Faculty
Dr. Brian Bauer
Dr. Bauer is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Georgia. He is the director of the SOS lab. Dr. Bauer’s program of research uses a behavioral economic framework to help understand mental health-related decisions (e.g., help seeking) and to influence people towards choices that align with their own self-declared interests, with a particular emphasis in suicide prevention. Dr. Bauer has focused extensively on examining how cognitive heuristics and biases might contribute to suicide-related outcomes and inform prevention efforts and interventions.
Graduate Students
|
Catie Sappenfield
Catie graduated from the University of Chapel Hill in 2021 with double majors in Psychology and Hispanic Literatures and Cultures. Upon graduation, she worked as a Clinical Research Assistant at Brown University with Dr. Nicole Nugent studying adolescent trauma and resilience. She is currently a third-year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at UGA under Dr. Brian Bauer. She is particularly passionate about adolescent and young adult suicide prevention. Her current research projects are focused on 1) using multi-level models to evaluate the association between suicide crisis symptoms and acute suicide risk as well as 2) using quasi-experimental analyses to evaluate the impact of national legislation on youth suicide risk. In her free time, Catie enjoys riding horses, going on hikes, and doing yoga. |
|
Lia Follet Lia received her Bachelor's in Psychology from the University of North Carolina and her Master's in Clinical Psychological Science from the University of Maryland. After graduating, she worked briefly as a Mental Health Technician at a psychiatric inpatient hospital. She then worked as a Research Assistant for the Nock Lab, affiliated with Harvard University and Franciscan Children's. She is currently a second year student in UGA's Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. Lia's research focuses on how people understand and assess their own suicidal crises and how these factors affect crisis intervention engagement. She is a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow through the Department of Defense as well as a Doctoral Fellow through the University of Georgia. In her free time, Lia enjoys sewing, doing pilates, and growing native and indoor plants. |
Project Coordinator
|
Garrett Smith
Garrett is a recent graduate from the University of Georgia. Before graduating, he was an undergraduate research assistant with the SOS lab for 2 years. He manages multiple studies for the SOS Lab. Most recently, Garrett coordinates a Department of Defense funded pilot study for crisis response plans. Garrett is interested in understanding how personality correlates can help to better understand suicide-related outcomes, and aid in suicide-prevention methods. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology In his free time, Garrett performs with his band in the Athens, Georgia music scene. |
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Nadia Sbaity
|
Abigail Clark
|
Aahana Mukherjee
|
Lab Mascots
Lab Graduates
2025
Mia Truesdell - Master's student at Vanderbilt University
Clark Mcdowell - Master's student at at Augusta University
2024
Abigail Gilbert - Master's student at Villanova University
Mia Truesdell - Master's student at Vanderbilt University
Clark Mcdowell - Master's student at at Augusta University
2024
Abigail Gilbert - Master's student at Villanova University