter Where they Came From
NPR: Some Types of Songs are Universally Identifiable, Study Suggests​
SciTech Daily: Five Year Harvard Study: Music Is Universal
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One of four core researchers supporting a team of over 50 researchers
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Coded qualitative ethnographic data and organized thousands of pieces of data
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Charitable giving as partner choice
Nemirow, J., Krasnow, M. M., Howard, R. M., Pinker, S. (in preparation).​
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Ran a computer-based study in the lab with groups of adults
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Trained undergraduate assistants on testing procedures
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Undergraduate Research
Fort Lewis College Psychology Department Spring 2012
Advisor: Prof. Sharon Sears
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The Effects of Listening to Music on Anxiety
Egner, A. A. (Poster Presented 2012)​
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Submitted study to IRB, recruited and tested participants
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Developed all surveys and testing materials
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Completed all data collection, coding, and analyses
DID NOT COMPLETE
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2018
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2013
2021
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2021
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2022
2018
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2015
2013
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2018
2018
2017