People

Amy Gentzler, Ph.D. – Lab Director and Professor of Psychology

Amy earned a B.A. from Miami University and a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology (specializing in Social Psychology) at Kent State University. She completed a NIMH postdoc in Developmental Psychopathology at George Washington University, and then worked as a Research Psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh. At WVU, Amy runs the IDEA Lab and teaches undergraduate courses in Applied Social Psychology, Emotions & Mood, and Positive Psychology, and graduate courses in Child Development, Developmental Research Methods, Social Psychology, and seminars focused on emotions, emotion regulation, or emotion and cognition. When not working, Amy loves hanging with her kids, WV outdoors (paddleboarding, hiking), almost any sport (tennis and racquetball remain high on the list), and spontaneous trips with family and friends.

Graduate Students

 

Jeanette Pool, MS, MSW, LICSW

Jeanie is a fourth-year graduate student from Morgantown, WV. She received a BS in Psychology from West Virginia University in 2017, an MSW from Concord University in 2019, and an MS from West Virginia University in 2025. Her research interests include exploring how one develops emotion regulation strategies, their emotion beliefs, and psychopathology. Outside of research, Jeanie owns a private practice where she serves children and adolescents struggling with mental health and difficult behaviors. In her free time, Jeanie enjoys gardening, cooking, reading, and crocheting. 

Kimia Izadinia

Kimia Izadinia is a third-year graduate student in the Gentzler Lab. She received her B.A. in Psychology at WVU in 2024. Her research interests are focused on how parental attachment, early life stress, and cultural factors impact adolescence. She is particularly interested in understanding what predicts resiliency in this age group. In her free time, Kimia likes to read, cook, and spend time with her family. 

Max Ginsberg, M.A.

Max Ginsberg is a second-year graduate student in the Gentzler Lab. He has a background in Positive Development Psychology from Claremont Graduate University. Max’s research revolves around parental influences on adolescent well-being, specifically within eudaimonic and hedonic activities. His passions include 3D Modelling, Digital Art, Cooking, and Golf.

Emily King, M.A.

Emily King is a second-year graduate student working in the Gentzler Lab. She received her B.A. in Psychology at Landmark College in 2021 and her M.A. in Research Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2025. Emily has research interests in emotion knowledge, emotion expression, and parenting. Her master’s thesis explored how preschool-aged children express emotion through their narration of a wordless picture book and found evidence of a previously unidentified phenomenon called anger narrative bias (ANB). When she isn’t in the LSB, you can typically find Emily catching up with friends, checking out the newest comedy specials, trying out new food and drink recipes, or watching reruns of Degrassi and Letterkenny.

Undergraduate Students

Kiersten Timmons-McCormick

Kiersten is a junior undergraduate student double majoring in Psychology and Mental Health & Addiction Studies. Her research interests are in clinical psychology with adolescents. In her free time she enjoys reading, crocheting, and spending time with friends.

Georgia Blake

Georgia is a senior undergraduate student double majoring in Psychology and Women and Gender Studies. After graduation, she plans on getting her Master’s degree in counseling. Her career focus is counseling psychology concentrating on adolescents and young adults. Some of her hobbies include reading, writing, and scrapbooking.

Ashton Archie-Tang

Ashton is a sophomore undergraduate student dual majoring in Psychology and Child Development and Family Studies. He has a background working with children at Primrose Schools. His research intrests lie in early childhood development, family attachments, and the effects of neglect on children and adolescents. Outside of research he enjoys hockey, reading, and being outside in any way.

Abigail Morrisey

Abby is an undergraduate student at WVU. She will be graduating in May 2028 with a BS in Psychology with a minor in Communications. She then plans to practice counseling and attend grad school for clinical psychology. Abby is also a Morgantown local so hopes to stay in the area during this time. In her free time she likes to spend time with her family, friends, and two cats. She is a fan of horror movies, puzzles, and funny shows.

 

I.D.E.A. Lab Alumni

Graduate alumni

 

Avneet Batra, Ph.D.

Avneet (2025) investigates parenting (helicopter parenting, behavioral control) in relation to adolescent adjustment outcomes. Avneet is an Assistant Professor of Psychology the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies in Dehradun, India.

Jeffrey Hughes, M.S.

At WVU, Jeff studied social media use in relation to well-being in adolescents and young adults. He previously graduated from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania with a B.A in Psychology in 2016 and an M.S in Psychological Science in 2018. 

Matty Johnston, M.S.

Matty (M.S., 2024) conducted a thesis focused on parent and teen self-control and understanding how and why these may be related. Research interests included adolescent development in relation to parent-child relationships and the development of perceived control. Matty received a B.S. in Psychology from WVU in 2021.

 

Anna Park, Ph.D.

Anna (Ph.D., 2023) has been studying the development of courage and emotion regulation, positive and negative risk-taking and its development, and positive youth development, including social and cultural factors affecting well-being. Anna is doing a postdoc in the Human Development and Social Justice Lab at Fordham University.

Tyia Wilson, Ph.D.

Tyia (Ph.D., 2020) completed a postdoc at the University of Pittsburgh in the Pediatrics Department, and now is a Research Scientist there. While at Tyia often studied negative and positive emotion socialization in families, and how people’s experience of discrimination may affect this process. Tyia’s current research focuses on racial discrimination in relation to emotion regulation and coping among Black youth and ways to promote resiliency and improve mental health outcomes.  

