October Pub Talk
Science Pub Grad Edition: “Inside the science of being human”
October 6th, 2026 | 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Sip your favorite brew, while you learn a thing or two! Science Pub is an opportunity to enjoy learning about interesting topics in an informal atmosphere. Just bring your curiosity and a thirst to learn!
Join the Speakers! At Paradise Creek Brewery, downtown location – 245 SE Paradise St, Pullman, the talks will be presented/displayed on the large projection screen in the pub/restaurant area.
See the Facebook event HERE
This month’s speakers:
Join WSU Psychology and Neuroscience graduate students, Erika Lutz, Sanaz “Sunny” Dorri Sedeh, Matteya Proctor and Tiara Freeman on October 6th for their 10min flash talks, “Inside the science of being human”.
Tiara Freeman, 4th year, Experimental Psychology (Social Cognitive Environmental Neuroscience (SCENe) Lab.
Research Topic: Emotion Regulation, Coping, and Clarity: how individuals differ in responses and management.
Talk Title: “Keeping Your Cool: How We Adapt When Our Environment Changes”
Talk Info: This talk explores why people respond differently to changing or stressful situations, focusing on how personality, clarity, and emotion regulation shape our ability to cope and adapt. Drawing from my experimental and real-world research, I’ll show how environmental challenges can help us understand when, why, and how people attempt to regulate their emotions. Ultimately, this work aims to move beyond identifying who struggles with change toward understanding the processes that could help people adapt more effectively.
Sanaz “Sunny” Dorri Sedeh, 2nd-year Experimental Psychology, The Social Cognitive Environmental Neuroscience (SCENe) Lab.
Research Topic: Environmental influences on cognition, emotions, stress, and overall wellbeing.
Talk Title: How Does Your Environment Change the Way You Think and Feel?
Talk Info: We often think of our environment as simply the background of our daily lives, but it may actually influence how we think, feel, and perform. I would like to talk about how environmental factors such as heat, air pollution, and access to green spaces can affect stress, mood, and cognitive functioning, and why the places where we live, study, and work may matter more than we realize. I would also connect these ideas to my current research examining how environmental conditions influence students’ cognition and well-being.
Matteya Proctor, 3rd year Neuroscience, (THC & CBD Labs).
Research Topic: Women’s Health, Cognitive Neuroscience, Translational Design.
Talk Title: “Hot Flashes & High Hopes: Can Cannabinoids Help Menopause?”
Talk Info: Women’s health remains an understudied and underfunded topic; however, survey research indicates women report using cannabis to treat their menopause related symptoms, but there is no research actually assessing cannabis for this purpose. One of my research programs is focused on this idea: we are in the middle of running our second clinical trial investigating a cannabinoid product and are about to launch a nationwide probability sample survey assessing patterns of use among individuals experiencing menopause-related symptoms.
Erika Lutz, 3rd year Experimental Psychology, The Health & Cognition Lab.
Research Topic: Cannabis & Positive Psychology.
Talk Title: “Awe the green things? Cannabis and Nature Experiences”
Talk Info: This talk explores how awe is a transcendent emotion in our lives, often evoked by elements such as nature. However, it remains unclear how certain drugs such as Cannabis may alter emotional experiences, particularly positive emotional states such as experiencing awe, as the current literature is focused on negative emotions. Join me as I explore how cannabis affects awe and other meaningful experiences in our lives.