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
Kyla Campbell
Lab coordinator
(she / her)
Kyla is the joint coordinator for the DSEC Lab and the Early Experience Lab (EEL) here at Queen’s. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biology and Psychology in 2023. In her position as lab coordinator, Kyla is enthusiastic about enhancing the accessibility of scientific research and supporting the DSEC team in all of their ongoing projects. Outside of the lab, Kyla can be found drinking an iced matcha, watching a good movie, or going for a walk!
graduate Students
Daniel nault
PhD Candidate in Clinical Psychology
(he / him)
Daniel is a SSHRC CGS-D fellow and PhD Candidate in Clinical Psychology. His 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. Daniel is particularly interested in how adolescents may 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
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.
Summer Staff
Victoria Cassel
QU ‘26 Honours B.A, Psychology
(she / her)
Victoria is a psychology major entering her 4th year of the BAH program. She is excited to join the DSEC team this academic year as an undergraduate student summer research fellow. Victoria will be working alongside the DETECT team as she is interested in exploring differences in teen and adult raters’ judgement of emotion. Outside of the lab Victoria loves to take care of her plants and try new tea flavours!
Maria Fernanda Trigo Adami
Universidade Federal do Paraná ‘25 B.A., Psychology
(she / her)
Maria Fernanda is a Psychology MITACS Globalink Research Intern from Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil. She is passionate about studying child and adolescent emotional development and game-based interventions. She is currently working towards an academic career, with an aim to work and research with adolescents in the future. In her free time, Maria can be found playing RPG. She’s been an avid player since she was 12 years old.
Research Assistants
Navid Shabani Barzegar
(he / him)
QU ‘27 B.HSc.
Health Sciences
Yaein Kim
(she / her)
QU ‘26 Honours B.HSc.
Health Sciences
Alessia Cataudella
(she / her)
QU ‘26 Honours B.Sc.
Psychology
Julia Guo
(she / her / they / them)
QU ‘26 Honours B.Sc.
Psychology
Rushmeet Singh
(she / her)
QU' ‘26 Honours B.Sc.
Kinesiology
Tessa Patton
(she / her)
QU’26 B.A.
Psychology and English
Lab alumni
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)
Polly Clayton
Durham University ‘26, Psychology
(she / her)
Polly is a summer research intern from the UK. She is a second year undergraduate Psychology student at Durham University, and is particularly interested in neuropsychology and development. She is also hoping to learn more about pursuing a career in research. Outside of the lab, Polly loves reading, yoga and listening to music!
Olivia Merulla
(she / her)
QU ‘25 Honours B.A.
Psychology
Linoy Stepanov
(she / her)
Qu ‘26 Honours B.A.
Psychology
Léa Francoeur
(she / her)
QU ‘26 Honours B.Sc.
Biology and 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
Catherine Shevelevich
(she / her)
QU’27 Honours B.Sc.
Psychology
Former Graduate students
Peyton Nault (Developmental Psychology M.Sc. Student from 2022-2024)