Lab Director
Richard B. Slatcher is the Gail M. Williamson Distinguished Professor in the Behavior and Brain Sciences area of the Department of Psychology at University of Georgia.
Graduate Students
Christina Leckfor received her B.A. in Psychology from Youngstown State University and her M.S. in Social Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and is a doctoral student in social-personality psychology within the Behavior and Brain Sciences doctoral program at UGA. Her research interests include the impact of social technologies (e.g., smartphones, social media) on individual and relational well-being, such as understanding how people can develop closeness and intimacy when communicating through these technologies. Additionally, she is interested in the motivations for and consequences of social isolation.
Daisi Brand received her B.S. in Psychology from Fort Hays State University and is a doctoral student in social-personality psychology within the Behavior and Brain Sciences doctoral program at UGA. Her research interests broadly focus on the various mechanisms that contribute to higher quality romantic relationships (e.g., disclosure, responsiveness, intimacy) and their influence on individual well-being.
Sara Cloonan received her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Richmond and is a doctoral student in social-personality psychology within the Behavior and Brain Sciences doctoral program at UGA. She is broadly interested in emotion regulation in romantic relationships. Specifically, she is interested in how often and in what context regulatory attempts occur, as well as the temporal effects of emotion regulation on relationship well-being.
Alessia Telari is a psychology Ph.D. student and a member of the Social Connections & Technology LAB at the University of Milano-Bicocca. She will be a visiting international scholar in our lab beginning in March 2024.
Her main research interest concerns social exclusion and social connectedness. Specifically, she is studying the impact of digital technologies (i.e., social media, artificial intelligence systems, smartphones) on social connections, both as social interference and facilitator.
Lab Alumni
Michael Harvey received his Ph.D. in social-personality psychology at University of Georgia. He is now a Data Scientist at Johnson & Johnson in Jacksonville, FL.
Sabrina Bierstetel received her Ph.D. in Social and Personality Psychology at Wayne State University. She is now an Assistant Professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Russell Houpt was the data manager for the ALOFT project. He is now a Ph.D. student in quantitative psychology at Arizona State University.
Dr. Ledina Imami received her Ph.D. in Social and Personality Psychology at Wayne State University. She is now an Assistant Professor of psychology at Oberlin College.
Dr. Julia Briskin received her Ph.D. in Social and Personality Psychology at Wayne State University. She is a research Data Scientist at the National Center for Principled Leadership & Research Ethics (NCPRE) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Allison Farrell was a postdoc in the Close Relationships Lab and is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Miami University (Ohio).
Maria Alonso-Ferres was a Visiting International Scholar in the Close Relationships Lab in 2018. She is now an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid.
Dr. Sarah Stanton was a postdoc in the Close Relationships Lab and is now a Senior Lecturer (tenured Associate Professor) in the Department of Psychology at the University of Edinburgh.
Dr. Samuele Zilioli was a postdoc in the Close Relationships Lab and is now an Associate Professor in the departments of Psychology and Family Medicine at Wayne State.
Dr. Erin Tobin received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Wayne State University and is now an integrated clinical health psychologist in Academic Internal Medicine (AIM) at Henry Ford Hospital.
Dr. Keith Welker received his Ph.D. at Wayne State University and is now a Senior Research Scientist at the Constructive Dialogue Institute.
Dr. Heidi Kane was a postdoc in the Close Relationships Lab and is now an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Dr. Peilian Chi was a postdoc in the Close Relationships Lab and is now an Associate Professor at the University of Macau.