Our Team
2025-2026 Executive Board Members
Sara Swaneck
President
Sara is a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at Marquette University. Her research explores the connection between interoception (awareness of internal bodily signals) and emotion regulation. She is currently working on her doctoral qualifying exam and is passionate about psychological assessment, mind-body integration, and clinical science. Outside of her academic work, Sara is a strength and conditioning coach and enjoys building community through movement, mentorship, and science communication.
Katie Barber
Vice President
Katie is a fourth-year graduate student in the clinical psychology doctoral program at Marquette University. Her research explores cognitive and emotional processes in obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, with a focus on the neurocognitive features of trichotillomania and skin picking disorder. She conducts research through the Translational Affective Neuroscience Lab at Marquette and the Anxiety Disorders Lab at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Outside of her academic work, Katie enjoys barre fitness classes and spending time with her cat, Gilly.
Shalana Atwell
Secretary
Shalana is a graduate student in the neuroscience doctoral program at Marquette University. Her research uses animal models to explore how opioid use effects the brain and how these effects may differ between males and females. Her thesis focuses on the opioid-induced adaptations of cellular properties and neural circuits that are important for drug seeking behavior. In her free time, she likes to play with her cats, do puzzles, and tend to her plethora of plants.
Bridgitte Côté
Communications Officer
Bridgitte is a 5th year PhD student in Marquette’s Neuroscience program. Her lab uses rodent models to study how the dopamine system is involved in more than just positive experiences. Her thesis seeks to understand how this system may dictate our sensitivity to short-term stressors and how we learn to respond to them. Outside of the lab, she is passionate about scientific outreach and enjoys crocheting next to her cats Fig and Olive!
Ellie Marino
Community Liaison Officer
Ellie is a 5th year Neuroscience PhD candidate at Marquette University. She currently works in the laboratory of Dr. Deanna Arble, where her research centers on identifying the retina-to-brain circuitry underlying how environmental light influences breathing. When she is not in the lab, she enjoys yoga, reading, film photography, and sitting in the sun with her cat Daphne.
Dr. Jacklynn Fitzgerald
National Liaison & Treasurer
Dr. Jacklynn Fitzgerald is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Marquette University. She received her PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2017 in Psychology with an emphasis on Behavioral Neuroscience and completed her postdoctoral fellowship in affective neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee in 2019. Her research is on the neurobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and she investigates how the neurobiological underpinnings of fear conditioning are related to symptoms of the disorder. Her work is highly collaborative and involves translating research from preclinical/rodent models to clinical work. At Marquette, she is the director of the Translational Affective Neuroscience lab.
In addition to research, Jacklynn has consistently held leadership and service positions with a focus on advancing women in science. She was previously the President of the GWIS Chicago chapter in 2015 and a National Liaison for GWIS Chicago in 2016, where she started a mentorship program.