KH (Kayla) Green, MSc

Biography

Kayla Green is a postdoctoral researcher in the Erasmus SYNC Lab. Her work focuses on how adolescents and young adults grow up in a complex and rapidly changing world, marked by various societal challenges (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, poverty). She specifically examines how adolescent and young adult wellbeing is shaped by socioeconomic hardship and future uncertainty. Green aims to shed light on how the developing brain adapts to challenges in the social environment, and how such neural challenges may foster resilience. Which vulnerabilities put some adolescents at risk to be disproportionably hit by societal challenges, and are there protective factors that might buffer against the potential negative impact on wellbeing. Additionally, Green investigates self-disclosure in the context of societal topics, which may be viewed as political or controversial (e.g., should adolescents aged 16 or 17 years have the right to vote?).

She is co-founder and social media officer of the YoungXperts youth participation platform. She is passionate about connecting science to society and policy. Green uses participatory approaches to actively involve youth in science and policy. She also engages in science communication and outreach activities.

Green is member of the ambition team on youth participation. Since 2020, Kayla is member of the Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee of the international Flux Society. She co-leads the Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) affinity group. Green was awarded the PhD Excellence Award for Best Societal Impact by the Erasmus Graduate School of Social Sciences and the Humanities in 2022. She was also awarded a travel grant by Flux Society in 2022. Together with her YoungXperts colleagues she received the Open Science Award for the collaborative work on inclusive youth participation within the YoungXperts platform. In 2022 Kayla was selected as Faces of Science by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the Young Academy (De Jonge Akademie), and NEMO Kennislink.

Green has a background in psychology (Utrecht University, 2015). After obtaining her bachelor degree, she continued with the research master Neuroscience & Cognition (2018) and the clinical master Neuropsychology (2017) at Utrecht University. She did her clinical internship at the Neurology and Geriatrics Department of the Spijkenisse Medisch Centrum, where is also obtained her BAPD (certificate in psychodiagnostics). She obtained her PhD in 2024 (cum laude) at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Under supervision of prof. dr. Eveline Crone and dr. Suzanne van de Groep. Kayla examined the socioeconomic, social and neural determinants of wellbeing across adolescence and young adulthood.