Principal Investigator:	Kimberly D. Ryan, Ph.D.	Year
Senior Research Assistants:	Jackie Hammelman Lisa Hamington Heather King Christina Koro Alicia Thompson	2006 2006 2006 2006 2006
Research Assistants:	Ian Gornall Sady Horn Alessandra Lacorazza Chelsey Panisch	2007 2007 2008

Description

Heather King is a fourth year student at New College. She is studying psychology and currently working on her thesis examining elementary teacher perceptions of student bullying behavior, sense of community, and school ethical climate. Heather has a wide variety of research interests, but is primarily focused on investigating resilience and the roles of social support and personality. Heather currently works as Mentoring Program Coordinator for Girl Scouts of Gulf Coast Florida, Inc. and is a Project Intern for SCOPE (Sarasota County Openly Plans for Excellence) on the organization’s aging and neighborhood initiatives. Following graduation in May 2006, she will be attending graduate school to obtain her Ph.D. in either Human Development and Family Sciences or Aging Studies. In her spare time, which is rather limited, she enjoys singing, outdoor activities, working out, shopping, and playing with her dog. You can contact her at Heather.King@ncf.edu.

Christina Koro is a senior undergraduate concentrating in psychology at New College of Florida. She is currently writing her thesis on the effects of anti-smoking commercials on people’s attitudes toward smoking restrictions. She has been a member of the Clinical Research team for two years. Her primary role in the laboratory has been in recruitment procedures for the study involving anxiety in older couples. Her primary research interests are in the areas of Clinical Psychology and Health Psychology, with a focus on stress-reduction techniques, including expressive arts therapies and treatments involving prevention and treatment of illness. She is interested in health promotion and therapeutic treatments which combine psychological, physiological, and social factors. Specifically, she is interested in the role of lifestyle realignment and altering nutritional states in reducing physiological and psychological stressors.

Alicia Thompson is a fourth-year psychology student at the New College of Florida. She has worked in Dr. Ryan's clinical research lab for over two years, and her primary role is to develop procedures for new studies and synthesize research from previous studies into manuscripts. In addition to her interest in couples and family systems, Alicia is interested in eating disorders research, especially focused in athletic populations. She hopes to eventually practice as a psychologist at an eating disorders clinic.

Ian Gornall is a fourth year student at New College. His primary research interest is the affective dimension in the development of clinical disorders in children and adolescents. He is working on a thesis that addresses the childhood precursors of adolescent-onset depression. Ian’s current academic focus is on his thesis, this webpage, physiological equipment, and classes. His practical experience extends from volunteer work at the local Boys & Girls club to intensive full-day work at Camp Ramapo, a camp for special needs kids, and more. He looks forward to sharpening his clinical skills and extending research studies in a Clinical Psychology graduate program after he finishes a final semester at New College this fall. Please feel free to contact him at ian.gornall@ncf.edu.

Description

Alessandra Lacorazza is in her third year at New College studying psychology. Primary research interests are in the effectiveness of psychotherapy especially pertaining to couples. Other interests are in problems diagnosing and treating co-morbid disorders such as ADHD and Bipolar disorder. After graduating from New College she plans to attend Graduate school in clinical psychology. Alessandra currently works as a psychological technician at Coastal Behavioral Health Care crisis stabilization unit dealing with both adults and children. Outside psychology she enjoys film theory and analysis, art history, and traveling. You can contact her at alessandra.lacorazza@ncf.edu.

Description