Austin Marriage Project 
at the University of Texas at Austin
THE RESEARCH TEAM
The Austin Marriage Project and the new Relationship Experiences Across the Lifespan Project are made possible through the efforts of many dedicated researchers and students.
Meet our research team below!
Dr. Jennifer Beer
Dr. Beer received her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley and is an expert in understanding the behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying human decision-making. She is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and an affiliate of the Imaging Research Center and the Institute for Neuroscience.
Liana Galtieri
Liana is the project manager for the Relationship Experiences Across the Lifespan project. She recently graduated from Villanova University with her M.S. in Psychology.
Eden Davis
Eden is a fifth year student working with Dr. Lisa Neff and Dr. Karen Fingerman. She is broadly interested in romantic relationship development and maintenance throughout adulthood and late life. She currently has an internship working with AARP.
Courtney Walsh
Courtney is a third year doctoral student in Human Development and Family Sciences, working with Dr. Lisa Neff and Dr. Marci Gleason. Her primary area of interest is adult romantic relationships, including both daily interactions and the processes involving transitions, such as, relationship initiation, decision to marry, and the transition to parenthood. Additional areas of interests include the self-concept, self-expansion, and self-concept clarity.
Krystan Farnish
Krystan is a first year doctoral student working with Dr. Lisa Neff and Dr. Marci Gleason. She received her Bachelor’s of Science in Human Development and Family Sciences from The University of Texas at Austin in 2015. Her research interests include adult romantic relationships and how they develop and function over time, especially when stressful life events are involved. Additional areas of interest include the transition to parenthood, optimism, and identification of factors present in stable relationships.
Former Graduate Students
Patrick S. Tennant
Patrick earned his PhD from the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences in 2015, working primarily under Dr. Marci Gleason. His professional interests include studying relationship development through the lens of social cognition and the application of close relationships research to direct family services.
Liz Keneski
Liz served as the Project Manager for the Austin Marriage Project for four years, before entering the graduate program in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences. She received her PhD in 2016, and is currently a researcher at Facebook laboratories. Her research interests include social network and social support processes, and how relationships influence physiological and physical health outcomes.
Webpage
Taylor Anne Morgan
Taylor Anne received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas in 2015. She is currently working at Facebook research labs.
April Allen Buck
April recieved her Ph.D. from the University of Texas in 2015. She currently is an assistant professor at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL.
Erin Crockett
Erin received her Ph. D. from the Human Development and Family Sciences Program at the University of Texas where she investigated the links between couples' relationship quality and physical health. She also completed a post doctoral fellowship at Heriot-Watt University in their Applied Psychology Department, where she investigated health and relationship phenomena from a life course perspective. Currently, she is a professor at Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX.