CORE Lab Team

Dr. Coley is Professor of Psychology and Professor of Marine and Environmental Sciences at Northeastern University, and Director of the CORE Lab. He is interested in the basic cognitive processes underlying how people organize and use their knowledge of the world, how those processes develop and change over time, and how differences in culture and experience lead to differences in the organization and use of knowledge. He is also committed to cross-disciplinary translational research, and to exploring the concrete consequences of conceptual organization and reasoning in areas like science education, social conflict, and ecological awareness. Dr. Coley sees his lab as an environment in which smart, motivated, people have the opportunity to work together while learning about research, exploring these issues in lots of different ways, making genuine contributions to cognitive science, and having fun along the way.

Catie is a postdoctoral researcher focusing on human-centered thinking and science learning. In particular, she is interested in how our intuitive ideas about humans color the way that we learn about and care for the more-than-human world. She is also fascinated by how our human-centric biases impact how we think about neuroscience and the relationship between mind and brain across species. Catie has a passion for teaching, mentoring over 70 undergraduate research assistants over the past 4+ years and teaching research methods courses for two summers. She joined the CORE lab in 2020, after completing her Master’s at Northeastern studying emotion and physiology, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Brigham Young University.

Emma is a fifth-year doctoral student in the CORE lab. Her research interests broadly include the ways that people conceptualize and interact with social groups, and the factors that shape social reasoning. She is also interested in how humans relate to the world around them, including how humans relate to nature and non-human animals. When Emma is not in the lab, she is either skiing or wishing she was skiing.

Emma’s controversial opinion is that British food actually tastes good.

After graduating from Tufts University, Joan spent some time at a cardiovascular imaging lab before transitioning back to psychology with the CORE Lab. She is currently interested in how people think about the natural world/systems and climate change. Her hope is that she can develop interventions in fighting climate change by encouraging people to think about themselves as part of the natural world and rethinking the psychological distance between the self and climate change disasters. In her free time, she likes to bake and dance.

Krissy Kilgallen, M.S. is a second year PhD Candidate in the CORE lab. Her research examines how psychological constructs and processes (worldviews, values, mental-models, self-construal, moral reasoning, metacognition) can play a role in addressing the ecological crisis. Specifically, how these constructs and processes differ across individuals and groups, what their impact is, and if they can be shifted. Her prior work has examined this in the context of environmental tradeoffs and moral reasoning, and current work extends this in a cross-cultural domain. She also has ongoing work exploring how metacognition and mindfulness may be an effective intervention in shifting our mental models. In her free time, she likes to take long, meandering walks and have equally long and meandering conversations.

Krissy’s controversial opinion is that airports are fun.

Subina is a second-year doctoral student focusing on cognitive roots of environmental behavior across cultures. Her past work has focused on perceptions of ecosystem services and willingness to contribute to ecosystem conservation and restoration projects in Nepal. In the CORE lab, Subina studies intuitive theories about the self and the natural world, individual values, place attachment and their link to pro-environmental behavior. With her research, Subina aims to develop education and communication strategies to promote community engagement for environmental conservation. She is also passionate about teaching and previously worked as a junior lecturer in Kathmandu University, Nepal.

Subina’s controversial opinion is that liking or hearting someone’s message is not a full response.

Daria is a first-year doctoral candidate in the CORE Lab. She received her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies with a minor in Sociology from Boston College in 2021, before transitioning to Northeastern University, where she received her master’s degree in Environmental Science and Policy in 2023. Daria is primarily interested in exploring perceptions of social-ecological systems through mental modeling, with applications for understanding implications of climate change, coastal adaptation strategy, and the benefits of place-based climate education.

Daria’s controversial opinion is that pineapple is and will always be the best pizza topping.

Grace (she/her) is a fifth year undergraduate student at Northeastern, majoring in Environmental & Sustainability Sciences with a minor in Sociology. Broadly, she is passionate about connecting people to the planet, with a strong commitment to environmental education and community engagement. Before joining the CORE Lab, she shared coastal ecology research with thousands of community members through the Outreach team at the Northeastern Marine Science Center. Within the CORE Lab, she is most interested in researching social-ecological systems and how people perceive climate change . Outside of the lab, Grace can be found reading, at the movies, or spending time outdoors! 

Grace’s controversial opinion is that the Apple News daily crossword is better than the New York Times one.

Research Assistant

Major: Communications & Sociology, Psychology minor
Research Interests: Cognitive Psychology, Cross-Cultural Studies, Social Psychology

Controversial Opinion: Milkshakes are better than ice cream in a cup, and ice cream in a cup is better than ice cream in a cone

Major: Environmental and Sustainability Sciences

Research Interests: Integrated human-natural systems from the perspective of ecology, forestry, and sustainable agriculture

Controversial Opinion: Roller skates should be allowed on inside the house.