DSEC Lab

Michele Morningstar, Ph.D.

Lab DIRECTOR

(she / her)

Michele is an assistant 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

graduate Students

Daniel nault

PhD Candidate in Clinical Psychology

(he / him)

Daniel is a CGS-D fellow and Ph.D. Candidate in Clinical Psychology. His doctoral research program focuses on the development of nonverbal communication skills during adolescence. Daniel’s work aims to understand how adolescents learn to use their facial muscles and tone of voice to express their emotions to others, and how they may shift their use of nonverbal cues to suit the social context. In his clinical work, Daniel is specializing in pediatric assessment, therapy, and dual diagnosis, with a special focus on neurodevelopmental disorders.

[CV]

Peyton nault

MASTER’s student in developmental Psychology

(she / her)

Peyton is a second-year M.Sc. student in Developmental Psychology at Queen’s university. She completed her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa. Her undergraduate thesis focused on early numeracy in children and aimed to validate newly developed screeners. This year, she is excited to pursue other research interests involving adolescents’ emotional expression and investigate how working memory relates to emotional skills. In her free time, Peyton loves to dance in all genres and has been a competitive dancer since the age of 4!

RILEY Bonar

Master’s Student in Developmental Psychology

(he / him)

Riley is a first-year M.Sc. student in Developmental Psychology at Queen’s university. He completed his Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Psychology at Queen’s University. His undergraduate thesis focused on adolescent attentional differences to their caregiver and friend at different stages of puberty. This year, he is excited to look at the neural bases of adolescent social information processing of both their friend and caregiver as they progress through puberty. Riley loves to run and is currently training to run a half marathon by next summer! He also loves watching basketball and can chat your ear off about any sport.

Honours Thesis Students

Laura Edelstein

QU ‘24 honours b.a., PSYCHOLOGy & Minor in sociology

(she / her)

Laura is excited to join the DSEC Lab team as an undergraduate thesis student going into her 4th year of study at Queen’s. Laura is passionate about developmental psychology, in particular learning about neurodevelopmental disorders, and is interested in furthering her knowledge in typically developing social and emotional communication abilities in adolescents. More specifically, she is interested in exploring how this age group expresses their emotions using nonverbal cues. Laura is also one of the co-presidents of the Psychology Department Student Council at Queen’s and is simultaneously volunteering in the ASD Lab as an RA. During her spare time, Laura enjoys cooking, spending time with friends, and taking walks down by the pier in Kingston.

Directed Lab Students

emily schreiner

QU ‘24 Honours B.SC., psychology

(she / her)

Emily is currently a fourth-year Psychology student at Queen’s University. She joined the DSEC Lab as a directed lab student in the fall of 2022, and is currently completing her thesis with the lab. Emily is very excited to further her understanding of the ways in which we communicate socially and emotionally. More specifically, she is interested in studying how teenagers process and understand emotions within their social relationships. Outside of her passion for psychology, Emily participates in environmental initiatives and enjoys poetry, rainy days, and all forms of skiing.

Keren Katz

QU ‘25 Honours B.A., psychology

(she / her)

Keren is a third year psychology student at Queen’s and is currently a directed lab student in the DSEC Lab. She is passionate about exploring the intricacies of mental health. More specifically, she is interested in learning about how individuals with depression express their emotions differently. Keren is also working with the EXPRESS team at the DSEC Lab and is a research assistant at the MoodLab. During her spare time, Keren enjoys musical theatre, spending time with friends and travelling. 

Paige Stockley

QU ‘25 Honours B.A., Psychology & BEd

(she / her)

Paige is entering her fourth year as a Psychology and Concurrent Education student at Queen’s. She joined the lab this summer as a research assistant and will be continuing as a directed lab student this fall. Paige is excited to learn more about how emotional expression can be impacted by various factors in adolescents’ lives. More specifically, she is interested in looking at the relationship between social experiences and nonverbal emotional expression in youth. In her spare time Paige enjoys baking, playing hockey, and going out to the movies!

Mia Quillopa Schubert

QU ‘25 Honours B.Sc., Psychology

(she / her / they)

Mia is entering her third year in the Psychology program at Queen's and will begin her role this fall as a directed lab student under the supervision of Dr. Morningstar. She is eager to learn more about how attentional biases may shift throughout development and what factors influence decoding abilities in adolescents. She is also passionate about learning how to implement new programs and software for psychological analysis. Outside of the lab, Mia enjoys trying new bubble tea flavours and playing chess.

Zoe Halpern

QU ‘25 Honours B.A., Psychology

(she / her)

Zoe is in her third year of her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Health Studies. She joined the lab in the fall of 2023 as a research assistant and is completing a directed lab project in the DSEC Lab this semester. Zoe looks forward to learning more about how adolescent social and emotional changes influence emotional expression. After finishing her undergraduate degree, Zoe hopes to pursue a master's degree in clinical or developmental psychology. In her spare time, Zoe enjoys reading, spending time with friends and family, and going for walks with her dog.

Natasha manuel

QU ‘25 Honours B.Sc., Psychology

(she / they)

Natasha is a fourth-year BScH student majoring in Psychology with a minor in Life Sciences. She joined the DSEC Lab in the Fall of 2023 as a research assistant on the DETECT-AF study and is excited to be starting a directed lab student this winter. Natasha is interested in factors that influence the communication of emotional states and will be looking into attentional bias to emotional prosody in their directed lab. When she's not studying or working on lab work, you can often find her at a dance class!

Research Assistants

Lab alumni

Sierra McNulty (Lab Coordinator in 2022/2023, currently a Graduate student at the University of Toronto)

Jacqueline Satok (Directed Lab Student Fall 2023)

Jay Burns (Directed Lab Student and Research Assistant in 2021-2023)

Logan Goldring (Directed Lab Student and Research Assistant in 2021/2022)

Maya Morcos (Research Assistant in 2021-2023)

Bingyi Lin (Research Assistant in 2022/2023)

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 2020/2021, Lab Coordinator in 2021/2022, 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)