Academic Year

Kylie supports practices that engage students in the university's research mission and promotes broad access to fellowships. She assists in the programming and events for the Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experiences (UCARE) and First Year Research Experience (FYRE). Additionally, she advises students curious about or actively participating in UCARE, FYRE, and other undergraduate research programming as well as students interested in taking preliminary steps toward fellowships advising.

You can call me:
Kylie (she/her/hers) - the pronunciation of my name is "k-eye-lee." My last name is pronounced as "uh-roy-oh."

My academic or professional journey:
I earned my B.S. in Psychology from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, in Southern Illinois. I am a PhD student in the Educational Psychology department, specializing in Quantitative, Qualitative, and Psychometric Methods. I am a proud First-Gen, low-income, transfer student and strive to foster a welcoming space for students who may come from low-resource/support or non-traditional backgrounds. As an undergrad, I was a member of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology, and was founding president of my school's Tau Sigma chapter, which is an honor's society for transfer students. 

As an undergrad, my research experience was primarily focused on resilience and adversity, which provided me the opportunity to present findings in several conferences and poster sessions, as well as co-author a manuscript that is currently in progress. I also had the opportunity to take the research interest of my faculty mentor, resilience, and combine it with my own research interest, which is ADHD. My career goal is to become a professor and researcher, such as the individuals who have shaped my academic career thus far. 

Where I call home:
I have called a lot of different places "home" over the years. I was born and primarily raised in Berks County, Pennsylvania and usually say this is where I am from. I spent my later teenage years in Greenville, North Carolina, before moving to southern Illinois at the age of 20. I spent over five years living in Illinois, just outside of St. Louis, MO (go Cards!). I moved to Lincoln in the Summer of '26 and I have been enjoying the area very much. 

My favorite hobby:
I love to crochet, do puzzles, embroider, and test my brain with various daily puzzle games. I always love talking about my hobbies, and generally have anywhere from 2-15 active projects going at any given time. I also enjoy solo board-gaming. Most evenings, you can find me re-watching my comfort TV shows, working on a crochet project or playing a solo tabletop game. I am also a big major league sports fan, and I specifically root for the Cincinnati Bengals, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Golden State Warriors. 

A person/place/thing/idea that has had great influence on my life:
Two answers come to mind, both for incredibly different reasons. The first is my undergraduate mentor, who sparked my love for research, statistics, and teaching. Without him, I would not be where I am today. I hope to one day be half the professor, researcher, and mentor for someone that he was for me. 

The second is Robin Williams, not for an academic reason, but purely for personal/character reasons. I grew up watching a TV show from the late '70s-80s called Mork & Mindy. This was one of Robin Williams' first mainstream acting roles, in which he played an alien now living on Earth. Since then, I have watched every show, movie, and comedy special that Robin Williams has been a part of. He was a man who struggled most of his life, and primarily behind closed doors. Yet, despite his constant emotional pain he put smiles on people's faces for decades. I have several favorite quotes of his, but one that has always stuck with me is, "No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world." I believe that to be especially true in academia; no research question is too small and no impact too niche. Research for the sake of curiosity is still research, and deserves the time and devotion we give it.