Michele Morningstar, Ph.D.
Lab DIRECTOR
(she / her)
Michele is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Queen’s University and the director of the DSEC Lab. She is interested in how we learn to communicate emotional states and social attitudes nonverbally—that is, using nonverbal cues like facial expressions and tone of voice. In other words, how do we learn to read a room? Her research focuses on the biological, cognitive, and social mechanisms supporting the maturation of these skills in adolescence. Outside of the lab, Michele enjoys cooking, all forms of narratives (books, movies, TV!), yoga, and Academy Award prognosticating.
[CV]
Staff
Sean Koh
Lab coordinator
(he / him)
Sean is the joint coordinator for the DSEC Lab and the Early Experience Lab (EEL) here at Queen's. He graduated with a Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) in 2025. Sean completed his honours thesis in the EMBody Lab under the supervision of Dr. Vera Vine on the impact of adverse childhood experiences on facial emotion recognition and cardiac orienting. Outside of the lab, Sean can be found watching movies and hiking!
JULIANA RICCIUTI
NSERC USRA SUMMER RESEARCH FELLOW
(she/her)
Juliana is an NSERC USRA summer research fellow in the DSEC Lab. She is particularly interested in the biological mechanisms underlying the development of emotional communication and how emotional communication affects our quality of life. Last summer Juliana hiked the Grouse Grind (a 2.5-km ascent with an elevation gain of 800m) in 51 minutes!
Shira Klein
SWEP Summer Research Fellow
(she/her)
Shira is a SWEP summer research fellow in the DSEC Lab, where she is excited to be exploring the development of nonverbal communication and how it shapes our social interactions. Her academic journey has sparked a strong interest in rehabilitation sciences, and she hopes to pursue a future career as a Speech-Language Pathologist or Occupational Therapist, supporting individuals in building and regaining meaningful communication skills. When she’s not in the lab, Shira loves to bake sweets!
graduate Students
Daniel nault
PhD Candidate in Clinical Psychology
(he / him)
Daniel is a SSHRC CGS-D fellow and PhD Candidate in Clinical Psychology. He is currently completing his pre-doctoral residency in pediatric psychology at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, ON. Daniel's doctoral research program seeks to understand how adolescents learn to communicate emotional information to others using nonverbal cues, including facial expressions and tone of voice. He is particularly interested in how adolescents learn to shift their use of nonverbal cues depending on the social context (e.g., who they are speaking to). In his free time away from the lab or clinic, Daniel can often be found either watching sports or playing hockey.
RILEY Bonar
PHD Student in Developmental Psychology
(he / him)
Riley is a first-year PhD student in Developmental Psychology at Queen’s university. He completed both his Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Master of Science in Psychology at Queen’s University. His research interests are on adolescent social development, specifically how adolescents’ neural response is predictive of relational and social outcomes. His master’s thesis focused on whether adolescents’ neural response to their parent and friend was associated with their pubertal status. Outside of academia, Riley is a Type-1 Diabetic that loves to run and watch any live sporting event.
Emily Schreiner
MASTER’S STUDENT IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
(she / her)
Emily is a first year Master’s student in the Clinical Psychology program. She completed a Bachelor of a Science in Psychology at Queen’s University, and did her Honours thesis in the DSEC lab! Emily’s research interests involve examining how individual differences in the expressive skills of adolescents may contribute to interpersonal challenges. She is also curious about how important relationships, such as peers and caregivers, may influence the development of these skills. Outside of her studies, Emily can be found jogging by the lake, or experimenting (sometimes successfully) with a new recipe in the kitchen.
EMMA CANNING
MASTER’S STUDENT IN DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
(she / her)
Emma is a first-year M.Sc. student in Developmental Psychology at Queen’s university. She completed her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology at Carleton University with a concentration in Forensic Psychology. Her undergraduate thesis focused on increasing information elicitation in investigative interviewing. This year, she is excited to look at the neural bases of nonverbal communication in adolescents. In her free time, Emma loves hiking with her dog and Muay Thai!
Research Assistants
Tessa Patton
(she / her)
QU ‘26 Honours B.A.
Psychology and English
Navid Shabani Barzegar
(he / him)
QU ‘27 Honours B.HSc.
Health Sciences
Elle Houston
(she / her)
QU’28 Honours B.Sc.
Psychology
Reyna Okumura
(she / her)
QU’27 Honours B.A.
Psychology and Sociology
Mikayla Bellamy
(she / her)
QU’28 Honours B.Sc.
Biology and Psychology
Catherine Shevelevich
(she / her)
QU’27 Honours B.Sc.
