About Me

Growing up in a multiracial Japanese American family and living in New Jersey and then California, I thought a lot about which social categories I and other people belonged to. When I went to UC Irvine for college, I connected with many other multiracial people about our similar experiences. At UC Irvine I majored in Biological Sciences initially hoping to go to medical school. But after joining a psychology lab to fill a requirement,  I found that I loved psychological research and that it connected to many of the questions I had as a kid. I then completed my PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, and continued to address questions at the intersection of social, cognitive, and developmental psychology during my postdocs at UC San Diego and the University of Chicago. 

One of the best parts of pursuing a research career is talking about science with my sister, Haley Amemiya, who continues to amaze me with her commitment to making STEM a more welcoming place. I also have been lucky to have Bima Hasjim as my partner, who is a general surgery resident at UC Irvine. 

Beyond spending time with loved ones, I love watching movies and learning about the stories behind them, eating ice cream (especially ube or cookies and cream), listening to Mariah Carey's 90s catalogue (I'm a superfan!), and finding unique coffee shops.