Katelyn Romm, Ph.D.

Katelyn’s (Ph.D., 2020; volunteered as a secondary lab) dissertation examined the role of adolescents’ reasoning about parenting behaviors on the associations among parental psychological control and adolescents’ health-risk behaviors. Katelyn completed a postdoc at George Washington University, and now is an Assistant Professor at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences, focusing on sociocontextual influences on young adults’ tobacco and other substance use.

Katy DeLong, Ph.D.

Katy (Ph.D. 2020) is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Lehigh Carbon Community College in Pennsylvania. Her research broadly focused on individual differences that contributed to self-regulation development across the lifespan (e.g., childhood adversity, implicit beliefs), and emotional abilities through acting training. More recently, she balances her time between her interests and supporting her students’ project ideas.

Karena Moran, Ph.D.

Karena (Ph.D., 2018) was interested in the regulation and socialization of positive and negative emotions. Her dissertation examined how parents and friends socialize emerging adults’ emotion regulation. Karena is an Improvement Optimization Advisor at Geisinger Health System.

Meagan Ramsey, Ph.D.

Meagan (Ph.D., 2015) studied parent socialization of gratitude and positive emotion regulation, and the regulation of positive emotions in adulthood. For her dissertation, she created and conducted gratitude interventions in the family context. She had a postdoctoral position at the University of Utah and now works at the University of Michigan as Manager of the Proposal Development Team at the Weil Institute.

Chit Yuen Yi, Ph.D.

Frankie’s (Ph.D., 2015) main interests were in emotion regulation and substance use. Her dissertation examined emotion regulation flexibility of negative and positive emotions in relation to substance use among adolescents. Her thesis focused on mood effects on emotion perception and social interactions. Frankie is an Associate Teaching Professor of Psychology at Florida International University.

Katelyn Black, M.S.

Katelyn (M.S., 2015) conducted a thesis focused on the concept of grit. In a sample of college students and their parents, she investigated parents’ reports of how they socialized grit in relation to students’ reported grit, and how these predicted academic outcomes. 

Cara Palmer, Ph.D.

Cara Palmer (Ph.D., 2014). Cara’s research broadly focuses on the regulation of emotions, particularly positive affect. Her thesis focused on children’s regulation of emotion and parental socialization of this process in a sports context. In her dissertation, she experimentally manipulated savoring in adults to understand variability in ability to sustain positive affect. Cara completed a postdoc at the University of Houston and is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Montana State University.

Jennifer Morey, Ph.D.

Jennifer Morey (Ph.D., 2013). Jennifer’s master’s thesis focused on how attachment related to responses to positive events in romantic relationships. Her dissertation examined parents’ perception of and responses toward children’s negative and positive emotions, and how these were predicted by parents’ attachment and meta-emotion philosophy. After WVU, Jennifer was a postdoc at the University of Kentucky and now is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Thomas Nelson Community College.

Amanda Wheat, Ph.D. (volunteered as a secondary lab)

 

Brian Creasy, Ph.D. (volunteered as a secondary lab)

 

Danielle Nadorff, Ph.D. (volunteered as a secondary lab)

Danielle Nadorff (Ph.D., 2011) is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Mississippi State University.

Emily Keener, Ph.D. (volunteered as a secondary lab)

Emily Keener (Ph.D., 2010) is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Slippery Rock University.

Undergraduate alumni

  • Joseph Angioli
  • Amanda Barboza
  • Brandon Benchoff
  • Brianne Bernstein
  • Kaitlyn Berry
  • Jessica Billups
  • Caleb Brown
  • Derek Burns
  • Isabella Camerlin
  • Sasha Canan
  • Anthony Carilli
  • Alyssa Carpenter
  • Anthony Casella
  • Ashley Cecconi
  • Ashley Clement
  • Chelsea Coder
  • Alyssa Cordani
  • Zach Dengler
  • Ben Duplaga
  • Carinna Ferguson
  • Kristen Fisher
  • Helena Garren
  • Brianna Godfrey
  • Becca Hall
  • Riley Harris
  • Kiana Hayes
  • Rebecca (Catherine) Kincaid
  • Amanda King
  • Ben Kristanto
  • David Lewis
  • Sarah Lempka
  • Olivia Lin
  • Alexis Lohm
  • Alika Lopatka
  • Hannah Lubman
  • Liam McCabe
  • Kelsey McCoy
  • Lora McDonald
  • Molly McGhin
  • Emma Mendoza
  • Ginny Milsap
  • Robert Moles
  • Anna Moody
  • Kayley Morrow
  • Matthew Murry
  • Ashley Noah
  • Jackie Patzer
  • Kelly Pearse
  • Colton Peloquin
  • Madeline Price
  • Angela Pubal
  • Lorena Rose
  • Hattie Rowe
  • Imalay Ruiz
  • Emma Shaffer
  • Arik Sheets
  • Jesse Shorts
  • Vicki Shrensky
  • Brittaney Sikorski
  • Mary Kevan Smith
  • Larry Sobek
  • Skylar Spanburgh
  • Aaron Testoff
  • Taija Thomas
  • Chad Thompson
  • Stefani Thompson
  • Cal Wilson
  • Elizabeth (Shea) Wright