Our Team
Samantha Joel
Principal Investigator
Samantha Joel is an Assistant Professor at the University of Western Ontario. Her research examines how people make the decisions that grow or break apart their romantic relationships, and how those decision strategies are linked to relationship, well-being, and health outcomes. Click for her CV or her Google Scholar page.
James Kim
Postdoctoral Associate
James Kim is a postdoctoral associate and former SSHRC postdoctoral fellow interested in how individuals and couples can develop and maintain optimal relationship and sexual well-being. His research examines how similarities and differences in romantic partners’ perceptions, motivations, and behaviour shape the quality of relationships, and how romantic and sexual compatibility develops in the early stages of relationships. Click for his CV or his Google Scholar page.
Nicolyn Charlot
Postdoctoral Fellow
Nicolyn Charlot is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Western Ontario. Her research focuses on helping couples and families by reducing their interactions with the family justice system. She also seeks to help people avoid abusive relationships by empirically identifying warning signs of intimate partner violence. Additionally, she is interested in translating research findings into policy implications, and directly helping sexual assault survivors using crisis intervention strategies. Click for her website.
Devinder (Dave) Khera
Graduate Student
Dave is a Ph.D. student at Western University. His research interests include various aspects of human sexuality (e.g., sexual communication and sexual desire) and close relationships. Dave is also passionate about research and education involving sexual consent. In his free time, he enjoys cooking or escaping into a book. Click here for Dave’s CV or his Google Scholar Profile.
Amelia Hamilton
Lab Manager
Amelia Hamilton is a Western graduate with an honors specialization in sociology with a major in criminology. She has returned to Western to pursue an honors specialization in psychology and intends to pursue a Masters in counselling or clinical psychology. From a counselling perspective, she seeks to understand effective communication strategies to build strong relationships and navigate through difficult times with a partner. She also has an interest in the impact of online dating, attachment styles, love languages, attraction and interpersonal relationships and rejection.
Madeline Bloomberg
Research Assistant
I am a fourth year student in the Honors Specialization program in psychology at Western. I am interested in how an individual’s cognitions affect how they perceive their relationship and how mental illness effects interpersonal relationships. Outside of school, I am the captain of a competitive dance team at Western!
Logan Thomlinson
Thesis Student
Logan Thomlinson is a fifth-year student pursuing a dual degree with Business at the Ivey Business School and an Honors Specialization in Psychology at Western. In her thesis she hopes to explore different areas of perceived similarities and how they affect overall perceptions of relationship longevity or satisfaction. She is very excited for the year ahead in the lab!
Orli Amar
Thesis Student
Orli Amar is a fourth-year honours psychology student at Western University. She is interested in how mental illnesses, such as anxiety, affect relationships. Additionally, she is interested in how individuals with secure versus insecure attachment styles seek unknown information and potential threats in their new relationships. After her undergraduate degree, Orli is interested in continuing her studies in psychology.
Carly Yuan
Research Assistant
Carly is a fourth year psychology student at Western. She is interested in how individuals’ attachment styles influence the decisions they make in romantic relationships. She hopes to continue her studies in social psychology or clinical psychology after her undergraduate degree. In her free time, she loves to go on long walks with her dog Marcus!
Jane Wang
Research Assistant
Jane Wang is a fourth-year psychology student at Western. She’s interested in sexual preferences and relationship decisions. She’s looking forward to strengthening her research skills and experience to prepare her for future academic goals.
Victor Yoon
Research Assistant
Victor is a fifth year honours specialization psychology student at Western. He is interested in how different attachment styles and communication methods influence dynamics in romantic relationships. He is also interested in how prosocial and antisocial behaviours influence satisfaction levels and outcomes in romantic relationships.
Angela Cai
Research Assistant
Angela is a 4th year Honor's specialization psychology student at Western University who is interested in how the intersection of various social factors such as race, sexuality, gender, socioeconomic status, disability, etc can affect the way individuals experience and form romantic relationships.
Jordan Trbizan
Research Assistant
Jordan Trbizan is a recent Western graduate with an Honors Specialization in Psychology. She is interested in research regarding the progression of romantic relationships as well as the derogation of alternatives. She is hoping to pursue further education to continue research in Social Psychology.
Grace Morrison
Research Assistant
Grace is a second year psychology student at Western. She is interested in how different attachment styles influence dynamics in romantic relationships. She is also interested in how consensual non-monogamy affects relationships. She hopes to continue her studies in social psychology after her undergraduate degree.
Kaila Hinch
Research Assistant
Kaila is a second year student studying psychology at Western University. She is interested in the development and progression of relationships, as well as how one’s personality affects what they look for in a partner. In her pass time, she enjoys walks with her dogs, reading, and spending time with family.
