Dan Conroy-Beam
Associate professor
Email: dconroybeam@ucsb.edu
Dan uses an evolutionary and computational perspective to understand human mate choice and mating relationships. His work combines agent-based modeling, dyadic and behavioral data, and cross-cultural samples to develop, compare, and explore candidate models of the complete mating process. Dan's interests range from how people evaluate potential mates, pursue and choose partners, and regulate their romantic relationships.
Katy Walter Preston, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Email: kwalter@ucsb.edu
Katy joined the CMC Lab in the fall of 2017. She received her BA with departmental honors in Science, Technology and Society, from Vassar College in 2015 and her PhD from UCSB in 2023. Katy uses cross-cultural surveys, dyadic data, and agent-based computational models to understand human mating psychology. In particular, she studies the nature of mate preferences—what they are, how they are distributed across cultures and identities, and how the mind uses them to make important mating decisions.
Elizabeth Agey, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Email: eagey@ucsb.edu
Personal website: https://anthroliz.com/
Elizabeth joined the CMC Lab in the Fall of 2023. She received a BA in Anthropology from the University of Northern Iowa in 2015 and a PhD in Anthropology from UCSB in 2023. She studies the process, dynamics, and consequences of mate choice in contexts where arranged marriage is the norm. Elizabeth conducts research in Nepal and uses qualitative and quantitative data sources. She is currently examining how parents and offspring negotiate their own mate preferences during spouse choice decisions, and how the process of choosing a spouse impacts social relationships, socioeconomic status, and reproductive health outcomes.
Ben Gelbart
PhD Candidate
Email: benjamin.gelbart@psych.ucsb.edu
Ben joined the CMC Lab in the summer of 2019. He received a BS in Psychological Science and a minor in Anthropology from Arizona State University in 2017. Ben became interested in evolutionary psychology while completing an independent project on sex differences in jealousy responses as an undergraduate. Currently, Ben is using computational models to understand the cognitive architecture of romantic jealousy and romantic love. More broadly, he is interested in using an adaptationist approach to understand the nature of emotion.
Ashley Coventry
PhD Student
Email: ashleycoventry@ucsb.edu
Ashley joined the CMC lab as a PhD student in the Fall of 2022. She earned a BS in Psychological and Brain Sciences and a BA in Communication from UCSB in the Spring of 2022. Ashley began studying mating psychology from an evolutionary perspective through her honors thesis research on mate preferences for concurrent partners and polyamorous mating psychology. Ashley continues to use an evolutionary approach to explore LGBTQ+ and non-monogamous mating psychology, as well as mate preferences more generally. She is also interested in using computational modelling to understand mating strategies and psychology, and how people navigate and learn in dynamic mating environments. Ashley is co-advised by Dr. Tamsin German in the Cognitive Development Lab.
Carlos Sosa Colindres
PhD Student
Email: csosacolindres@ucsb.edu
Carlos joined the CMC Lab in the Fall of 2022. He received his BS in Psychological and Brain Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2021. Carlos is interested in mapping the information-processing design of human mating psychology using evolutionary and computational perspectives. Specifically, he is using agent-based modeling to explore how people calibrate their mate preferences in response to experience and how those preferences influence mating decisions over time.