People
principal investigator
Office: 212 Pryale Hall, Oakland University Main Campus.
Email: welling[at]oakland[dot]edu
Dr. Lisa Welling, Ph.D.
Dr. Lisa Welling is a tenured Associate Professor at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan (USA). Previously, Dr. Welling completed an honors thesis on the neurological components of the facial feature hierarchy in the psychology department at St. Thomas University (Canada), which was funded by an Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA). Next, she attended the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) where she completed the requirements for a Masters in Research (M.Res.) and was transferred into the Ph.D. program. Her Ph.D., entitled Individual Differences in Face Preferences, was completed in 2008 under the supervision of Dr. Ben Jones in the Face Research Laboratory and was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Dr. Welling was then able to secure an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) one-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Face Research Laboratory under the supervision of Drs. Ben Jones and Lisa DeBruine. Thereafter, she completed a 3-year American Institute of Bisexuality (AIB) funded postdoctoral fellowship at the Pennsylvania State University with Dr. David Puts in collaboration with Dr. William Crowley at the Harvard University Medical School. Dr. Welling has presented her work at international conferences in various locations around the world, such as Japan, Russia, Italy, and France, and has given invited lectures at prestigious institutions, such as Harvard University, McMaster University, and University College of London. She joined the faculty at Oakland University in the Autumn of 2012, was awarded the Oakland University New Investigator Research Excellence Award in 2015, the Oakland University Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award in 2018, and received tenure in 2017. In addition to having published more than 80 journal articles, she has produced two edited volumes (Evolutionary Perspectives on Social Psychology by Zeigler-Hill, Welling, & Shackelford, and The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Behavioral Endocrinology by Welling & Shackelford) and currently serves on the Editorial Boards for the journals Archives of Sexual Behavior, Evolutionary Psychological Science, and Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology. She is also an Associate Editor for Evolutionary Psychology and Frontiers in Psychology, and was elected the Secretary/Archivist for the Human Behavior and Evolution Society in 2021. She is particularly interested in how hormones affect different aspects of our behavior, including mate choice, preferences, and sexual behavior.
current graduate students
rich holler
Rich Holler is a doctoral student who joined the Welling Research Lab in Fall 2018. He earned his B.A. in Psychology (minor in Biology) at Penn State University, where he worked in Dr. Lynn Liben's, Dr. Mark Shriver's, and Dr. David Puts' labs. Thereafter, he worked at the University of Texas at Austin with Daniel Conroy-Beam and Laith Al-Shawaf. He received his M.S. with Dr. Glenn Geher at the State University of New York at New Paltz in 2018, where he also worked with Dr. Carol Vazquez. He is primarily interested in the malleability and development of sexual/romantic attraction, and the impact of hormones and environments on mating strategies. He is an associate editor of the Journal of the Evolutionary Studies Consortium. In his spare time, he watches college and professional football, runs, plays guitar, and rides his beloved bike called The HMB Beagle.
jenna lunge
Jenna Lunge is a Ph.D. student who joined the Welling Research Lab in Fall 2016 and completed her M.S. in 2018. Jenna previously attended the University of California, Merced, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in psychology. While at UCM, she was a research assistant at the Consortium for Research on Atypical Development and Learning, where she investigated the evolutionary influences on attention using a change-detection task known as the flicker paradigm. Jenna is interested in how hormones influence behaviors related to mate choice and the behavioral immune system. She is funded by the King-Chavez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship. Otherwise, Jenna enjoys dark wine, darker coffee, gardening, brewing homemade beer, and hanging with her rescue animals.
katherine (kat) sheetz
Kat Sheetz joined the Welling Research Lab in the Fall of 2022 and is pursuing her M.S. in Psychology. She earned her B.A. in Psychology (minor in English) from Bowling Green State University in December of 2021. While at Bowling Green State University, Katherine assisted in research on bacteriophage in the Sea-Phages Lab and discovered a passion for Evolutionary Psychology during her senior year. Katherine is interested in hormonal contraceptives, mate selection, and dating violence, specifically in online dating. In her free time, you’ll find Katherine watching reality tv shows with a cup of coffee in the morning, tending to her plethora of houseplants, dancing to Harry Styles, and watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe in chronological order.
current honors/embark students
Yvonne Kieleszewski
Yvonne is an undergraduate student who joined the Welling Research lab in the Fall 2021 semester. She will be completing her honors thesis in the lab during the 2022-2023 academic year. Her thesis investigates factors influencing disclosure of STI status within romantic pair bonds. She is interested in attending a clinical psychology program after graduation, with a particular interest in health and aging. Her hobbies include baking, kayaking, and painting.
current research assistants
Alex Boskovic
Alex is an Undergraduate psychology student who joined the Welling Research Lab in Winter 2020. He plans to go to graduate school and pursue a career in psychology. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with friends and learning new things.
Eva Galwaa
Eva is an Undergraduate Clinical and Diagnostics Sciences major who joined the lab in the Winter 2022 semester. She plans to possibly attend an MD/PhD program within the upcoming years. In her free time, she enjoys reading, biking, and spending time with family.
Haylee Majewski
Haylee is an undergraduate psychology student at Oakland University who joined the lab in the Winter 2021 semester. Her hope is to obtain a PhD in clinical neuropsychology after graduating from OU. Some of her interests include cooking, reading, and playing the bass.
Joelle Milecki
Joelle is currently in her junior year in psychology at OU. She joined the lab in Fall 2022 and plans attend graduate school in the future and pursue a career in psychology. Her interests include psychology of human sexuality, intimacy, and sexual conflict/post traumatic response. She enjoys spending time with friends and family, making coffee, and cooking.
Ryian Owusu
Ryian is a medical student at the OU William Beaumont School of Medicine who joined the lab in Winter 2022. Ryian previously studied at Western Michigan University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Psychology. As an undergraduate, she was a Teaching Assistant for Abnormal Psychology. Her hobbies include playing soccer, painting, snowboarding and traveling.
Elijah Williams
Elijah is an undergraduate psychology student who joined the lab in Winter 2021. His intention is to attend graduate school. He is specifically interested in clinical psychology, human sexuality, and teaching psychology. He enjoys playing soccer, hanging out with friends, going back-packing, and taking care of his cats.
Fiona Xhuti
Fiona is an undergraduate psychology student who joined the Welling Lab in the Winter of 2022. She plans to go to medical school after graduation and pursue a career in psychiatry. In her free time, she enjoys skiing, paddle-boarding, and traveling.