Please join me in celebrating my dear friend Grace ( @beercatphd) on her successful dissertation defense today! Let me tell you about this wonderful, intelligent, inspiring human who has filled my life w/positivity & light since we met 6 (!) years ago:

From the beginning of grad school, Grace& #39;s effortless brilliance shone through. During her first year talk, I was struck by two things: 1) how professional & comfortable she was talking abt her work, like she had done this forever, & 2) that dev psychs upset children for work https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤷‍♀️" title="Woman shrugging" aria-label="Emoji: Woman shrugging">

As my cohort spent more time together (officially declaring ourselves a & #39;family& #39; in 3rd year) I got to know Grace as a person. She is a natural clinician- warm, considerate, trustworthy.She loves learning &basketball &whiskey. She& #39;s there through belly laughs &angry rants &tears.

I also got to see her develop as a psychologist. She was an early adopter of open science &eager participant of @improvingpsych, &enriched the field through her service w/ @PsyArXiv. To me, she is the platonic ideal of a scientist- sharp &insightful, but endlessly kind & patient

I watched her defend today, again struck by her confidence & professionalism. Her talk seamlessly blended a thorough discussion of stats/methods w/relevance for real-world issues. It reflected her values of open science & compassion for other human beings.

She& #39;s going to do so many wonderful things for so many people in this world! We are SO LUCKY as a community to have her among us&I am SO LUCKY to have her as a friend, cohortfamily member, & inspiration. I love you Grace, congratulations (u took it to the limit(dog stevens)! https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🎉" title="Party popper" aria-label="Emoji: Party popper">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍾" title="Bottle with popping cork" aria-label="Emoji: Bottle with popping cork">