Mariana Sousa ’29 is originally from Paraíba, in Northeastern Brazil. At the University of Notre Dame, she studies Neuroscience and Behavior and plans to minor in Journalism. Her academic interests center on cognition, education & early childhood development, and resilience among children and survivors of gender-based violence. Alongside this work, she is particularly interested in media and journalism through cultural and international development lenses, especially in global and comparative contexts.
Mariana currently works as a research assistant for Dr. Erin Person in the Archie Lab, where she codes behavioral videos and studies stress variation in wild baboons. She is also a research assistant for Dr. Emma Briant in the Digital Technologies, Media, Information Warfare and Propaganda project, analyzing how media ecosystems and political discourse contribute to polarization in American and Brazilian democracies. In addition, she serves as an assistant news editor for SCIENTIA, Notre Dame’s undergraduate research journal.
She is also a member of the Mary E. Galvin Science and Engineering Scholars Program.