Rutgers–Camden Psychology Graduates Head to Prestigious Ph.D. Programs Nationwide

Three graduates from one Rutgers University–Camden research lab will continue their education at highly regarded Ph.D. programs nationwide this fall. 

Chareina Johnson, Samrawit B. Gebretensay, and Andrea M. Sellers—all recent alums of the psychological sciences program at the Rutgers Graduate School–Camden—were accepted to multiple schools but elected to attend the University of Michigan, Howard University, and Louisiana State University, respectively. 

While at Rutgers–Camden, the students served as graduate assistants under the guidance of Department of Psychology Associate Professor Tamara Nelson Calhoun. Her Resilience, Equity, and Community Health (REACH) Lab studies how sociocultural and contextual factors affect mental health and treatment-seeking among minoritized populations. 

All three have published research with Nelson Calhoun, co-authoring papers in journals such as the American Journal of Community Psychology and the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 

“I am incredibly proud of Samra, Drea, and Reina's accomplishments, the remarkable people they are, and the scholars they will become,” said Nelson Calhoun. “It has been an honor to mentor them and watch them grow. I am excited to see what comes next and will miss having them in the lab!”

The alums have chosen to study three distinctive program areas of psychology at institutions across the country. 

Chareina Johnson
Chareina Johnson, who graduated last year, will soon join the University of Michigan’s personality & social contexts program, which is fully funded and whose graduate psychology department is ranked among the best in the nation. 

While a master's student, Johnson presented her research at the Showcase of Projects, Arts, Research, and Knowledge (SPARK!). Her study suggested first-generation college students exhibited higher levels of existential isolation—the concept that one feels alone in one’s environment or experience—which, for students, impacts their ability to seek academic support. "This work helps us to understand better why we see disparities between first-generation college students and continuing generation college students in terms of their academic performance and graduation rates," Johnson explained in an interview with The International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology. Upon graduation, Johnson earned the William H. Tucker Award, named for longtime Rutgers–Camden Psychology Professor William (Bill) H. Tucker. 
 

Samrawit B. Gebretensay
Samrawit B. Gebretensay, a two-time Rutgers–Camden alum who graduated this spring with her master’s degree in psychological sciences and who earned her psychology bachelor’s degree in 2023, will attend Howard University’s clinical psychology program fully funded this fall. 

As a research assistant with Nelson Calhoun, Gebretensay grew interested in studying mental health equity and particularly the disparities that lie within the Black community. At this year’s SPARK!, she explored how the acculturation process impacts Black immigrant college students’ mental health, which she noted was broadly overlooked in psychology research. Gebretensay, too, won the Rutgers–Camden William H. Tucker Award as well as Howard’s competitive Frederick Douglass Doctoral Scholars Assistantship, awarded to Ph.D. students to support rigorous research. 

Andrea M. Sellers
United States veteran Andrea M. Sellers will soon join the school psychology program at Louisiana State University, building off her own education at Rutgers–Camden along with her lived experience working in the education field. 

Sellers served for six years in the Army National Guard before graduating from Rutgers–Camden with her undergraduate degrees in childhood studies and psychology in 2023 and a master’s degree in psychological sciences two years later. Late in her undergraduate career, Sellers joined the REACH lab; there, she studied how cultural pressures that affect Black women may impact the mental support they receive. She presented on the topic at the Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (CURCA). She later expanded on this work, leading to a co-authored publication in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Disparities. While a student, Sellers served as a tutor, paraprofessional, and educational behavioral therapist. After earning a school psychology degree, she told Rutgers–Camden News in 2025: “I want to change lives,” Sellers said. “Especially for children in unique situations, because I've been there, and I know they just need someone they feel comfortable with. I want to be someone who can help them navigate the stressors of life.”