Jason Schmidt Avendaño
Bio
My name is Jason Schmidt Avendaño. I happily represent my fellow LatinX and LGBTQIA+ communities as a Panamanian who speaks fluent Spanish. I am often spending time outside of work playing with my dogs, rollerblading, paddle boarding, or singing! I am a professional singer who performs on demos for record labels as well as opera productions in the Tampa Bay area.
Education
I double-majored in Psychology and Vocal Performance at Stetson University where I graduated magna cum laude. During my time at Stetson, I was able to develop myself as a researcher through two research labs. I was also honored to be chosen for two different summer programs. First, I was the only undergraduate selected to attend the Empirical Music Cognition Methods workshop hosted by Dr. David Huron and Dr. Daniel Shanahan at Ohio State University. Second, I attended The Leadership Alliance SRIP-REU at Vanderbilt University working with Dr. Duane Watson. At Stetson my honor's thesis was entitled "Look Back (or Don’t): Regressive Eye Movement Behavior in Musicians", this paper went on to win the 2021 Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) Conference Research Award. Concluding my time at Stetson I was awarded the highest psychology award, The Psychology Department Award for Excellence in Research. In the School of Music, I concluded my time by being inducted into a prestigious honor society for musicians, Phi Kappa Lambda.
Employment
I currently conduct research at The University of South Florida in the Fall Music Research Lab with Dr. Jennifer Bugos & the REACH Lab with Dr. Ruthann Atchley. I serve as the USF Psychology Department University Graduate Fellow which is a fellowship only offered to one graduate student a year.
