People
Our TeamDr Stacey Scott
Associate Professor
Dr Scott received her Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame and worked as a post-doctoral researcher at Georgia Institute of Technology and Pennsylvania State University. Prior to her position at Stony Brook in the Department of Psychology, she was a faculty member in the School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida.
Dr. Scott’s research examines stress, emotions, and mental and physical health across the lifespan. In this work, She investigates “stress” from several different perspectives: exposure (i.e., did an event occur), appraisal (i.e., the severity of threat of a particular event), and outcome (i.e., participants’ reports of “feeling stressed” and theorized physical, cognitive, and emotional outcomes of exposure). Her work in stress spans national disasters (e.g., 9/11 attacks), normative but major life events (e.g, widowhood), chronic stressors (e.g., loneliness, work strain, cancer), and daily hassles and disruptions (e.g., arguments, traffic, unexpected bills).
Daisy Zavala
PhD student
Daisy Zavala is a fifth year Ph.D. student in the Social and Health Psychology program at Stony Brook University. Daisy earned her B.A. in Psychological Science in Spring 2019 from California State University San Marcos. As a recipient of the A. W. Burghardt Turner Graduate Fellowship, coordinated by the Center for Inclusive Education (CIE), she has expanded her research. Her research interests center around understanding how social stress (e.g., discrimination, chronic stress) and biological aging affect psychological and cognitive outcomes.
Giselle Ferguson
PhD student
Giselle Ferguson is in her final year of the Ph.D. program in Social and Health Psychology at Stony Brook University. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the College of William and Mary in 2019, and her M.A. in Psychology from Stony Brook University in 2021. Giselle has a passion for teaching, and her research interests include questions related to affect, personality, stress, and well-being across the lifespan, and how to best measure these constructs in daily life. Giselle is a recipient of the Stony Brook University Graduate Council Fellowship, and has been awarded the Psychology Department’s 2023 Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Samantha S. Corley
PhD student
Samantha S. Corley is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Social and Health Psychology program at Stony Brook University. She received her B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Africana, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies from Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY). Prior to attending Stony Brook University, Samantha worked as a Research Associate and Data Analyst at Northwell Health in the Department of Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention (OMEP) and the Center for Traumatic Stress, Resilience, and Recovery (CTSRR). Her research interests include examining the biopsychosocial impacts of traumatic and chronic stress among older adults to address health disparities by utilizing a variety of methods including epigenetics, data science, and ecological momentary assessment.
Caitlin Markevitch
Research Assistant
Caitlin Markevitch is a senior at Stony Brook University, expecting to finish her Bachelors in Psychology during May 2024. She intends to pursue a career helping those struggling with their mental health, as a clinical psychologist. She is fascinated with Psychology, concentrating on the cognitive mind figuring out what makes us do what we do! A fun fact Caitlin would like to share is that she loves romance movies!
Daniella Marchese
Research Assistant
Daniella Marchese is a Junior at Stony Brook University, double majoring in Psychology and Sociology. She loves learning about emotions, personality, and mental health in general. Her plan is to pursue her doctorate degree in clinical psychology in the future.
Art Beqiraj
Research Assistant
Art Beqiraj is a graduate from CUNY Hunter College with a B.A. in Psychology. His research interest consists of the intersection between chronic illnesses and cognitive aging. He intends to pursue a doctorate degree in Experimental/Cognitive Psychology in the future. He is currently working as a Research Assistant at the Scott Lab focusing on the “Using Biological Age to Predict Cognitive Performance” study. A fun fact Art would like to share is that during his free time he likes to read classics and realistic fiction books.
Sara Keiser
Research Assistant
Sara Keiser is currently a junior undergraduate student pursuing her bachelor of arts in psychology. Her research interests include the role that social situations and relationships have on general mood, as well as the development of different mental health disorders. As an RA, she works on Emotions in Daily Life study. Sara hopes to pursue her PhD in clinical psychology and work in a hospital emergency room.
Former Lab Members
Dr Giancarlo Pasquini (SBU Ph.D. student) now at the Pew Research Center
Isabella Bouklas (SBU undergraduate RA and lab manager)
Cecelia Ferguson (USF undergraduate RA)
Alexa Allan (SBU M.A. student)
Gawon Cho (SBU Ph.D. student)