Staff

Director

Amanda Nickerson, PhD

Amanda Nickerson is the inaugural director of the Alberti Center and an associate professor in the Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology. Her research focuses on preventing and intervening with school crises, violence, and bullying. She has also researched the critical role of schools, parents, and peers in promoting social-emotional strengths of children and adolescents. Amanda has written 4 books, 60 journal articles and book chapters, and has conducted over 200 presentations. As a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist, she is committed to translating research into effective prevention and intervention practices that promote youth strengths.

Biography and Publications

Program and Operations Manager

Brie Kishel

Brie Kishel is the program and operations manager at the Alberti Center. 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. In her previous position as education coordinator at the Museum of disABILITY History, she developed and presented a bullying prevention program for elementary school students 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.

Training and Evaluation Specialist

Kathleen P. Allen, PhD

Kathleen P. Allen, PhD (Katy) is a graduate of the Warner Graduate School at the University of Rochester. Prior to completing her graduate degree in education and human development, Katy was involved in promoting the well-being and safety of children both in and out of school through her company, Impact Training, Inc. In addition to introducing school staff to programs on personal safety and social-emotional learning for students, Katy has assisted a number of schools in developing their own materials and procedures for dealing with bullying. A former high school English teacher and trainer for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Katy has focused her recent efforts on providing professional development on bullying prevention and intervention to schools throughout the state. As well as conducting and publishing research on bullying in schools, Katy’s most recent interest is in adolescent social drama and its connections to bullying.

Community Programming Consultant

Toni Torchia

Dr. 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 Psychologist's (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.

Graduate/Research Assistants

Tim Parks

Graduate Assistant

Tim Parks has his bachelor’s in psychology from St. Bonaventure University and is currently a doctoral student in the combined counseling and school psychology program at the University at Buffalo. His responsibilities at the Alberti Center include working as the graduate assistant for PREPaRE School Crisis Prevention and Intervention Training Curriculum developed by the National Association of School Psychologist's (NASP). Tim’s research interests focus on bullying, childhood trauma and crisis intervention in schools.

Melissa Dudley

Graduate Assistant

Melissa Dudley has her master's degree in social work and is currently a doctoral student in the combined counseling and school psychology program at the University at Buffalo. Melissa's research interests focus on bullying prevention and intervention within schools, as well as the impact of bullying on a child's social-emotional adjustment.

Jessica Rosenburg

Research Assistant

Jessica earned her Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a minor in special education from Daemen College. She is now in her second year in the MA/AC school psychology program at the University at Buffalo. Currently, Jessica is working with Dr. Nickerson and members from the Research Institute on Addictions to develop a new research project related to bullying. Her research interests include risk and resilience processes, bullying and victimization, and school crisis prevention and intervention.

Shauna Mauch

Research Assistant

Shauna graduated from the Honors College at SUNY Brockport with her bachelor’s in psychology. She is now in her first year in the MA/AC school psychology program at the University at Buffalo. She is currently working with a research team at the Research Institute on Addictions on a Child Health and Safety Study. Her research interests include developing and evaluating resources for parents and teachers related to child health, safety and crisis intervention.

Samantha VanHout

Research Assistant

Samantha VanHout has her Bachelor of Arts in psychology and is currently a master’s student in the school psychology program at the University at Buffalo. Her responsibilities include working on book chapters and developing resources for students, educators and parents related to bullying and crisis intervention. Samantha’s research interests focus on crisis intervention, childhood trauma and bullying.

Allison Sealy

Research Assistant

Allison graduated with her Bachelor of Science in psychology with a minor in education from the University at Buffalo. She is currently a master's student in the MA/AC school psychology program at the University at Buffalo. Her research interests include learning how to better incorporate bullying prevention into schools and developing tools for educators and parents to become more aware and adept at victimization prevention.

Faculty Affiliates

Julie Bowker, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
University at Buffalo

Rina D. Eiden, PhD
Senior Research Scientist, Research Institute on Addictions
Adjunct Faculty, Pediatrics & Psychology
University at Buffalo

Ariel Aloe, PhD
Research Scientist, Graduate School of Education, University at Buffalo
Assistant Professor, Psychological and Quantitative Foundations, University of Iowa

Laura M. Anderson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Counseling, School and Educational Psychology
University at Buffalo

Catherine P. Cook-Cottone, PhD
Associate Professor, Counseling, School and Educational Psychology
University at Buffalo

Jennifer Livingston, PhD
Senior Research Scientist, Research Institute on Addictions
University at Buffalo

Jamie M. Ostrov, PhD
Professor, Department of Psychology
University at Buffalo

Amy L. Reynolds, PhD
Associate Professor, Counseling, School and Educational Psychology
University at Buffalo

Darren Treadway, PhD
Associate Professor, Organization and Human Resources
University at Buffalo

Janice L. DeLucia, PhD
Associate Professor, Counseling, School and Educational Psychology
Program Director, School Counseling
University at Buffalo