Minh Phan Email and Phone Number

For my Capstone Project, I produced "Be Well, Be You"– a mini-series podcast– in collaboration with Dr. Susan Birch, showcasing developmental psychology research to help the general audience foster a 'wellness mindset'. I also designed and launched a dedicated website (wellnessmindset.ca) to serve as the exclusive platform for the project.In addition to podcasting, here are the current research studies I'm involved in:1) Disbelief 2: Have you ever wondered if your little one(s) can tell when someone might be lying? Or do they seem to believe every story they've been told? In our study, we explore if and when children can decide if something is believable or unbelievable based on a character's voice, and whether they see that character as more or less credible in different situations. Additionally, we aim to understand the development of children’s social cognition, including their Theory of Mind (ToM), social worry, and emotion recognition. 2) The Wellness Project: I conducted literature reviews, developed lesson plans, and created animated videos for future interventions aimed at improving adults' social-emotional health and well-being (‘wellness’).

During my time there, I was both humbled and honored to work with incredible youth and even more remarkable individuals whose efforts truly impact their lives. As the Marketing Coordinator, my primary responsibility was developing a new website for the organization using Webflow and Adobe Illustrator, which was launched from 2021-2022 and later adapted for the current website. However, what I found most rewarding was the opportunity to share the many inspirational stories and highlight the positive impact the organization has had on the youth in our community.Street Culture Project is a non-profit organization based in Regina, SK, Canada, dedicated to supporting vulnerable and at-risk youth through shelter, transitional housing, food security, mentorship, and cultural programs.

As a junior mentor at Amigos School in Cambridge, MA, I mentored kindergarten and 1st-grade girls in Earth Science, Movement, Motions, and Patterns every Friday throughout the school year. Our activities were entirely hands-on, led by myself and two other mentors—a scientist from the Broad Institute (Cambridge) and a Tufts Biology student. Together, as a team and a community of women in science, we fostered an open, expressive, and supportive environment for the girls to explore and learn science.Science Club for Girls (SCFG) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering excitement, confidence, and literacy in STEM among girls and gender-expansive youth from underrepresented communities. By offering free, hands-on programs and connecting participants with women-in-STEM mentors, SCFG aims to close the diversity gap in STEM fields.

As the founder of the first Science National Honor Society at an Islamic school, I aimed to engage middle and high school Muslim students with cutting-edge research in fields such as cognitive neuroscience, astrobiology, and cancer biology. Throughout the school year, I organized trips to lectures, seminars, and workshops at top universities and research institutions in the greater Boston area, providing students with opportunities to learn about advanced scientific breakthroughs and connect with leading researchers, professors, and graduate students for mentorship.

At Science and Us, our team raised $6,000 to host bi-annual Science Communication workshops for middle and high school students at BU, MIT, and Harvard. These workshops aimed to raise awareness about science communication among youth. Notable features of past workshops included a keynote address by journalist Wade Roush, PhD, a session on Simple Scientific Storytelling with Stop Motion Animation led by Dr. Mary O'Reilly (Director of Research Communications at Arena BioWorks and owner of O'Reilly Science Art, LLC), and expert panel discussions.

As part of a team of 10 high school students, we brainstormed topics, reached out to experts in the field, and organized quarterly Teen Cafes at the MIT Museum, engaging over 300 high school students from the greater Boston area. These events introduced participants to cutting-edge technologies and research through expert presentations on topics such as Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Bioethics.