Service · Leadership · Advocacy · Mentorship

Service

I contribute to academic communities through graduate student leadership, science advocacy, mentorship, and peer review. These roles allow me to represent and support early-career researchers, make the case for behavioral science beyond the academy, and contribute to the evaluation and dissemination of psychological science.

Leadership

Representing and supporting graduate students in the Department of Psychology.

2026 – Present
Graduate Association for Students in Psychology (GASP)
USC Dornsife · Department of Psychology

DGSA Representative

Serve as the Department of Psychology's representative to the Dornsife Graduate Student Association, acting as the liaison between psychology graduate students, the school, and the graduate student government.

  • Represent the department's graduate students at Dornsife and in the graduate student government, carrying student concerns to administrators and reporting decisions back to the department.
  • Track professional development and funding opportunities available through the graduate student government and circulate them to students in the department.
  • Advocate for departmental priorities, including funding access and professional development support, in school-level discussions.
  • Coordinate with GASP leadership so departmental programming reflects issues raised at the school level.
2025 – 2026
Graduate Association for Students in Psychology (GASP)
University of Southern California

Co-President

Co-led the graduate student association for psychology at USC, supporting community building, professional development, and communication between graduate students and department administration.

  • Organized department-wide events bringing together psychology graduate students across research areas.
  • Oversaw new student orientation and the GASP Mentor-Mentee Program.
  • Coordinated professional development workshops and shared resources to support graduate student success.
  • Fostered a supportive graduate student community through social and professional events.
GASP department event at USC
GASP Orientation, 2025
GASP graduate student gathering at USC
GASP Halloween Party, 2025

Science advocacy & policy engagement

Making the case for behavioral science outside the academy.

2026
Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS)
AAAS CASE Workshop · Washington, DC

FABBS CASE Fellow

One of four behavioral science students sponsored by FABBS to attend the AAAS Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering (CASE) workshop and advocate for federal support of social and behavioral science research.

  • Trained in the federal budget and appropriations process, committee jurisdiction, and communicating research to policy audiences.
  • Met with Representative Laura Friedman and Congressman Lou Correa on Capitol Hill to make the case for sustained funding of social and behavioral science research.
  • Wrote and published a field guide translating the workshop into a practical advocacy resource for behavioral scientists.
Read the guide: From Researcher to Advocate →
Yalda Daryani and fellow students outside Representative Laura Friedman's office on Capitol Hill
Outside Rep. Laura Friedman's office, Capitol Hill
Opening session of the AAAS CASE Workshop
AAAS CASE Workshop, Washington, DC

Mentorship

Supporting students and early-career researchers in behavioral and computational research.

2026
Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP)
Graduate Student Mentor

Mentor, SPSP Mentorship Program

Mentored incoming master's and PhD students in psychology through SPSP, helping them get oriented in their first years of graduate training.

  • Helped mentees set research priorities and plan projects across the early years of graduate school.
  • Advised on presenting research effectively at conferences, from poster design to conference talks.
  • Shared strategies for building collaborations and working productively with advisors and labmates.
  • Discussed how to navigate academic networking and professional opportunities within the field.
2023 – 2026
USC Morality & Language Lab
Graduate Research Mentor

Graduate Research Mentor

Mentored undergraduate and master's-level research assistants working in computational social science and natural language processing.

  • Supervised research assistants on projects involving social science and natural language processing.
  • Guided students through the research process, from project design and data collection through analysis and interpretation.
  • Trained students in data collection, cleaning, management, statistical analysis, and coding practices.
  • Provided feedback on academic writing and research communication.

Peer review & academic service

Contributing to the evaluation of research and conference submissions.

Journal peer review

PLOS ONE

Served as a peer reviewer for submitted research manuscripts.

Journal peer review

Current Psychology

Served as a peer reviewer for submitted research manuscripts.

Conference review

SPSP Annual Convention

Served as a reviewer for undergraduate poster submissions for the annual convention.

Academic service

I am interested in contributing to research communities through graduate student leadership, science advocacy, mentorship, peer review, and other forms of academic service.