Amanda B. Nickerson (she/her)

Amanda Nickerson, PhD, NCSP, is a SUNY Distinguished Professor and Director of the Dr. Jean M. Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Dr. Nickerson’s research focuses on school crisis prevention and intervention, with a particular emphasis on violence and bullying. She has examined the role of schools, parents, and peers in preventing violence and enhancing the social-emotional strengths of children and adolescents. Dr. Nickerson is the lead author of Assessing, Identifying, and Treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder at School (2009, Springer), co-author of School Crisis Prevention and Intervention: The PREPaRE Model (2009, 2016, National Association of School Psychologists [NASP]), co-editor of Handbook of School Violence and School Safety: International Research and Practice, 2nd Edition (2012, Routledge), and co-author of Lockdown Drills: Connecting Research and Best Practices (2022, MIT Press) and Cyberbullying: Helping Children Navigate Digital Technology and Social Media (2025, Wiley). She has published over 160 journal articles and book chapters. Her research has been funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Institutes of Health, the American Educational Research Association, the Department of Homeland Security, the NYS Office of Child and Family Services, The Committee for Children, and the NYS Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.

Dr. Nickerson is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 16) and the American Educational Research Association. She has served as associate editor of the Journal of School Violence, on the executive board of the New York Association of School Psychologists, the Coordinator of Research for the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) School Safety and Crisis Prevention Committee, and as a member of Governor Cuomo’s Suicide Prevention Task Force. Dr. Nickerson is a member of several editorial boards (Journal of School Psychology, School Psychology Review, International Journal of Bullying Prevention), and is Contributing Editor of the NASP Communique. Dr. Nickerson has received numerous awards for her work, including the NASP Presidential Award, the UB Exceptional Scholar: Sustained Achievement Award, the UB President's Medal, the NASP Crisis Management Interest Group Award for Excellence, the STAR Research Award from the UB’s Graduate School of Education, and Reviewer of the Year from the Journal of School Psychology. She has conducted hundreds of media interviews with outlets including NBC News, ABC News, CNN, Huffington Post, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio, MSN News, Time, USA Today, and US News and World Report.

A licensed psychologist in New York state and a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, Dr. Nickerson is committed to the scientist-practitioner model of training. She views research and science as foundational to good practice, and helps practitioners use this knowledge to guide practice. Dr. Nickerson has conducted hundreds of presentations for educators and mental health professionals in the United States and other countries. She has also worked in close collaboration with schools and other child-serving agencies to guide them in using data to inform practice, particularly related to improving social-emotional and behavioral functioning and preventing bullying and violence. Graduate students are frequently co-authors and have many opportunities to engage in activities to further their professional development. She is particularly enthusiastic to mentor students who wish to pursue careers in academia as faculty members.

• PhD, University of South Carolina (2002)
• MA, University of South Carolina (1999)
• BA, Bates College (1994)

• Fellow; American Educational Research Association; 2025-04-24;
• Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award; University at Buffalo Graduate School; 2023-11-27;

• Fredrick, S., Nickerson, A., Demaray, M., & Yang, C. (2025). Cyberbullying: Helping children navigate digital technology and social media. Wiley.

• Nickerson, A. B., Seay, D., Manges, M. E., Grossman, H., Delmerico, A. M., Godleski, S. A., ... & Eiden, R. D. (2025). Caregiving Environmental Risk and Aggression From Infancy to Adolescence in a High-Risk Sample: An Examination of Between-Family and Within-Family Effects. Aggressive Behavior, 51(3), e70033.
• Nickerson, A. B., Jenkins, L. N., Yang, Y. & Harrison, D. S. (2024). Individual and contextual-level predictors of progression in the bystander intervention model. Aggressive Behavior, 50(4), e22159.
• Nickerson, A. B., Manges, M. E., Casella, J., Huang, Y., Bellavia, G. M., Livingston, J., Jenkins, L. N., & Feeley, T. H. (2024). Bystander intervention in bullying and sexual harassment training: Mixed-method evaluation. Journal of Prevention and Health Promotion, 5(1), 6-34.

• SAMHSA [Author: Amanda Nickerson] (2025). Trauma-informed community support for the effects of mass violence: A roadmap. SAMHSA Publication No. PEP25-06-003. consultahttps://library.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/trauma-inform-mass-violence-roadmap-pep25-06-003.pdf

• Nickerson, A. B. (2025, March). Preventing and intervening with bullying at school. Presentation for New Jersey Association of School Psychologists BeWELL Series. [virtual].;
• Nickerson, A. B., & Gay, M. (2024, June). Pathways for the prevention of school violence: Bullying. Workshop presented for the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. [virtual].;
• Nickerson, A. B. (2023, July). Bullying prevention and intervention. Keynote address presented at the Ohio School Safety Summit, Columbus, OH.;
• Nickerson, A. B. (2024, March). Guiding youth with social media use and cyberbullying. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Hershey, PA.;

• Fredrick, S. S., Nickerson, A. B., Demaray, M. K., & Yang, C. (2025, February). Tools for practitioners on preventing and intervening with cyberbullying. Mini-skills workshop presented at the National Association of School Psychologists Annual Convention, Seattle, WA.;

• Building youth resiliency and school capacity to identify and respond to violent behavior through bystander intervention training; Federal Government; US Department of Homeland Security; Awarded; (10/01/2023-09/30/2025)
• Creating Upstanders: The Development of Norms And Bystander Intervention Training (NAB IT!) to Reduce Bullying and Sexual Harassment; Federal Government; Institute for Education Sciences; Awarded; (07/01/2019-12/31/2023)

• Chair, Society for the Study of School Psychology Membership Committee
  10/01/2024-04/01/2027
• Member, Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium
  02/01/2018-12/31/2024
• Member, Suicide Prevention Coalition of Erie County
  04/01/2017-12/31/2025
• Coordinator for Research, National Association of School Psychologists’ School Safety and Crisis Response Committee
  07/01/2014-06/30/2025

• Contributing Editor; NASP Communiqué
  09/01/2022-12/31/2025