Lab Director

Lieny Jeon, Ph.D., (she/her) is the Jane Batten Bicentennial Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development. She is also leading the Baltimore Education Research Consortium’s Early Childhood Data Collaborative. She received her PhD degree in Human Development and Family Science with a minor in Quantitative Methods at Ohio State University. She completed her post-doctoral training in the Department of Defense Child Development Virtual Laboratory School. Her research focuses on early care and education, family characteristics, and neighborhood disadvantage that impact children’s lives. She is passionate about early childhood educators’ social and emotional well-being and workforce development and the way it impacts young children’s development. She also examines how early care and education buffers challenging home and neighborhood environments and maximizes at-risk children’s development. Her research has been published in national and international peer-reviewed journals and featured in the New York Times. She was selected as an AERA-SRCD early career fellow in early education and development in 2017. 

Research Interests: Early care and education; teacher well-being; social and emotional learning

Fun Fact:  As a baseball lover, my dream is to complete all MLB ballparks tour. Fifteen stadiums out of thirty have been completed!

Xiangyu (Olivia) Zhao (she/her) is a postdoctoral research associate with the Well-being for Early Learning Lab (WELLab) and the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL). Her research focuses on early care and education, early childhood educators' well-being and workforce development, children's school readiness and social-emotional development, and cross-cultural comparisons. Zhao actively contributes to projects aimed at improving access to and the quality of educational and social services. She is a member of the Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC), a research-practice partnership with Baltimore City’s publicly funded early childhood programs. 

Research Interests: Equity in the ECE environment; social-emotional competence; well-being; cross-cultural studies

Fun Fact: The Secret Life of Pets 2 is my favorite movie. I've watched it probably over 8 times!

Sae Chapman (they/them) is a research specialist and lab manager at WELLab, assisting in both research and project management capacities. Sae earned their BA in Elementary Education with P-5 Certification from Berea College and MAeD in Elementary Education from Eastern Kentucky University. Their background in elementary education inspired them to pursue research in supporting teachers’ well-being and workplace rights, in order to promote a positive and equitable learning environment. They hope to contribute to positive change for early educators at both the individual level and at policy levels.  

Research Interests: Early childhood education; teacher well-being; organizational justice and labor rights; LGBTQ+ teachers and students

Fun Fact: My family includes 4 adults, 3 kids, and 2 cats in 1 house!

Yoobeen Choi (she/her) is a master's student in Educational Psychology - Applied Developmental Science at the University of Virginia. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Science in Clinical-Community Psychology. During her undergraduate studies, she gained research experience investigating the effects of alcohol consumption on cognitive performance and socio-emotional processes. After graduation, she worked at a mental health counseling center for foreign clients in South Korea and as an English instructor, where she developed a passion for child development and education. Her research interests center on understanding how socio-emotional developmental processes and environmental factors interact to shape children’s learning and mental well-being across contexts. Her goal is to bridge psychological insights and cross-cultural understanding to inform the design of impactful educational programs. 

Research Interests:  Social and emotional development; child and teacher well-being; equity in education 

Fun Fact: I enjoy singing, dancing, and making my own music! 

Nicole Chan (she/her) is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in biochemistry at the University of Virginia. When she graduates, she will pursue a career in pediatric medicine. After tutoring elementary students and being a teacher’s assistant at a middle school, she became interested in the various socialization factors that influence behavioral development in children. She wants to learn more about the impact of early childhood educators on children’s development. 

Research Interests: Child development; early childhood education; social and emotional competency 

Fun Fact: I love to crochet and I’ve begun designing and making my own plushies!

Genesis Cartagena (she/her) is a current undergraduate studying English as a Second Language K-12 in the University of Puerto Rico Aguadilla. She is born in raised in Puerto Rico and has never moved anywhere else. Her research experience has been with the University of Virginia and recently started doing research.

Research Interests: Motivation; cognitive development; equality in education

Fun Fact: I go to the beach almost every day!