Meet our graduate students - Psychology

Aleah Ross

Clinical Psychology

My career interests include health psychology, mental health care, and innovating primary and community care services. Most recently, my research has focused on alternative care and treatment for youth with depression engaged in primary and community care services across British Columbia. I am also grateful to work professionally within a number of excellent teams that have supported and grown my passion and knowledge in a variety of clinical and research fields. I thrive in fast-paced and collaborative environments that contribute to healthy communities.

rossa382@uvic.ca

Nazanin Babaei

Clinical Psychology

Nazanin's research interests include trauma and the brain, neuropsychology, assessment, PTSD, memory, cognition, attention bias, and coping.

nbabaei@uvic.ca

Buse Bedir

Clinical Psychology

Buse is a PhD student in the Neuropsychology stream of the University of Victoria Clinical Psychology Program. Buse previously completed her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and M.Sc. at the University of Victoria. Buse’s master’s thesis involved adapting Dino Island to a typically developing preschool population to understand whether the intervention could be used with young preschoolers. Buse hopes to use Dino Island with preschoolers from lower socio-economic backgrounds as a preventative training tool in the future. She also has strong interests in working with individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders.

bbedir@uvic.ca

Brayden Boyd

Clinical Psychology

Brayden is a first-year graduate student in the Clinical Lifespan Psychology program at the University of Victoria. Brayden completed his Honours B.A. in Psychology at Vancouver Island University. Brayden’s primary research interests lie in understanding how the implementation of activity programming that offers opportunities for community involvement, artistic expression, and land-based recreational activity may benefit youth at risk for substance use and other issues related to physical and mental health. Brayden is also passionate about expanding knowledge and developing solutions to complex problems surrounding the intersectionality between societal apparatuses pertaining to the provision of healthcare and individuals with disabilities, chronic health conditions, and neurodivergent characteristics.

Lorna Breen

Clinical Psychology

Lorna is a PhD candidate in the Clinical Psychology program (Lifespan stream). Her research interests include trauma and resilience in the context of interpersonal relationships, intimate partner and domestic violence prevention, and the adaptive function of shared play and leisure in fostering healthy relationships. Her program of research explores the psychosocial benefits associated with tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs) and their potential uses in therapeutic settings. Her doctoral dissertation investigates how TRPGs are utilized by members of the LGBTQ2S+ community as tools for identity exploration, meaning-making, relationship-building, community connection and organizing, and political resistance.

lbreen@uvic.ca

Noah Cain

Lifespan Health and Development

Noah's research interests include collaborating with Indigenous youth to identify the opportunities they have in their school and local community to connect with Indigenous culture and knowledge, and how the participation of these opportunities relate to their sense of Indigenous identity.

noahcain@uvic.ca

Hayley Casey

Clinical Psychology

I am a master’s student in the neuropsychology stream of the clinical psychology program and previously completed my undergraduate in psychology at Algoma University. I am originally from Sault Ste. Marie, ON and am a member of Serpent River First Nation. For my master’s thesis, I am using the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative – Department of Defense (ADNI-DOD) database to explore vascular brain health in Veterans who have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Tessa Chomistek

My research in pediatric neuropsychology has a dedicated focus on childhood cancer patients, especially survivors of brain tumours and leukemia. My research centers on utilizing a novel, game-based neurorehabilitation program to address the cognitive challenges often faced by these children. The program is designed for use at home, empowering parents to support their child’s cognitive recovery. By emphasizing family-centered research and care, I strive to expand accessible, impactful interventions that improve the quality of life for children and their families. My research aims to advance practical, evidence-based approaches for cognitive rehabilitation, providing a foundation for my future clinical practice where I plan to work with children and families to support cognitive recovery.

tessachomistek@uvic.ca

Alison Chung

Clinical Psychology

As a researcher, I aspire to better understand healthy aging from a neuropsychological lens. I am interested in learning about diverse experiences of dementias, chronic illness, and neurodegeneration, as well as risk and protective factors of these conditions. My current work focuses on psychosocial determinants of health and disability in older adults living with Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

afchung@uvic.ca

Violet Cieslik

My research focuses on the associations between external influences and environments, such as screen-time, media, schooling type, and recreational involvement, on child development. Currently, my research at the University of Victoria is on the development of creativity in school aged children.

