Professional Staff


Kristin Tymchak, M.A./A.C.

Kristin is the Project Coordinator for the ECFP-3 project in the Social Development Lab. She holds an M.A./A.C. degree in school psychology from the University at Buffalo, where she was involved in research examining academic writing interventions for elementary-aged students. Kristin also holds a B.A. in psychology from the University at Buffalo, where she completed an independent honors thesis examining the effects of social experience on mouse ultrasonic vocalization production. Prior to joining the lab, Kristin worked as a school psychologist intern in a local elementary school. She is interested in how peer and familial adversity impacts school readiness. She hopes to pursue a career in research. Email: katymcha@buffalo.edu


Sarah Lucas, B.S.

Sarah is a Research Technician for the FRIENDS project and PEERS2K project in the Social Development Lab. She received her B.S. in Psychology and minor in Global Health Studies from Allegheny College. During undergrad, Sarah helped conduct research on first year student sense of belonging and community engagement, the outcomes of service learning in a virtual clinical psychology undergrad course, and a senior thesis which investigated the moderating role attachment plays in the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and anxiety and depression in emerging adulthood. Sarah is interested in Social Emotional Learning and hopes to explore applied research questions about self-regulation/dysregulation, externalizing behaviors, and intervention/prevention programs. Sarah would like to pursue a Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology or related discipline that conducts highly contextualized, interdisciplinary developmental research. Email: sjlucas@buffalo.edu


Olivia Bell, B.A.

Olivia is a Research Technician for the FRIENDS project in the Social Development Lab. She received her B.A. in Psychology and her certificate in Child Advocacy Studies at SUNY Buffalo State University. During her undergrad, she volunteered as an Undergraduate Research Assistant at the Social Development Lab (PI: Dr. Ostrov), the Infant and Child Development Lab at Buffalo State (PI: Dr. Schuetze), and the Relationships and Social Development Lab at Buffalo State (PI: Dr. Kamper-DeMarco). She completed an honors thesis focusing on the moderating role of sex and the mediating role of harsh parenting on the relationship between prenatal tobacco and marijuana co-exposure and autonomic dysregulation in early childhood. She also completed an individual project in the Dominican Republic focusing on differing teachers’ perceptions of social behaviors within their classrooms and teachers’ self-reported culture between the US and DR. She is interested in the role of social factors (i.e., parent-child and peer relationships) in infancy and early childhood on the development of dysregulation and psychopathology. She hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology. Email: orbell@buffalo.edu


Julianne Zajdel, B.S.

Julianne is a Research Technician for the ECFP-3 project in the Social Development Lab. She received a B.S. in Psychology and Neuroscience from West Virginia University. Prior to joining the lab, she volunteered in the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) Lab under the supervision of Dr. Cheryl McNeil at West Virginia University. She also completed an honors thesis entitled “Emotion socialization and child abuse potential when caring for at-risk toddlers” which examined relationships between caregiver emotion-focused verbalizations and abuse risk scores as well as comparisons of emotion-focused parenting practices between caregivers with high and low child abuse risk. She is interested in the development of kids emotionally with different internalizing and externalizing symptoms, as well as the different factors/practices that play a major role in adaptive and maladaptive emotional development. She hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Child Clinical and/or Developmental Psychology. Email: jmzajdel@buffalo.edu


Volunteers


Hayley Feibel, B.A.

Hayley is a volunteer in the Social Development Lab. She received her B.A. in Psychology at UB and is currently a M.A. student in School Psychology at UB. Email: hayleyfe@buffalo.edu


Vanessa Uhteg, B.A.

Vanessa is a volunteer for the Social Development Lab. Vanessa earned her B.A. in Psychology on the major track in Autism Spectrum Disorder from Binghamton University. Vanessa is currently in the School Psychology M.A. program at UB. Vanessa’s research interests include the cross section of mental health and inclusion for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In her future career, Vanessa hopes to design and implement behavioral interventions that facilitate social interactions between children with ASD and their neurotypical peers. Vanessa joined the lab to examine the perspectives of social interactions in young children and how that contributes to stress related concerns later in development. Email: vduhteg@buffalo.edu

*No additional paid positions are currently available. Positions are posted on the UB jobs website when available.