What factors should you consider when selecting a data repository?
The March 9 NAECR Knowledge event was led by Amanda Prokasky, senior research specialist at the Nebraska Academy for Methodology, Analytics & Psychometrics (MAP Academy), who outlined best practices for data repository selection and offered guidance for multiple points of the research cycle.
Name: Kristin Moilanen
Title: Proposal Development Coordinator
Hometown: Fenton, Michigan
Where did you work prior to joining CYFS? What was your role there, and what did it entail?
“After completing my Ph.D. in developmental psychology at UNL in 2005, I completed a postdoctoral fellowship in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh prior to stepping into a faculty role as an assistant (and later associate) professor in Child Development and Family Studies at West Virginia University. I was also an associate editor, then later became the editor-in-chief, of the “Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.” I left WVU in 2022 for a remote visiting research specialist position in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois–Chicago. I wore many hats in this role, in which I was the project manager and lead data analyst for a NIH-funded study on health in middle adulthood.
For more than 20 years, the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools has worked to make a positive difference in people’s lives through research in the social, behavioral and educational sciences.
Building on this foundation, the center is launching the second round of its Signature Research Impact Program — a funding opportunity designed to support high-impact research that benefits Nebraska’s children, families, schools and communities.
The Nebraska Academy for Methodology, Analytics and Psychometrics (MAP Academy) is awarding $10,000 through a competitive funding opportunity created to enhance the rigor of field-based human subjects research at the University of Nebraska.
These awards were made possible by a grant from the Nebraska Research Initiative.
Juan-Paulo Ramírez, founder of GIS and Human Dimensions, LLC, led the fall presentation of the 2025-26 Methodology Applications Series Nov. 21 at the Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center.
Video is now available of Ramírez’s presentation, titled, “GIS: Case Studies for Winning Grants, Changing Lives & Empowering Communities.”
Name: Candy Muñoz
Title: Operations and Finance Manager
Hometown: Omaha, Nebraska
Where did you work prior to joining CYFS? What was your role there, and what did it entail?
“My professional career has given me experience in both high-level financial strategies and direct student support. Immediately prior to joining CYFS, I served as the Director of Student Financial Services at Creighton University, where I led a specialized team responsible for integrating financial aid, student accounts and billing processes. This team provided streamlined support to students, parents and academic staff.
A panel of researchers discussed the latest early childhood research from across the University of Nebraska system during the virtual NAECR Networking event Nov. 18.
Presenters included:
NAECR Networking and NAECR Knowledge are an ongoing series of networking and training events designed to enhance early childhood research across the NU system.
For children with severe speech and physical impairments (SSPI), the inability to share their thoughts and feelings can deeply affect their quality of life and well-being.
Researchers and engineers continue to seek new ways to help these children communicate, including an experimental technology that enables thoughts to control communication devices, known as communication brain-computer interfaces (cBCIs).
