Amanda Nickerson is a SUNY Distinguished Professor of school psychology and the inaugural director of the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York. Her research focuses broadly on school safety and building social-emotional strengths of youth, with a particular emphasis on bullying and other forms of violence and victimization. She has published more than 100 journal articles and book chapters, written 5 books and conducted over 300 professional presentations. She is an author of the PREPaRE School Crisis and Intervention Training Curriculum and is coordinator of research for the National Association of School Psychologists School Safety and Crisis Prevention Committee. She has served on multiple editorial boards and committees, including associate editor of the Journal of School Violence. Dr. Nickerson’s work has been funded by federal, state and private funders, including the Institute of Education Sciences and the National Institutes of Health. She is a licensed psychologist, nationally certified school psychologist and fellow of the American Psychological Association.
Stephanie Fredrick is the associate director of the Alberti Center and associate professor in the Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology. She is a licensed psychologist and a nationally certified school psychologist. She has previous experience working as a school psychologist and consulting with schools on bullying prevention and social emotional learning. Broadly, her research investigates how schools, families and communities can prevent peer victimization and increase resiliency and protective factors among children experiencing victimization. She is particularly interested in universal school-based preventative and protective factors, including social support, school climate and social-emotional learning.
Brie Kishel is the program and operations manager at the Alberti Center since 2014. Brie obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in child and youth services from Medaille College, and spent over 18 years working for a local non-profit organization. As an education coordinator at the Museum of disABILITY History, she developed and presented a bullying prevention program in several Western New York districts. Some of Brie's responsibilities for the Alberti Center include marketing and communications; financial and operations management; and event planning, including coordinating the Alberti Center's colloquium series, annual conference, and monthly sessions for the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) workshop requirement for New York State teacher certification. She is also an active member of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Erie County and planning committees for Spread the Word Inclusion-WNY and the Erie County Law Enforcement Foundation.
Toni Torchia graduated in 2017 with her doctoral degree in combined counseling and school psychology from the University at Buffalo. She has an extensive amount of experience working in research at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions in a variety of roles, including project coordinator, on multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health as well as a National Institute of Justice grant. Her responsibilities at the Alberti Center have included program evaluation for the PREPaRE School Crisis Prevention and Intervention Training Curriculum developed by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). Dr. Torchia is currently leading the center's efforts to develop and deliver student-centered programming for schools and community agencies related to bullying and peer relationships. Her interests include community outreach, program evaluation, research on peer bullying and victimization, dating violence and substance abuse.
Hannah Rapp is a postdoctoral research associate at the Alberti Center. She received her doctoral degree in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research centers on social and emotional learning, and bullying abuse among individuals with learning disorders and developmental disabilities. Her dissertation examined the secondary victimization experiences of parents of adolescent children with disabilities following bullying abuse. Hannah aims to apply results from her study to support parents of adolescents with developmental disabilities in the local community, and to further investigate family systems’ approaches to the prevention and response of bullying abuse.
Swapna Balkundi has her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University at Buffalo and her master's degree in psychology from the University at Buffalo. She is currently a doctoral candidate in the combined counseling and school psychology program at UB. Swapna's research interests include interventions for youth with social emotional learning challenges leading to their academic decline.
Read more about Swapna's Schomburg Fellowship.
Julianna Casella has her bachelor’s in biology and psychology from Stony Brook University, and is currently a doctoral candidate in the combined counseling and school psychology program at the University of Buffalo. Julianna’s research interests focus on crisis prevention and interventions in schools. Read more about Julianna's Presidential Fellowship
Dylan Harrison has a bachelor’s degree from Buffalo State College and is currently a doctoral student in the combined counseling and school psychology program at the University at Buffalo, with a concentration in school psychology. Dylan’s research interests include bullying prevention within schools and adolescent digital media use.
Kay Huang has her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Iowa State University and is currently a doctoral student in the combined counseling and school psychology program at the University at Buffalo. Kay’s research interests focus on bullying, crisis, and risk behaviors prevention and interventions in schools. Her projects at the Alberti Center include Pathways for School Violence Prevention: Multi-tiered Systems of Support for Safer School Communities, and Creating Upstanders: The Development of Norms and Bystander Intervention Training (NAB IT!) to Reduce Bullying and Sexual Harassment.
Rahnuma E Jannat has her bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degree in counseling psychology from University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. She is enrolled in the combined counseling and school psychology doctoral program at the University at Buffalo, with a concentration in school psychology. Rahnuma’s research interests include cyberbullying and developing culturally informed school-based cyberbullying prevention interventions for adolescents.
Jay’ana King has her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Temple University, and is currently a doctoral student in the combined counseling and school psychology program at the University at Buffalo. Jay’ana’s research interests focus on bullying, interventions, socio-emotional and adjustment outcomes, and mental health in Black and racial minority youth.
Katherine (Kat) Margiotta has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Le Moyne College. She is currently a doctoral student in the combined counseling and school psychology program at the University at Buffalo. Her research interests include trauma-informed educational strategies, school safety, and interventions to support student social and emotional wellness.
Bea Mask has her bachelor’s degree in psychology and specialist degree in school psychology from Texas Woman’s University. She is currently a doctoral student in the combined counseling and school psychology program at the University at Buffalo, with a concentration in school psychology. Bea’s research interests include bullying interventions, school climate and discipline, and supporting LGBTQ+ youth and educators.
Brianna Schlierf has a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and psychology from West Virginia University. She is currently a student in the School Psychology MA/AC program at the University at Buffalo. Brianna’s research interests involve the effects of social media on mental health.
Lucia Sun has her bachelors in psychology and is currently a doctoral candidate in the combined counseling and school psychology program at the University at Buffalo. Her research interest focuses on providing social and emotional learning to immigrant children, specifically with trauma focused interventions.
