Lauren Bergman

My research interests primarily involve child development, education, and parenting. Specifically, I’m interested in how parents influence their children and what motivates parents to parent the way that they do. In line with this, my honours research project seeks to uncover what New Zealand mothers want for their preschool-age children. I also hope to investigate what factors might underlie these aspirations.

Outside of research, I work part-time at Kadimah Preschool where I am fortunate enough to be able to support young children educationally, morally and emotionally. I also enjoy reading and spending as much time as possible with animals.

Lauren completed her Bachelor of Science (Honours) with supervisor Liz Peterson in 2021.

Elizaveta Zhuravleva

I am completing a Bachelor of Advanced Science (Honours) in Psychology at The University of Auckland. Although originally from Russia, I grew up in Japan for 10 years, lived in South Korea for 4 years, and now I’m in beautiful Aotearoa.

The research project I’m currently undertaking uses the Growing Up In New Zealand data and is centred around parental educational expectations. Specifically, I’m exploring which mechanisms are involved in influencing children’s own educational expectations, academic self-competence, and school liking.

Elizaveta completed a research project with supervisor Liz during her third year.

Anja Schoeps

I am epidemiologist and postdoctoral researcher with a strong interest in child behaviour and temperament. My major research question is: What causes the large differences in babies’ temperament? And is there anything we can do to give children and their parents an easier start? I am currently working with the large dataset from the Growing Up in New Zealand cohort to identify prenatal and preconceptional factors that influence the development of behaviour and temperament early on. I also want to look into environmental factors that have a positive effect on temperament development from infancy to preschool and school age.

Anja completed her postdoctoral fellowship with Liz in 2020.