My previous work at St. Mary’s University largely focused on the relationship between screen time and child development. Specifically, I looked at preschool aged populations and the associations between screen time and behavioural, emotional, and social strengths and difficulties.

vcieslik@uvic.ca

Samantha Coleborn

Lifespan Health and Development

My research interests encompass a range of neuropsychological and neuroscience domains. Specifically, I am interested in investigating healthy and non-heathy aging as well as the impact of lifestyle factors on the brain structure and cognitive function. I am very passionate about promoting healthy aging and exploring the how lifestyle factors influence cognitive aging trajectories, as well as neurodegenerative and other neurological diseases.

samcoleborn@uvic.ca

Alejandra Contreras de Solorzano

Lifespan Health and Development

I am a PhD student in the Lifespan, Health, & Development Psychology graduate program. I am a member of the Sports Neuropsychology Society, Society for Prevention Research. My research focuses in studying the development of executive functioning (EF) throughout the lifespan and its intergenerational transmission. My master thesis focuses on how parent EF is related to child EF, as well as the role different parenting practices have on the individual differences of child EF. In my free time I like experimenting with new baking recipes, hiking, and traveling with my family.

acont@uvic.ca

Tara Cooper

Lifespan Health and Development

Tara is a Doctoral student in the Lifespan Health and Development program. Tara’s research interests focus on modifiable behaviours that relate to healthy cognitive aging, particularly individual differences in cognitive decline related to environmental, psychological, and social life experiences. Tara’s Master’s thesis focused on how the lifelong impairment caused by symptoms of ADHD/diagnosed ADHD related to dementia. In her PhD, she is seeking to explore opportunities across the lifespan to extend one’s healthspan and delay cognitive decline.

taracoop@uvic.ca

Cian Dabrowski

Clinical Psychology

My broad research interests include exploring the impact of stress on cognitive functioning as well as ways in which people can be resilient in the face of stress, illness, or injury. My current work is looking to use fNIRS imaging to gain a better understanding of how lifetime stress (both acute and chronic stressors), cumulatively impacts neural pathways and subsequent cognitive functions as we age. My goal is to conduct research with direct clinical relevance that will inform healthcare policy and intervention development to enhance the quality of life for older adults and their caregivers.

cdabrowski@uvic.ca

Elysia Desgrosseilliers

Social Psychology

My first career was as a professional musician, playing for the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra and for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Discovering that I preferred music as a hobby rather than as a career, I returned to university to study public health. Although I was (and still am) passionate about the prevention of injury and illness, I couldn’t shake the idea of a full-time career in the military. I became a Personnel Selection Officer in the CAF and I returned to university to study psychology. During my undergraduate psychology degree, I became especially interested in social psychology and how an individual’s behaviours and thoughts are influenced by their surroundings. More specifically, I became interested in how a military woman’s experiences are influenced by working in the traditionally male work environment of the CAF.

Elisa Do

Social Psychology

Body image is a topic that has always been meaningful to me in many ways. It’s incredibly fascinating to me how the way that someone perceives their own body can change depending on the people they meet, the things they experience, and the standards created by their community. I’ve personally witnessed the negative effects that stereotypes and societal standards can have on someone’s self-esteem and their sense of belonging. In a heteronormative society, the queer stigma that someone internalizes can also play an important role on what body image means to them. As a queer person-of-colour, I am curious about how the intersection of different identities affect someone’s beliefs about their body.

