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Principal Investigator
Photo by Gesine Born
Annie E. Wertz, PhD
Annie received her B.A. in Psychology from Boston University (2003) and her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara (2009). She then worked as postdoctoral researcher in the Infant Cognition Center at Yale University, where she began developing a novel research area exploring the cognitive systems infants use to learn about plants. In 2014, she was awarded funding from the Max Planck Society to pursue this novel research program as an independent Research Group Leader (equivalent to Assistant Professor) at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, Germany. In 2024, she joined the faculty of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at UC Santa Barbara and started the Lab for Infant Learning and Cognition (LILAC). She is also a faculty member in the Center for Evolutionary Psychology at UC Santa Barbara. Dr. Wertz’s work has won several awards, including the Human Behavior and Evolution Society’s Margo Wilson Award for the best paper published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior in 2021 and an inaugural Don Symons Adaptationism Award in 2023.
PostDoctoral Scholar
Martin Hůla, PhD
Martin is a postdoctoral Fulbright Visiting Scholar in Dr. Annie Wertz’s lab. His research focuses on human–plant interactions, particularly Phytophilia—the origins and expressions of human aesthetic responses to flowers—and on how real and virtual plant-rich environments influence human well-being. At UCSB, he explores the potential universality of human aesthetic responses to different flower shapes and colors by studying the reactions of infants and young children. Martin received his Ph.D. in Theoretical and Evolutionary Biology from Charles University in Prague in 2024, where he currently works as a researcher. He has also worked at the Czech National Institute for Mental Health.
Lab Manager
Ellen Habteyonas, B.S.
Ellen received her B.S. in Cognitive Studies and B.A. in Medicine, Health, and Society from Vanderbilt University in 2025. She previously worked as a research assistant in the Vanderbilt Stress and Early Adversity (SEA) Lab and as a research intern in the Yale Social and Cognitive Development (SCD) Lab. Her research interests center on how environmental factors shape socioemotional and cognitive development in early childhood. She is particularly interested in the effects of chronic stress and instability on early development as well as developing interventions for children in low- and middle-income countries.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Alycia Paradise
Alycia is a fourth-year UCSB student double majoring in Psychological & Brain Sciences and Communication. She also works with children with autism and other developmental disabilities as a registered behavior technician.
Kelsey Burns
Kelsey is a fourth-year student studying Psychological & Brain Sciences. As an RA, she is able to further psychological research being done in her hometown and has the opportunity to interact with children in the local community.
Jazmin Vazquez
Jazmin is a fourth-year student majoring in Psychological & Brain Sciences. She is also currently volunteering as a research assistant in the Child Studies Lab and in the Social Perception Lab at UC Santa Barbara.
Cassandra Goodis
Cassandra is a fourth-year student double majoring in Psychological & Brain Sciences and Pharmacology at UCSB. She previously mentored elementary school students in scientific inquiry investigations around the Santa Barbara area. She is also currently working as a research intern at a biopharmaceutical company in Goleta.
Anya Moraru
Anya is a fourth-year student majoring in Psychological & Brain Sciences at UCSB. She is contributing to developmental psychology research as a volunteer research assistant.
Eleri Williams
Eleri is a fourth-year Psychological & Brain Sciences student at UCSB. She has previous experience in wet lab work in microbiology and immunology and working with kids.
Aristides Salmeron
Aristides is a fourth-year UCSB student pursuing a triple major in Psychological & Brain Sciences, Communication, and Dance. He has worked with kids (ages 7-13) since high school as part of the leadership team that would teach kids how to dance as an outreach program called first steps and no limit rhythm.
Siri Kandi
Siri is a fourth-year student majoring in Psychological & Brain Sciences at UCSB. She has previous experience working with kids with autism through volunteering with ACEing Autism where she teaches tennis.
Bella Gragnani
Bella is a fourth-year student majoring in Psychological & Brain Sciences at UCSB. She has previous experience working with children throughout high school and college in classrooms and in sports.
Zoe Friedman
Zoe is a fourth-year Psychological & Brain Sciences major with a minor in Philosophy at UCSB. She brings prior research experience from her role as a lab assistant to Dr. Uche Udeochu at the University of the District of Columbia and currently contributes to research at UCSB’s VIU Lab. Zoe is passionate about developmental psychology and is excited to continue gaining hands-on experience in child development research.
Tiana Tran
Tiana is a third-year student majoring in Psychological & Brain Sciences and Biological Anthropology at UCSB. She has experience working with children as a teaching assistant at the University's Children's Center.
Lab Alumni
Julia Wolf
Julia was the Lab Manager of LILAC from March 2024 - September 2025. She previously worked as a research assistant in Dr. Wertz's research group at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, Germany.
Onkar Sandhu
Onkar is a recent graduate from the Biopsychology program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was an RA in LILAC between April 2024 - August 2025.
Akanksha Akku
Akanksha is a recent graduate from the Psychological & Brain Sciences program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She was an RA in LILAC between April 2024 - June 2025.
Patrick Jun
Patrick is recent graduate from the Psychological & Brain Sciences program at UCSB. He was an RA in LILAC between June 2024 - June 2025.
Shirley Qiu
Shirley is a third-year pre-Psychological & Brain Sciences student at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She was an RA in LILAC between April 2024 - March 2025.
Fiona Kuhi
Fiona is a recent graduate from the Psychological & Brain Sciences program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. They were an RA in LILAC between April 2024 - March 2025.
Savanna Goodpaster
Savanna is a a recent graduate from the Anthropology program at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. She interned in LILAC during summer 2024.
Lab Graduates (Max Planck Institute for Human Development)
Former Postdocs
Karola Schlegelmilch was a postdoc from 2022-2023. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute of Biology, Department of Human Biology and Primate Cognition, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
Linda S. Oña was a postdoc from 2018-2023. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute of Biology, Department of Human Biology and Primate Cognition, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
Camille Rioux was a postdoc from 2018-2022. She is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, CNRS/Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
Claudia Elsner was a postdoc from 2015-2018. She is currently a Clinical Psychologist in Ludwigslust, Germany.
Valentina Fantasia was a postdoc from 2015-2017. She is currently an Associate Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Former PhD Students
Connair Russell-Wilks was a PhD student from 2018-2022. He is currently a Senior Statistical Data Analyst at the University of Oxford, Oxford, UK and a Visiting Scholar at the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
Karola Schlegelmilch was a PhD student from 2016-2021 and then a postdoc until 2023. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute of Biology, Department of Human Biology and Primate Cognition, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
Aleksandra Włodarczyk was a PhD student from 2015-2019. She is currently a Clinical Psychologist in Berlin, Germany.
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