Kathleen P. Allen, PhD
Training and Evaluation Specialist
Leilah Bates
Research Assistant
Gina Bellavia, PhD
Project Director
Sebastian BengCheong Cheong
Research Assistant
Amanda Breese
Schomburg Fellow
Erin Cook
Graduate Assistant
Jamie Cooper
Research Assistant
Heather Cosgrove
Graduate Assistant
Michele Crandall
Research Assistant
Erin Dougherty
Research Assistant
Melissa Dudley
Graduate Assistant & Project Director
Danielle Guttman-Lapin
Research Associate (Adjunct)
Hannah Grossman
Graduate Assistant
Tiara Handy
Research Assistant
Lauren Hearn
Research Assistant
Samantha Kesselring
Research Assistant
Shauna Mauch
Research Assistant
Margaret Manges
Graduate Assistant
Abbey McClemont
Graduate Assistant
Kennedy McGriff
Research Assistant
Jessica Marcela Quintero Jurado
Fulbright Visiting Scholar
Mary-Lynn McHugh
Research Assistant
Rebecca Mohr
Research Assistant
Catherine Moore
Research Assistant
Shelby Ostolski
Research Assistant
Joseph Prior
Research Assistant
Timothy Parks
Graduate Assistant
Jessica Rosenburg
Research Assistant
Allison Sealy
Research Assistant
Michelle Serwacki
Graduate Assistant
Samantha Stanford, NASP PREPaRE
Research Assistant
Alaina Tripp
Research Assistant
Jenine Tulledge
Research Assistant
Samantha VanHout
Graduate Assistant
Jilynn Werth
Graduate Assistant
Ariel Aloe, PhD
Professor, Psychological and Quantitative Foundations
University of Iowa
Julie Bowker, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
University at Buffalo
Catherine P. Cook-Cottone, PhD
Director, Advanced Certificate in Mindful Counseling
Professor, Counseling, School and Educational Psychology
University at Buffalo
Melissa J. Dudley, PhD
Assistant Professor, School Psychology
Alfred University
Rina D. Eiden, PhD
Professor of Psychology
Pennsylvania State University
Thomas Feeley, PhD
Professor, Department of Communication
College of Arts and Sciences
University at Buffalo
Kamontá Heidelburg, PhD, NCSP
Assistant Professor, School Psychology
The Ohio State University
Lyndsay Jenkins, PhD
Associate Professor
Florida State University
Sunha Kim, PhD
Associate Professor, Counseling, School and Educational Psychology
Learning and Instruction
University at Buffalo
Melinda Lemke, PhD
Associate Professor, Educational Leadership and Policy
University at Buffalo
Jennifer Livingston, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Nursing
University at Buffalo
Jamie M. Ostrov, PhD
Professor, Clinical Area Head, Director of Clinical Training
Department of Psychology
University at Buffalo
Amy L. Reynolds, PhD
Professor, Counseling, School and Educational Psychology
University at Buffalo
Darren C. Treadway, PhD
Associate Professor, Sport Management
Niagara University
Annahita Ball, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Social Work
University at Buffalo
Lyndsay Jenkins, PhD
Associate Professor
Florida State University
Jennifer Livingston, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Nursing
University at Buffalo
Jamie Pernick
Assistant Principal
Lancaster High School
Rene Petties-Jones
President
National Federation for Just Communities of WNY Inc.
Daniela Wolfe, LMSW
School Social Worker
Amherst Central School District
Helen Aronoff, PhD - membership term 2012-2015
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo
Lana Benatovich - membership term 2012-2018
President
National Federation for Just Communities of WNY
Vito Borrello - membership term 2012-2017
Executive Director
National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE)
Anna Cieri, PhD - membership term 2012-2019
Assistant Superintendent
Williamsville Central School District
Dewey Cornell, PhD - membership term 2012-2018
Professor of Education and Endowed Chair
University of Virginia
Wendy Craig, PhD - membership term 2018-2024
Scientific Director of PREVNet, Professor of Psychology
Queen's University
Janice DeLucia, PhD - membership term 2012-2019
Associate Professor
Dept. of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology, University at Buffalo
Dorothy Espelage, PhD - membership term 2012-2017
William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Education
University of North Carolina
Bruce Goldstein, Esq. - membership term 2012-2018
Special Counsel
Kenney, Shelton, Liptak, Nowak, LLP
Mary Gresham, PhD - membership term 2012-2017
Vice Provost for Educational Collaboration
University at Buffalo
Brenda McDuffie - membership term 2012-2013
President & CEO
Buffalo Urban League
Bruce Mitchell - membership term 2018-2019
Adjunct Professor, Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology
University at Buffalo
Jane Ogilvie - membership term 2012-2015
Division Director, Community Youth Development
Erie 1 BOCES
Jamie Ostrov, PhD - membership 2012-2017
Professor, Department of Psychology
University at Buffalo
Kevin Penberthy - membership term 2014-2020
Retired Deputy Director
NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD)
Adjunct instructor, School of Social Work
University at Buffalo
Debra Pepler, PhD - membership term 2012-2017
Distinguished Research Professor
York University
Paul Poteat, PhD - membership term 2019-2022
Associate Professor
Lynch School of Education and Human Development
Boston College
Amy Reynolds, PhD - membership term 2012-2019
Associate Professor
Department of Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology
University at Buffalo
Reed Stewart - membership term 2012-2018
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Family Counseling Associates
Susan Swearer, PhD - membership term 2012-2019
Professor of School Psychology, Dept. of Educational Psychology
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Bradford Watts - membership term 2018-2021
Community Relations Coordinator
People Inc.