[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Esposto_Elliott.jpg” caption=”Charlene Esposto and Lisa Elliott became friends while working as research assistants in Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt’s Peer Relations Lab. Photo by Susan Bubak.”]Making friends in a lab that studies bullying may sound ironic, but that's exactly what happened to psychology students Lisa Elliott and Charlene Esposto. The psychology students became friends while working as research assistants in Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt's Peer Relations Lab this summer.

“Our studies tend to focus on the negative effects of bullying on children and ways to reduce the prevalence of bullying,” says Esposto.

Their research, entitled The Healthy Childcare Environment Project, involves visiting daycares in Hamilton and surrounding areas, where they are studying the social development of two- and three-year-olds.

“I like knowing that our research will raise awareness about bullying in the community to have a positive effect on the development of children,” says Elliott, adding that their research is particularly timely in the wake of recent shootings involving young people.

When they aren't in the field, they work in the lab, where they conduct research, analyze data and recruit participants for various studies.

The students have also received training in observational methods, such as the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, the Infant and Toddler Environment Rating Scale, the Childcare Interaction Scale, and the Brief Child and Family Phone Interview.

Elliott and Esposto recently completed their fourth year of the Honours Psychology program. They both credit Vaillancourt and the experience they gained by working in the Peer Relations Lab for shaping their academic and professional future.

Esposto will return to McMaster for her fifth year of psychology in September and plans to continue studying the effects of bullying on children in her graduate studies, while Elliott hopes to pursue a career working with children.

The student job profile is a weekly series about students working on campus.