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Interested in joining the STRIPE Lab?

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Interested in joining the STRIPE Lab?

Undergraduate Students

Are you interested in health equity? Would you like to learn about and contribute to research on health promotion and prevention among underserved populations? Dr. Melissa Ertl will be recruiting 3-4 new undergraduate research assistants for the next 2026-2027 academic year to contribute to research centered on investigating and addressing health disparities and health risk behaviors. Dr. Ertl specifically focuses on women’s health and how experiences of oppression and discrimination influence health among marginalized groups, including Latinx immigrants and young adults, people with substance use disorders, LGBTQIA+ individuals, college students, and individuals with disabilities and their caregivers. Research assistants will register for PSY 5993: Directed Research at University of Minnesota and contribute to ongoing projects by engaging in readings, literature reviews, participant recruitment and data collection, data coding, data analysis, and weekly lab meetings. If you are interested, please fill out the application form. Interested applicants are recommended to apply as sophomores and juniors (particularly if interested in graduate school since more lab experience is beneficial for future competitive applications to doctoral programs). Preference is given to those who are interested in and can commit to two or more semesters in the lab. The due date to apply for a Fall 2027 semester position is June 1st, 2026, but applicants are accepted on a rolling basis. Review begins on June 1st, and applicants tend to find out in the final two weeks of June as to whether they are interviewed and subsequently selected. Please email Dr. Ertl at [email protected] with any questions.

Prospective Doctoral Students in Counseling Psychology

Dr. Ertl will be accepting a doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology PhD program at University of Minnesota for the Fall 2025 application cycle (to start in Fall 2026).  To learn more about the Counseling Psychology PhD program at UMN, including about our research, funding opportunities, and curriculum, please visit our program webpage.  For more information on Dr. Ertl's approach to working with doctoral students, here is her advising and mentoring statement.  
 
Ideal doctoral applicants will: 
  • be interested in research and clinical careers in counseling psychology
  • have research research skills and experiences
  • be strongly committed to social justice and health equity 
  • have applied helping experiences (e.g., volunteering, working as a paraprofessional, taking a counseling/helping skills class)
  • have ideas about what research topics and questions they would want to pursue in graduate school and a sense of how these interests align with research conducted in the STRIPE Lab 
Out of concern for fairness and equity, Dr. Ertl does not meet with any prospective students in advance of the doctoral program application due date.  We welcome your interest and your application and wish you the very best in the graduate school application process!