People
Lab Director
Amanda L. forest, pi
Amanda Forest is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and Director of the Pitt Relationship Processes Lab. Her research examines how people can form and maintain satisfying close relationships, with an emphasis on how communication processes can facilitate or undermine relationship success. Click for her Google Scholar page.
Graduate Students
KIRBY SIGLER
Kirby Sigler is a graduate student in social psychology. Her research focuses on understanding effective communication and relationship processes between romantic partners during challenging times (such as providing support to one another or engaging in conflict discussions). She is also interested in applying these lines of work to outcomes of personal (e.g., physical health) and relational (e.g., relationship stability) well-being.
Emily O’Brien
Emily O'Brien is a third-year graduate student in social psychology. She is interested in investigating what factors (e.g., gratitude expressions) impact partners' support for each other's goals, how perceptions of potential partners impact subsequent dating decisions, and how people's social identities might influence support seeking and provision processes.
STAFF
Tess Carroll
Tess Carroll is the current research coordinator in Dr. Forest’s Lab. She is a recent graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology that is now continuing her education by pursuing a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Pitt. She has an interest in researching the benefits and difficulties of forming and maintaining close relationships as a foundation for counseling theory and practice.
Lab Alumni
rebecca M. walsh
Rebecca Walsh was a graduate student in social psychology in the Pitt Relationship Processes Lab. She investigates the determinants of responsive behavior—particularly in situations in which responsiveness is challenging to enact—and the (inter)personal causes and consequences of open self-disclosure. She is currently a Senior Qualitative Researcher for her consulting company.
Kori L. Krueger
Kori Krueger, formerly a graduate student in social psychology at Pitt, is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at Morgan State University. She received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and completed her post-doctoral research fellowship in Organizational Behavior at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Krueger’s research focuses on how people manage difficult conversations and the ways in which they navigate these conversations affects their relationships, goal achievement, and decision-making. Click for her faculty page.
Bianca Ortalano
Bianca Ortalano is Pitt graduate who majored in Psychology and Criminal Justice. She has an interest in understanding how support quality and frequency can affect close relationships, this lead to her to join the lab first as a directed research student, a research assistant, and then as a study coordinator. She is currently in her second year of law school at the Duquesne Kline School of Law and working at a boutique firm doing estates and trusts work.
Laramie Martinez
Laramie Martinez was a Research Coordinator for Dr. Forest's lab. She played a key role in overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Communication and Relationships Study for Couples. Laramie graduated from Penn State in 2021 with a degree in Psychology. She previously worked at UPMC as a Research Specialist before joining Dr. Forest's lab. She is interested in studying romantic relationships and joint goal pursuits. Laramie is now a graduate student in social psychology at Kent State University.
