Ihnwhi Heo, psyhcological sciences
Beyond the Numbers: Ihnwhi Heo’s Journey Through Psychology, Statistics and Mentorship
When Ihnwhi Heo reflects on where he’s from, two cities come to mind: Busan, South Korea, where he was born, and Utrecht, the Netherlands, where his academic identity began to take shape. It was in Utrecht that she first stepped into the world of psychological research — not through traditional experiments or participant interviews, but through the quiet rigor of statistical analysis. As an undergraduate research assistant working on meta-analyses, he sometimes questioned whether he was truly doing psychology. But those early experiences laid the groundwork for a career that would redefine what psychological science could look like.
Today, Ihnwhi is a Ph.D. student in Psychological Sciences at UC Merced, specializing in Quantitative Methods, Measurement and Statistics. His path from Utrecht to Merced was shaped by a deepening passion for Bayesian statistics and structural equation modeling, cultivated during his master’s studies in methodology and statistics. While completing his thesis under the guidance of a professor at the University of Amsterdam, he connected with her future advisors at UC Merced — professors Sarah Depaoli and Fan Jia — whose reputations had already reached his mentors in Europe. That sense of continuity and sha as empowered him to pursue her own research interests while staying grounded in a community of care and collaboration. Inspired by their example, Ihnwhi now aspires to become the kind of mentor who nurtures both intellect and well-being.
His dissertation research tackles two persistent challenges in psychological and behavioral data: selecting key predictors from complex datasets and addressing missing data in longitudinal studies. By advancing Bayesian growth mixture models, Ihnwhi aims to create tools that help researchers draw more accurate and transparent conclusions. His work has implications far beyond psychology, offering solutions to fields like education, social science and medicine — anywhere red values made UC Merced feel like a natural next step.
At Merced, Ihnwhi found more than just academic opportunity — he found mentorship that extended beyond the classroom. Depaoli and Jia have supported him not only as a researcher but as a person, ensuring he could thrive in a safe and healthy environment.
Recognition for his contributions came in the form of two prestigious awards: the Dissertation Research Award from the American Psychological Association and the Dissertation Research Grant from the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology. These honors affirm the scholarly impact of her work and reflect the collective support of mentors, colleagues, and family who have shaped her journey.
For Ihnwhi Heo, psychology is not just about understanding the mind — it’s about building better tools to understand the world. And through her research, mentorship, and humility, she’s helping others do just that.