Psychology
Lab alumni
Natalie Yang (Research Assistant Summer 2024-Fall 2024, Directed Lab Student in Winter 2025)
Linoy Stepanov (Research Assistant Fall 2024-Winter 2026)
Alessia Cataudella (Research Assistant Fall 2024-Winter 2026)
Victoria Cassel (Thesis Student in 2025/2026, USSRF Research Fellow in Summer 2025, Directed Lab Student from Fall 2024-Winter 2025)
Léa Francoeur (Directed lab student in 2025/26, Research assistant from Fall 2024-Winter 2025)
Rushmeet Singh (Research Assistant in 2024/2025)
Astra Yang (Research Assistant in 2024/2025)
Kyla Campbell (Lab Coordinator in 2024/2025)
Sarah Robichaud (Lab Coordinator in 2023/2024, USSRF Research Fellow in Summer 2023, Thesis Student in 2022/2023)
Olivia Merulla (Directed lab student in 2022/23, Research assistant from Summer 2022-Summer 2025, currently a Graduate student at Western University)
Polly Clayton (Research Intern in Summer 2025, from Durham University, UK)
Maria Fernanda Trigo Adami (MITACS Globalink Research Intern in Summer 2025, from the Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil)
Keren Katz (Thesis Student in 2024/25, Research Assistant in 2023/24)
Zoe Halpern (Thesis Student in 2024/25, Research Assistant in 2023/24)
Sach Grewal (Directed Lab Student in 2024/25)
Sarah Wong (Directed Lab Student in Winter 2025, Research Assistant in Fall 2024, USSRF Research Fellow in Summer 2024)
Sophie Ye (Directed Lab Student in 2024/25, Research Assistant from Summer 2023 - Summer 2024)
Diana Romano (Research Assistant in 2024/25)
Selena Gabrielli (Research Assistant from Summer 2024 - Winter 2025)
Jacqueline Satok (Directed Lab Student in Fall 2023, Research Assistant from Winter 2024 - Winter 2025)
Kieran Bodnar (Research Assistant in Fall 2024)
Mia Quillopa Schubert (Research Assistant from Summer 2023 - Fall 2024)
Ada Cheung (MITACS Globalink Research Intern in Summer 2024, from the University of Hong Kong)
Emma Hickey (Research Assistant in Summer 2024)
Jason Song (Research Assistant in Summer 2024)
Madeline Mayers (Research Assistant in Summer 2024)
Emily Schreiner (Thesis Student in 2023/24 and Directed Lab Student in 2022/23)
Laura Edelstein (Thesis Student in 2023/24)
Kate Cullen (Research Assistant from 2022-2024)
Natasha Manuel (Research Assistant and Directed Lab Student in 2023/24)
Jake Hartwig-MacDonald (Research Assistant from Summer 2023 - Winter 2024)
Sierra McNulty (Lab Coordinator in 2022/23, currently a Graduate student at the University of Toronto)
Jay Burns (Directed Lab Student and Research Assistant from 2021-2023)
Logan Goldring (Directed Lab Student and Research Assistant in 2021/22)
Maya Morcos (Research Assistant from 2021-2023)
Bingyi Lin (Research Assistant in 2022/23)
Dove Gadkar (Research Assistant in 2022)
Reem Atallah (NSERC Summer Student in 2022, currently a Law student at Queen’s University)
Emma Ilyaz (Honours Thesis Student in 2020/21, Lab Coordinator in 2021/22, currently a Graduate student at Queen’s University)
Rafaela Platkin (Directed Lab Student in Winter/Fall 2021, Research Assistant in Winter 2022)
Silvia Shiwei Zhou (Directed Lab Student in 2021/22)
Rachel Himmel (Honours Thesis Student in 2021/22)
Julia Stratton (Honours Thesis Student in 2021/22)
Jayden Downing (Research Assistant in Summer 2021)
Sarah Cvetkovski (Honours Thesis Student in 2020/21, currently a Law student at Western University)
Maddie Gravelle (Directed Lab Student and ASURF student in 2020/21, currently a Graduate student at Queen’s University)
Gabby Craddock (Directed Lab Student in Winter 2021)
Madeleine Helesic (Research Assistant in Winter 2021)
Bruno Carusi (Research Assistant in Winter and Summer 2021)
Olivia Murray
(she / her)
QU ‘27 Honours B.A.
Psychology and Sociology
Mackenzie Romijn
(she / her)
QU’27 Honours B.A.
Psychology
Maya Joseph
(she / her)
QU ‘28 Honours B.Ed. & B.A.
Concurrent Education & Psychology
Sienna Valdez
(she / her)
QU ‘27 Honours B.Sc.
Biology and Psychology
Mia Popelas
(she / her)
QU’27 Honours B.A.
Psychology
Madhureema Balasubramani Rupa
(she / her)
QU' ‘27 Honours B.Sc.
Health Sciences
Alana Tran
(she / they)
QU '27 Honours B.A
Psychology and Sociology
Former Graduate students
Peyton Nault (Developmental Psychology M.Sc. Student from 2022-2024)