Nelly Rivera, a graduate student in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology at UC Santa Barbara, has been awarded a 2012 National Association of School Psychologists – Education and Research Trust (NASP – ERT) Scholarship. The NASP-ERT was established in 1995 to ease financial barriers facing some minority graduate students embarking on a Specialist Degree (or equivalent) in School Psychology. The Program’s profound goal is for each scholar receiving the award to enter the field as a practicing school psychologist following graduation, infusing the profession with diversity and cultural awareness to benefit children and school communities across the country. Rivera will be presented with the award at the NASP Annual Convention in Philadelphia at the Awards Ceremony and Reception.
Nelly Rivera is working on her M.Ed. in School Psychology at UCSB’s Gevirtz School. Before coming to UCSB, Rivera attended University of California, Riverside for her undergraduate education where she double majored in Psychology and Sociology. During her undergraduate career, she took various courses focusing on social factors affecting students’ learning abilities, the cognitive and social development of children, and the impact of urban problems on family welfare. As a research assistant, Rivera worked in two research labs focusing on the effect of stereotype activation on an ethnic minority and was also trained to do microanalysis of nonverbal behavior and verbal disfluencies. Additionally, she held an internship at a local middle school as a counseling intern where she got the opportunity to work with suspended students and their parents in order to ensure a positive relationship with the pupil and their families.