DSEC Lab

Michele Morningstar, Ph.D.

Lab DIRECTOR

(she / her)

Michele is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Queen’s University and the director of the DSEC Lab. She is interested in how we learn to communicate emotional states and social attitudes nonverbally—that is, using nonverbal cues like facial expressions and tone of voice. In other words, how do we learn to read a room? Her research focuses on the biological, cognitive, and social mechanisms supporting the maturation of these skills in adolescence. Outside of the lab, Michele enjoys cooking, all forms of narratives (books, movies, TV!), yoga, and Academy Award prognosticating.

[CV]

Staff

graduate Students

Daniel nault

PhD Candidate in Clinical Psychology

(he / him)

Daniel is a SSHRC CGS-D fellow and PhD Candidate in Clinical Psychology. His doctoral research program seeks to understand how adolescents learn to communicate emotional information to others using nonverbal cues, including facial expressions and tone of voice. Daniel is particularly interested in how adolescents may shift their use of nonverbal cues depending on the social context (e.g., who they are speaking to). In his free time away from the lab or clinic, Daniel can often be found either watching sports or playing hockey.

[CV]

RILEY Bonar

Master’s Student in Developmental Psychology

(he / him)

Riley is a first-year M.Sc. student in Developmental Psychology at Queen’s university. He completed his Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Psychology at Queen’s University. His undergraduate thesis focused on adolescent attentional differences to their caregiver and friend at different stages of puberty. This year, he is excited to look at the neural bases of adolescent social information processing of both their friend and caregiver as they progress through puberty. Riley loves to run and is currently training to run a half marathon by next summer! He also loves watching basketball and can chat your ear off about any sport.

Honours Thesis Students

Directed Lab students

Keren Katz

QU ‘25 Honours B.A., Psychology

(she / her)

Keren is a fourth-year psychology major conducting her honours thesis at the DSEC lab. She will be investigating the differences in how viewers perceive emotion in adolescents versus adults. Keren has loved her time working with the EXPRESS team and is now looking forward to joining the DETECT-team in welcoming more participants into the lab. She is passionate about pursuing a career in either clinical or counselling psychology. Outside the lab, Keren can be found belting a Broadway musical hit, trying new restaurants and travelling. 

Zoe Halpern

QU ‘25 Honours B.A., Psychology

(she / her)

Zoe is a psychology major entering her 4th year of the BAH program with a minor in health studies. This is Zoe’s second year in the DSEC lab, as she completed a directed lab course during the 2023-2024 school year. Zoe is very excited to be completing her honours thesis in the DSEC lab this year. She will be working alongside the EXPRESS team to investigate differences in how adolescents talk to their friends compared to parents about emotional topics. In the future, Zoe is hoping to pursue a masters degree in either social work or counselling psychology. Outside of the lab, Zoe enjoys reading a good book and spending time with her friends.

Victoria Cassel

QU ‘26 Honours B.A, Psychology

(she / her)

Victoria is a psychology major entering her 3rd year of the BAH program. She is excited to join the DSEC team this academic year as a directed lab student. Victoria will be working alongside the DETECT team as she is interested in exploring differences in teen and adult raters’ judgement of emotion. Outside of the lab Victoria loves to take care of her plants and try new tea flavours!

Sach Grewal

QU ‘25 Honours B.A., Psychology

(she / her)

Sach is in her final year of the BAH program in Psychology. She is excited to be joining the DSEC team as a full-year directed lab student. Sach is interested in social information processing and social-emotional development in adolescence, especially in understanding how the perceived valence of peer interactions across different social contexts might influence risk-taking and sensation-seeking behaviours. This year, Sach will be working on the EXPRESS study to explore the association between objective and subjective measures of emotional expressions. In her free time, Sach can be found out and about with Percy (her dog)!

Sarah Wong

QU ‘25 Honours B.A, Psychology

(she / her)

Sarah is a psychology major entering her 4th year of the BAH program. She is thrilled to be joining the DSEC team this summer as part of the Undergraduate Student Summer Research Fellowship (USSRF) program. Sarah will be working alongside the EXPRESS team as she is fascinated by the effect of social context on adolescents' expression of emotion specifically manifested in their facial expressions. Outside of the lab, Sarah likes to pet stray cats and bake bread (or at least attempt to).

Natalie Yang

QU ‘26 Honours B.Sc, Psychology

(she / her)

Natalie is entering her third year at Queen’s, majoring in Psychology & minoring in French. She spent the past summer as an RA for the DSEC lab and is looking forward to continuing in the lab as a Directed Lab Student! Her research interests include differences in social context on an adolescent’s ratings of emotional expressions and the possible effects of puberty on this difference. In her free time, Natalie enjoys dancing and jamming on the piano!

Sophie Ye

QU ‘25 Honours B.Sc., Life Sciences Specialization

(she / her)

Sophie is entering her fourth year of Life Sciences Specialization at Queen’s. As a fall directed lab student, she will be supporting the EXPRESS-2 team by exploring acoustic cues (such as pitch) in adolescents and how they differ by social context. Outside the lab she enjoys a good gothic fiction book but will avoid horror movies at all costs.

Research Assistants

Lab alumni

Ada Cheung (MITACS Globalink Research Intern in Summer 2024, from the University of Hong Kong)

Emma Hickey (Research Assistant in Summer 2024)

Jason Song (Research Assistant in Summer 2024)

Madeline Mayers (Research Assistant in Summer 2024)

Emily Schreiner (Thesis Student in 2023/24 and Directed Lab Student in 2022/23)

Laura Edelstein (Thesis Student in 2023/24)

Kate Cullen (Research Assistant from 2022-2024)

Natasha Manuel (Research Assistant and Directed Lab Student in 2023/24)

Jake Hartwig-MacDonald (Research Assistant from Summer 2023 - Winter 2024)

Jacqueline Satok (Directed Lab Student in Fall 2023)

Sierra McNulty (Lab Coordinator in 2022/23, currently a Graduate student at the University of Toronto)

Jay Burns (Directed Lab Student and Research Assistant from 2021-2023)

Logan Goldring (Directed Lab Student and Research Assistant in 2021/22)

Maya Morcos (Research Assistant from 2021-2023)

Bingyi Lin (Research Assistant in 2022/23)

Dove Gadkar (Research Assistant in 2022)

Reem Atallah (NSERC Summer Student in 2022, currently a Law student at Queen’s University)

Emma Ilyaz (Honours Thesis Student in 2020/21, Lab Coordinator in 2021/22, currently a Graduate student at Queen’s University)

Rafaela Platkin (Directed Lab Student in Winter/Fall 2021, Research Assistant in Winter 2022)

Silvia Shiwei Zhou (Directed Lab Student in 2021/22)

Rachel Himmel (Honours Thesis Student in 2021/22)

Julia Stratton (Honours Thesis Student in 2021/22)

Jayden Downing (Research Assistant in Summer 2021)

Sarah Cvetkovski (Honours Thesis Student in 2020/21, currently a Law student at Western University)

Maddie Gravelle (Directed Lab Student and ASURF student in 2020/21, currently a Graduate student at Queen’s University)

Gabby Craddock (Directed Lab Student in Winter 2021)

Madeleine Helesic (Research Assistant in Winter 2021)

Bruno Carusi (Research Assistant in Winter and Summer 2021)

Former Graduate students

Peyton Nault (Developmental Psychology M.Sc. Student from 2022-2024)