edo@uvic.ca

Madeline Doucette

Clinical Psychology

I am completing my doctoral degree in the Clinical Neuropsychology program. I also completed my Master’s of Science in Clinical Neuropsychology with the Cortex lab. While my master’s thesis research focused on concussions, physical activity and cognition more generally, I have always been interested in sex differences in cognition and women’s and girls’ health specifically. My dissertation project investigates the role of physical activity and exogenous sex hormones (e.g., the birth control pill) on cognitive functioning in teenage girls. I am also the Chair of the Student Committee for the Sports Neuropsychology Society (SNS), a committee member of CPA’s Section on Women and Psychology’s Leadership, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and a committee member of SNS’s Social and Cultural Equity in Sports committee. Lastly, I am proud to be a inaugural member of the national GROWW (Guiding interdisciplinary Research On Women’s and girls’ health and Wellbeing) program.

mdoucette@uvic.ca

Heba Elgharbawy

Clinical Psychology

Heba is pursuing a PhD in the Clinical Lifespan Psychology program at UVic. She completed her Master’s in Clinical Psychology at UVic and her Honours Bachelor in Applied Science degree in Psychology at the University of Guelph-Humber. Her research interests include mood disorders in youth, the impact of COVID-19 on youth mental health, and improving mental health services and quality of care for all-particularly for people of colour and other minority groups. Heba hopes to identify current gaps in mental health services, barriers to accessing services, and how to support youth mental health.

hebael@uvic.ca

Sabrina Francescangeli

Social Psychology

Sabrina is a PhD student in the Department of Psychology at UVic. Her research interests center around understanding the connection between nature and well-being, as well as motivating pro-environmental behaviors.

Sabrina's project "Community-Engaged Care for Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species in an Urban Nature Park" aimed to better understand how to get local community members more engaged in pro-environmental behaviours at urban nature parks like Swan Lake. Her review took into consideration conservation practices that other organizations have implemented in the past, with a specific focus on including equity-deserving groups.

Otis Geddes

Lifespan Health and Development

I'm a master's student in the areas of social and lifespan psychology, researching self-regulation and well-being. My current research projects are focused on understanding cannabis use and driving, risk-taking behaviours in adolescence, and emotions related to climate change. Other interests include meta-science, the psychology of transportation, and data analysis using R.

otisg@uvic.ca

Zoë Gilson

Clinical Psychology

In both research and clinical practice, I am broadly interested in cognitive aging and the various psychosocial, lifestyle, and neurological factors that may exacerbate or diminish symptoms of cognitive decline. Specifically, I am interested in the clinical validity and feasibility of interventions for dementia that focus on tangible changes older adults can make, as well as the long-term outcomes of these interventions. I am also interested in dementia and cognitive decline in older adults with existing cognitive impairments, such as intellectual disabilities.

zgilson@uvic.ca

Sybil Goulet-Stock

Lifespan Health and Development

Sybil Goulet-Stock is a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar and PhD candidate in Psychology at the University of Victoria, supervised by Dr. Tim Stockwell, and affiliated with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR). Her research focuses on alcohol harm reduction, with projects addressing both individual-level interventions and population-level policy strategies.

One of her current projects examines the substitution of alcohol for cannabis within Managed Alcohol Programs – a novel harm reduction approach unique to the Canadian context. Using a mixed-methods design, she is investigating the impacts of cannabis substitution on alcohol use, health, harms, and social outcomes, combining multilevel modeling with qualitative interviews grounded in lived experience.

Her second line of research focuses on alcohol labelling policy, including the evaluation of novel cancer warning labels on alcoholic beverages and a cross-national comparison of regulatory frameworks for alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco in WHO-member countries. This work contributes to evidence-based policy recommendations currently under national and international consideration.

