Lab Members

Lab Director

Dr. Neupert is a Professor of Psychology at NC State. She earned her Ph.D. in Family Studies and Human Development with a minor in Statistics from the University of Arizona in 2003 and completed her postdoctoral training at Brandeis University in 2005. Her research interests include contextual and individual differences surrounding stressors and well-being outcomes (e.g., physical health, cognition, affect). In particular, she is interested in the psychosocial and sociodemographic characteristics of individuals along with changing contextual factors which may be related to emotional, physical, and cognitive reactivity (or responses) to stressors. She conducts daily diary designs to examine short-term variability and individual differences in within-person processes. She is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the American Psychological Association and currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences.

Graduate Students

Lyndsey Graham, MS

Lyndsey is a third-year doctoral student in the Lifespan Developmental Psychology program at NC State. She earned her BS in Psychology from Liberty University, and her MS in Human Development and Family Science from East Carolina University. Lyndsey is also a Certified Child Life Specialist, and hopes to contribute to the field through her research in stress and coping.

Reyyan Can, M.Ed.

Reyyan is a second-year doctoral student in the Lifespan Developmental Psychology program at NC State University. After completing her BA in Psychological Counseling and Guidance from Uludag University, she worked as a school counselor in Turkey. She earned her M.Ed. Degree in Clinical Mental Health and Rehabilitation Counseling from Ohio University. Her research research interests focus on well-being and happiness.

Shalini Mukherjee, MS

Shalini (pronouns: she/her/hers), is an accomplished first-year doctoral student in the Lifespan Developmental Psychology program at NC State University. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and a Master of Science degree in Health Psychology from University of Hyderabad in India. Her academic pursuits are driven by her passion for examining subjective aging, health, and overall well-being.

Undergraduate Students

Isaac O'Neal is currently a senior at NC State majoring in psychology and minoring in statistics and economics. His future plans include attending graduate school in industrial/organizational psychology and pursuing a career as a personnel psychologist or in data science.

Ali Early is a senior majoring in Psychology with a minor in Political Science. She presented a poster at the Mid-America Undergraduate Psychology Research Conference in April of 2020. Her research interests include election-related stress and exposure.

Sam Macy is a senior at NC State, majoring in psychology and minoring in sociology. He plans to attend a graduate program in clinical mental health counseling and has a specific research interest in the acute and lasting psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amanda McIntyre is a senior at NC State majoring in Psychology

Mike Ni is a senior at NC State majoring in Psychology

Peyton Williamson is a junior majoring in Psychology, while also minoring in Health. He aims to attend a graduate program in clinical psychology and has research interest in coping techniques and treatment for PTSD and depression.

Are you an undergrad interested in studying daily well-being in adults? Contact us at wellbeinglab@ncsu.edu.

Lab Alumni

Victoria Dunsmore, MA

Victoria completed her Ph.D. in Lifespan Developmental Psychology at NCSU in 2022. She earned her M.A. in Experimental Psychology from Radford University, and before that, she earned her B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Women’s and Gender studies from UNC Wilmington. Her research interests include how chronic illness can influence various psychosocial outcomes including how one copes with these diagnoses.

Xianghe Zhu, Ph.D.

Xianghe (/C-i-ung H-ə/) completed her Ph.D. in Lifespan Developmental Psychology at NC State University in 2021. She earned her BA in Psychology from the University of Washington-Seattle, and her MA in Psychology (Psychometrics and Human Resource Management) from Beijing Normal University. While conducting psychological assessment and selection during her master’s, she developed an interest in intra-individual variability as well as inter-individual differences. She focuses on daily well-being of older adults, particularly in the relationship between subjective attitudes and perceptions about aging and cognitive functioning.

Emily L. Smith, Ph.D.

Emily completed her Ph.D. in Lifespan Developmental Psychology at NC State University in 2020. She is a graduate of Utica College in New York State where she completed her B.S. in Psychology. Her research interests include daily and long term stress and coping mechanisms and their effects on deviant behavior.

Ling-Rui Zhang, M.S.

Ling-Rui completed Master's in Lifespan Development Psychology at NC state University in 2018. She completed her BS in psychology at Beijing Normal University in China. Her research interests focus on the dyadic daily stressors and coping in couples or people in relationship and their impact on people's daily well-being. She is also interested in the difference between Chinese and Americans.

Jennifer A. Bellingtier, Ph.D.

Jennifer completed her PhD in Lifespan Development at North Carolina State University in 2017. Her research interests focus on individual’s attitudes, beliefs, and feelings about their own aging, as well as how those beliefs develop and impact well-being. She is currently a postdoctoral research associate at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany.

Agnes Gall, M.S.

Agnes graduated in 2015 and is currently a Data Specialist with Carevive.

