UB Alberti Center Newsletter

News & Updates

September 2024 | Volume 13: Issue 3

Upcoming Events

Check out all upcoming events hosted by both the UB Alberti Center and Graduate School of Education!

Out and About in the Community & Beyond

The Alberti Center team offers in-person, virtual, and hybrid events upon request. These are just some of the events we have participated in or provided over the past few months:

June

Pathways to Violence Prevention Training presented for Virginia Department of Criminal Justice - Virtual training

United Way Day of Caring - landscaping and gardening at Heritage Christian Services - Grand Island, NY

July

Understanding bullying and how you can help presentation for Wilson Parks & Recreation - Wilson, NY

Bullying prevention and intervention presentation for Lubbock School Safety Conference - Lubbock, TX

August

Supporting student mental health and alleviating distress presentation for Buffalo Public Schools Wellness Department - Buffalo, NY

PREPaRE Workshop 1: Comprehensive School Safety Planning: Prevention Through Recovery presented to Hillsborough School District - Tampa, FL

NYSED Dignity for All Students Act Training

Updated session dates for the New York State Education Department Dignity for All Students Act (NYSED DASA) training workshop for teacher certification are now available for October through December 2024 on our website here.

The course is offered fully online in two parts. Part One is asynchronous, while Part Two is "live" with interactive instruction via Zoom. Here is some feedback from our recent participants:

Very easy to follow, relatable information, good authentic conversation (really liked the role-play)

This was an excellent course, appropriate length and was very engaging. Thank you so much!

Link to DASA training workshop information.

Alberti Center Annual Conference - October 23

Side by side photo of Dr. Catherine Bradshaw and Kira Wong O'Connor

The 2024 Alberti Center Conference, Current practices for preventing bullying and promoting safety in schools and online, will take place fully in person this year on Wednesday, October 23, 2024 from 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at Classics V Banquet Center (2425 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst). There will be a morning keynote presentation with Dr. Catherine Bradshaw, professor and senior associate dean for research at the University of Virginia. Dr. Bradshaw will be presenting on integrating and advancing the evidence-base in school-based violence prevention and mental health promotion. 3 CE contact hours (for NYS LMSW, LCSW, LMHC, and APA licensed psychologists) are available for those who attend the full morning presentation.

Our afternoon speaker will be Kira Wong O’Connor, head of youth well-being and creator safety policy engagement at Meta. Kira will present on Meta’s approach to online safety, including safety tools and examples (working with youth panels and experts which guide development of safety tools), and giving advice to school personnel/parents about how to help children navigate difficult situations which will include an interactive component focused on working through various scenarios.

Doors open at 8:00 with a continental breakfast served and a buffet-style lunch is also included. Registration information can be found on our website here!

2024-25 Virtual Colloquium Series

The first presentation of the 2024-25 Alberti Center Virtual Colloquium Series took place on Tuesday, September 24, with Hannah Schacter, PhD, (2023 Early Career Award recipient) presenting on Understanding the risks of peer victimization on adolescent health: Pathways and protective factors. Slides and a recording from this presentation are now available here on our website.

The next colloquium in the series will take place on Thursday, November 21, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. ET with Marla Eisenberg, ScD, MPH, presenting on Bias-based bullying and emotional distress among marginalized adolescents: Taking an intersectional approach. Registration for this virtual event is open on our website here.

Image of title screen for video titled "What Can We Do? Bias, Bullying, & Bystanders"

Video Resource Spotlight

In recognition of Bullying Prevention Month (October), we have shared a video that was produced by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation as part of their Welcoming Schools program. In the video titled What Can We Do? Bias, Bullying & Bystanders, educators model how to engage students in real conversations about bias-based bullying and standing up for each other.

This video is part of a collection of resources for parents, educators, students, and advocates that are available on our YouTube channel here.

2024 Early Career Award Recipient

Congratulations to Lydia Laninga-Wijnen, PhD, on being selected as our 2024 Early Career Award recipient! The Alberti Center Distinguished Scholarly Contributions to Bullying Abuse Prevention Award, presented annually, recognizes an individual who has made exemplary scholarly contributions to the field of bullying abuse prevention and conducted research that has the potential to influence practice and policy. Dr. Laninga-Wijnen received a plaque and $1,000 in recognition of her achievements. Learn more about her research on our award page here.

Alberti Center Annual Report

There is certainly no question about how busy the Alberti Center team has been over the past year! Our Annual Report, which includes data from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, can be found on our website along with an infographic summarizing highlights from the report. Some of the highlights from this past year include:

21 scholarly publications
2 funded research grants
6 book chapters published
Over 200 attendees to our colloquium series
Exceeding 1,000 followers on social media

You can find the full report and infographic on our website here.

Image of 2023-2024 Annual Report Infographic

Welcome to Our Newest Team Members!

Rahnuma E Jannat, graduate assistant and Presidential Fellow, has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in counseling psychology from University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. She is enrolled in the combined counseling and school psychology doctoral program at the University at Buffalo, with a concentration in school psychology. Rahnuma's research interests include cyberbullying and developing culturally informed school-based cyberbullying prevention interventions for adolescents.

Bea Mask, graduate assistant and Schomburg Fellow, has a bachelor's degree in psychology and specialist degree in school psychology from Texas Woman's University. She is currently a doctoral student in the combined counseling and school psychology program at the University at Buffalo, with a concentration in school psychology. Bea's research interests include bullying interventions, school climate and discipline, and supporting LGBTQ+ youth and educators.

Brianna Schlierf, research assistant, has a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and psychology from West Virginia University. She is currently a student in the School Psychology MA/AC program at the University at Buffalo. Brianna’s research interests involve the effects of social media on mental health.

You can read about other members of the Alberti Center team on our website here!

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