UHCL grad continues to build bridges between U.S., Brazil

May 22, 2019 | UHCL Staff

Fernanda Oda came to the United States from Brazil to study behavior analysis at University of Houston-Clear Lake because she had heard it was one of the best programs in the country. Now equipped with her Master of Arts in Behavior Analysis, as well as the behavior analysis master’s program’s Outstanding Student award, Oda said she feels more than prepared to begin her doctoral program at the University of Kansas in Lawrence this fall.

While working toward her degree, Oda was coordinator of the Verbal Behavior Clinic at UH-Clear Lake’s Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities. “My graduate assistantship, under the supervision of (Associate Professor of Behavior Analysis) Sarah Lechago, focused on teaching communication and social skills to individuals and their families,” she said. “The majority of the clients I worked with had an autism diagnosis, although there is no diagnostic or age requirement to qualify for services. We were working to help people increase and develop their skills in those areas.”

Oda said that while pursuing her doctorate, she will be working in a behavioral economics lab to contribute research to studies in verbal behavior.

In 2017, she was awarded a grant from the Society for the Advancement for Behavior Analysis to complete a project she titled, “The Fountain and the Bridge.”

“The goal of my project was to build a bridge of communication about behavior analysis between the U.S. and Brazil,” she said. “I’ve been traveling back to Brazil once a year to present lectures at the university where I got my undergraduate degree in psychology, and I would love to continue to do that.”

After receiving her doctorate, Oda said she plans to stay in academia, either in the U.S. or in Brazil. “I love teaching and research,” she said. “UHCL provided a lot of support for students who want to pursue an academic career. (Professor of Psychology) Dorothea Lerman, (Associate Professor of Behavior Analysis) Jennifer Fritz and Dr. Lechago were my mentors in this program, and I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to join that program and receive my training from them. They’re my role models.”

“I have had the distinct pleasure of working closely with Fernanda during her three years in the Behavior Analysis program at the UHCL,” Lechago said. “She was the coordinator for my verbal behavior clinic and my research lab, and she remains my research mentee. She demonstrates both the capacity to think of large scale, groundbreaking ideas, and the attention to detail and intellectual nuance required to execute those ideas. Fernanda is a credit to the field of behavior analysis and will undoubtedly be a highly recognized name in the near future.”

Upon arriving in Houston in 2015, Oda said her main concerns were about language and cultural barriers. “I wasn’t sure if I could succeed. My primary language is Portuguese,” she said. “But UHCL’s Behavior Analysis program is one of the best in the country. The standards are very high. I was concerned about communication.”

She said she succeeded with support from the international students’ office, the Office of Student Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and the Office of International Admissions and Programs. “My mentors and my cohort were very helpful, and very willing to help me,” she said. “My years at UHCL have been my best years in education so far.”

For more information about UHCL’s Master of Arts in Behavior Analysis program, visit the Behavior Analysis Master of Arts page.