Vannia Puig Rivera

Vannia A. Puig Rivera is a doctoral student in the Cognitive and Neural Systems program. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, she moved to the United States ten years ago to strengthen her research skills and pursue graduate school. After working as a research assistant in the University of Chicago and completing a Master's Degree in Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, she has begun researching internally-guided cognition and its relation to emotion. Specifically, she examines how internally generated thoughts guide human behavior, emotion and cognition. Vannia has spent the last three years in Ohio doing research with the Air Force Research Lab - Applied Neuroscience Division and looks forward to furthering her research at the UA NET Lab. As for her hobbies, she enjoys hiking, weight-lifting, spending time at the pool, and dancing.