Our Team

Cara Palmer, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

Dr. Cara Palmer is the director of the Sleep and Development Lab and the co-director of the MSU Sleep Research Lab at Montana State University. Prior to coming to MSU, Dr. Palmer completed her masters and doctoral training in Life-Span Developmental Psychology at West Virginia University, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Child Psychology at the University of Houston. At UH, she was promoted to research faculty within the Department of Psychology and the Texas Institute of Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics. She joined the MSU faculty in 2018. Dr. Palmer has received numerous awards and grants for her research from organizations including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Sleep Research Society, and the World Sleep Society.

When not in the lab or the classroom, Dr. Palmer loves to spend time with her family and friends, travel, cook (and eat!) new foods, paint, listen to science podcasts, and stay active by hiking in the beautiful mountains of Montana.

Project Manager

Jessica Smith, M.S.

Jessica is the project coordinator for the RISE and PALS studies.

Graduate Student

Giovanni Alvarado, M.S.

Giovanni Alvarado is a Ph.D. candidate in Psychological Science at Montana State University, originally from Los Angeles, California. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Merced in 2020 and his M.S. in Psychological Science from Montana State University in 2023. Giovanni’s research focuses on adolescent sleep health, including circadian rhythms, sleep attitudes and sleep myths, and how they shape sleep across adolescence. Outside of research, Giovanni enjoys staying active, spending time with friends, watching soccer, football, and basketball, and continuing to expand his interests in UX research and design.

Graduate Student

Erica Steinberg, M.S.

I'm a first year PhD student. I graduated from Willamette University with a psychology major, chemistry minor. I received my master’s in experimental psychology from Central Washington. When I’m not working on school or research, I like reading, playing video games, baking, and hiking.

Graduate Student

Tyler Hilliard

I’m originally from Wyoming and moved to Montana to attend Rocky Mountain College, where I graduated with degrees in psychology and biology. I taught science at Lockwood High School and Skyview High School before joining Dr. Palmer’s lab at MSU in 2025. My research interests include studying the relationships between sleep and psychosocial outcomes, such as emotions and addiction. When outside the lab, I enjoy being with family and friends, playing and watching sports, and traveling.