Jennifer L. Ramsey, Ph.D.

Jennifer graduated in 2016 and is currently a visiting assistant professor in the psychology department at Belmont Abbey College.

Brent Nara

Brent worked with the lab from 2014-2015. During his time here, he won the Gerontological Society of America's Student Research Award.

Gilda Ennis, Ph.D.

Gilda graduated in 2012 and is currently a research associate at the University of Wisconsin Madison Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.

Griffin Burke

Griffin majored in Psychology and spent three semesters in the lab. He wants to attend graduate school and become a sports psychologist and eventually open his own private practice, working with professional and amateur athletes alike. In his free time Griffin enjoys playing golf, hockey, reading, and going to the gym.

Sammy Sheaffer

Sammy majored in Science, Technology & Society with a specialty in Disability Research. Sammy plans to use what she’s learned in Dr. Neuperts lab to attend grad school and get her Masters in Business Administration with a focus in Healthcare Management. Sammy presented her research “The Effects of Stress on Memory from the 2018 Midterm Election” at the North Carolina Cognition Conference in April 2019. She is in the process of completing her research article to be published in an academic journal by the end of the semester.

Margaret L. Schriefer

Margaret majored in Nutrition and minoring in Psychology. Her future plans include becoming a nutritionist as well as a counselor to kids with eating disorders. Her research interests focus on the relationship between an individual's age and their conscientiousness.

Brittany Johnson

Brittany majored in Psychology with a minor in Biological Sciences. She hopes to attend a graduate program in Cognitive Psychology. Her general research interests are in stress, attention, and perception.

Melody Polk

Melody graduated in 2019 with a major in Psychology. She is interested in pursuing psychological research that relates to time perspectives.

Morgan Cobler

Morgan majored in Psychology with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. Her future plans include becoming a Clinical Social Worker for people dealing with anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses. Her general research interest is in stressors and daily mindfulness.

Jindi Gao

Jindi majored in Psychology and minored in Accounting. She plans to attend graduate school in developmental psychology. She is interested in the age-related changes, particularly with the interaction of daily activities and beliefs.

Kate Butler

Kate majored in Psychology and is hoping to pursue a masters in counseling. She has presented her research at SNCURCS. She is minoring in Japanese and is always interested in learning about different cultures. She is a member of The Movement Interpersonal Violence Peer Educators at NCSU and is passionate about preventing and educating others about interpersonal violence.

Elizabeth Anglis

Elizabeth graduated in 2018 with a major in Psychology and a minor in Criminology. Her research interests are centered around the impact of daily stressors, peer delinquency, and daily mindfulness.

Genesis Torres

Genesis graduated with a major in Psychology. Her research interests include: daily awareness of age-related losses and how they interest with cognitive interference, how subjective age interacts with daily awareness of age-related losses, and gender differences in age-related losses.

Allison Diachina

Allison has a goal to become a clinical psychologist. She is interested in researching coping mechanisms and how effective they are as a defense against a variety of stressors. She is also interested in how stress affects individuals differently across their lifespans. Her current research examines the positive impacts of stressor forecasting and anticipatory coping mechanisms for both young and older adults in a varied stressor domains.

Jessica Archibald

Jessica graduated with a major in Psychology. Her interests include the way one’s self concept can affect their ability to predict, manage, and cope with both daily and long-term stressors.

Alaina English

Laini graduated in 2018 with a major in Biology and a minor in Spanish. She has presented her research at the Southern Gerontological Society in 2017. In the future she plans to become a physicians assistant.

Devon Hoyle

Devon graduated from NC State in 2019. He presented his research mindfulness and aging at the Southern Gerontological Society in 2017.

Elizabeth Burris

Elizabeth graduated with her BA in Psychology in 2016. She has presented her work at the North Carolina Psychological Foundation’s 22nd Annual Undergraduate Conference, the North Carolina & NC State Undergraduate Research Symposium, and the Carolinas Psychology Conference. Her work was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology and and the Behavioral Sciences. She was also the recipient of the NC State Psychology Department's Outstanding Research Award. In the fall she will begin her PhD in Criminology and Law at The University of Florida .

Sara Monazah

Sara graduated in 2016 with her B.A. in psychology. She has presented her lab work at the NC State University Undergraduate Research Symposium and the American Psychological Association’s Annual Convention. Her work was published in INK: The North Carolina State University Undergraduate Research Journal and she continues to collaborate with the lab. In the fall, she will begin her Master’s Degree in the department of Social Work at NC State University.

Melanie Deguzman

Melanie majored in Psychology with a minor in English. She wants to attend graduate school and become an adolescent counselor. Her general research interests are in dementia and coping mechanisms in mental illness.