Meet our new Professional Development Peer Advisor!

The Graduate Division is excited to welcome our new Professional Development Peer Advisor, Daina Tagavi. She will be working closely with the staff of the Graduate Student Resource Center to support programming and initiatives that support our campus' graduate students. Read on to find out more about Daina!

	THE STORY I grew up in Agua Dulce, CA (outside of Los Angeles). I went to college at Pepperdine University in Malibu where I studied psychology and conflict resolution. After college, I moved to Boston where I obtained my MA in research-focused psychology. I stayed in Boston for two more years AND worked as a research project coordinator in the Lab for Youth Mental Health at Harvard University. I am NOW a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at UCSB.
	HER RESEARCH My research interests lie in early identification and intervention for youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) - specifically the development, dissemination, and implementation of behavioral treatments for children diagnosed with or at-risk for ASD.
	FUN FACTS Outside of work or school, you can find me doing yoga, dancing (I was part of the dance company in college), obsessing over the latest Broadway musical, or caring for my French Bulldog Churro.
	HER ​ROLE AS A PEER As the new Professional Development Peer Advisor, I am looking forward to developing workshops and other tools to help graduate students prepare for a variety of jobs after graduation. I'm also hoping to get to know the graduate student population at UCSB a little better and advocate for resources to support graduate study on this campus.

Welcome, ​Daina!