Our Research Team
Melissa Holt, Ph.D.
Melissa Holt, Ph.D. (she/her) is an Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology at Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. Her research, which is grounded in social-ecological theory, has focused on understanding how victimization forms independently and cumulatively affect youth functioning in multiple domains (e.g., psychological, academic), with attention to factors that protect adolescents against adverse effects of victimization exposures. Dr. Holt has a particular interest in assessing adolescents’ experiences with bias-based harassment (i.e., harassment based on one’s identity), and in better understanding exposure to, and effects of, bias-based harassment among marginalized youth specifically. In addition to leading cross-sectional and longitudinal studies designed to better understand bullying and bias-based harassment, Dr. Holt has extensive experience evaluating school-based prevention programs.
Jennifer Greif Green, Ph.D.
Jennifer Greif Green, Ph.D. (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and a child clinical psychologist. She completed her doctorate at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and trained at Yale School of Medicine and in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on supporting student social/emotional wellbeing in schools, and bullying prevention. In particular, Dr. Green studies teacher identification of students with mental health needs, racial/ethnic disparities in mental health service access, and youth bullying involvement. She has developed surveys to assess bullying in schools and has evaluated school-based bullying prevention and mental health promotion programs. She collaborates with a number of local schools and districts to support students’ social-emotional well-being and reduce bullying.
Gabriel “Joey” Merrin, Ph.D.
Gabriel J. Merrin, Ph.D. (he/him) is an assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at Syracuse University. Trained as a developmental psychologist and applied methodologist, his primary line of research seeks to clarify the developmental processes through which adolescent’s experiences with their families, peers, teachers, and communities influence (mitigate or exacerbate) the development of problem behaviors (e.g., aggression, delinquency, substance use) and experiences with identity-based harassment and victimization throughout adolescence and in the transition to young adulthood. He is an early career prevention scientist and has evaluated several school-based prevention programs. His work has a strong focus on translating and mobilizing knowledge to inform intervention and prevention efforts to improve the school experience for young people by using applied research designs, leveraging practical implications, and intentional school and community engagement.
Research Assistants
Christine Marsico, M.A.
Christine Marsico, M.A. (she/her) is a third-year doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. Prior to entering the counseling field, Christine worked as a teacher in elementary schools in Taiwan and Washington, DC. She is interested in researching and developing interventions to prevent bias-based harassment in schools as a means of promoting educational equity and positive youth development. She continues to work closely with children and families through counseling practica in community and school-based settings.
Tanvi Shah, M.A.
Tanvi Shah, M.A. (she/they) is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. Tenets of intersectionality, multicultural awareness, insight-oriented therapies, and the ecological model inform her work as a researcher and clinician. Tanvi’s research focuses on mental health and trauma within marginalized communities, with a focus on Asian women and gender-based oppression, while her clinical is grounded in the importance of cultural humility and advocacy in the therapeutic relationship. Tanvi loves making time to knit, paint, read, and talk to people.
Olivia Wyatt, M.A., CMPC
Olivia Wyatt, M.A., CMPC (she/her) is a doctoral student pursuing a degree in Counseling Psychology within Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. She values working within communities and focuses her research on better understanding youth experiences of identity-based harassment and victimization, including risk and protective factors. In addition to this line of work, she also conducts research in sport on trauma-informed and culturally sustainable practices for coaches. Olivia received an M.A. in Sport & Performance Psychology from the University of Denver and a B.S. in Psychology and Economics from Tufts University.
Other Collaborators
About AmeriSpeak
AmeriSpeak is the first U.S. multi-client household panel to combine the speed and cost-effectiveness of panel surveys with enhanced representativeness of the U.S. population, an industry-leading response rate, and the NORC Card, an innovative sample quality report card. Since its founding by NORC at the University of Chicago in 2015, AmeriSpeak has produced more than 900 surveys, been cited by dozens of media outlets and become the primary survey partner of the nation's preeminent news service, The Associated Press. AmeriSpeak is the most scientifically rigorous multi-client panel available in the U.S. market. Amerispeak.norc.org
About NORC at the University of Chicago
NORC at the University of Chicago conducts research and analysis that decision-makers trust. As a nonpartisan research organization and a pioneer in measuring and understanding the world, we have studied almost every aspect of the human experience and every major news event for more than eight decades. Today, we partner with government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world to provide the objectivity and expertise necessary to inform the critical decisions facing society. www.norc.org
If you have been invited to join AmeriSpeak or are a current AmeriSpeak panelist, please visit AmeriSpeak.org for more information on how to participate in our studies.