Sybil has conducted research in a range of settings, including university-based studies, in-patient clinical environments, animal-based research contexts, and community-based research with structurally marginalized populations. She has advanced training in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including semi-structured interviewing, thematic and theory-driven analysis, structural equation modeling (SEM), and multilevel modeling (MLM). Her research is grounded in community partnerships and guided by a commitment to ethical, participant-centered practices.

sybilgouletstock@uvic.ca

Sunny Guo

Clinical Psychology

Sunny is a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Victoria in the CN-UVIC Lab led by Dr. Sarah Macoun. Her research examines the long-term effects of COVID-19-related stress on caregivers of children with support needs and its relationship to general caregiver stress and child psychosocial well-being, using a family systems approach. Sunny is passionate about using research to better support families—both in clinical assessment and in navigating day-to-day challenges.

sunnyguo@uvic.ca

Carolyn Helps

Clinical Psychology

My research interests focus on nonsuicidal self-injury and suicidal thoughts and behaviours, particularly help-seeking, social support, and recovery. I also have a strong interest in incorporating individuals with lived experience related to self-harm into the research process. I hope to use a mixed-methods approach to understand when, how, and why individuals are able to manage, reduce, or cease engaging in self-damaging behaviours and how this subsequently affects mental health and wellbeing.

chelps@uvic.ca

Lilea Hohn

Clinical Psychology

lilleahohn@uvic.ca

Sepase Kingsley Ivande

Social Psychology

Sepase Kingsley Ivande is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Victoria. His research interests lie at the intersection of Personality-Social, Economic, Cross-Cultural, and Positive Psychology. He employs a data-centric approach, leveraging advanced data analytics and data science techniques to explore topics such as acculturation, motivation, and intergroup relations, with a particular focus on migrant and minority populations. A central focus of his research is the well-being of migrants and minority communities as they navigate the complexities of acculturation and adaptation to new cultural and environmental contexts. His work investigates strategies that not only support coping with the challenges of acculturation but also promote thriving in new environments.

Drawing inspiration from Positive Psychology, he examines how positive mindsets—such as growth mindset, stress-can-be-enhancing mindset, and upward social mobility mindset—directly and indirectly shape intergroup and interpersonal processes.

kingsleyivande@uvic.ca

Barbie Jain

Clinical Psychology

Barbie is a Master’s student in Clinical Psychology (Lifespan stream). She completed her Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) at the University of Manitoba and previously worked as a Psychometrist at Health Sciences Center Winnipeg. Her research interests include examining access to and utilization of culturally responsive, strengths-based mental health care among newcomers and other equity-deserving communities through an intersectional and community-informed approach. Her current research explores whether integration of Indigenous principles of learning and structured intergroup contact in university educational contexts can foster empathy and inclusivity, reduce prejudice, and strengthen social cohesion. Outside of school, Barbie enjoys gardening, hiking, and spending time with her pets, Willow and Branch.

barbie@uvic.ca

Brandon Justus

Social Psychology

My research interests focus on tabletop games (e.g., board games) and video games in higher education. My earlier research investigated the way students formed groups through self-selection or teacher selection, and this led me to analyze the impact games have on motivation, social cohesion, intergroup relations, and learning, as well as ways to improve them. There is a dearth of information in this field and I am excited to learn more and contribute to scholarly knowledge.

bjustus@uvic.ca

Haley Keenan

Clinical Psychology

My research in the Gawryluk lab involves using neuroimaging methods to look at cognitive aging. My current project uses fMRI data to look at older individuals who demonstrate memory capabilities within the range of younger adults. Clinically, I am training to become a neuropsychologist, and I hope to work with older individuals with cognitive decline or neurodegenerative disorders.

haleykeenan@uvic.ca

Cole Kennedy

Clinical Psychology

I am a Ph.D. student in the Clinical Neuropsychology program. Broadly, my previous research studied elite athletes’ experiences of the clinical sequelae and management of sport-related concussion, whereas my more recent pursuits examine the complex intersections of brain injury, mental health, and addictions through community-engaged and patient-oriented approaches. I am the Founder, Lead Researcher & Project Manager of DECISION–MAP, and the Graduate Student Research Lead for the BC Consensus on Brain Injury. I am a Student Senator and serve on several committees, including the Senate Committee on Academic Health Programming, the Senate Committee on Planning, and the Department of Psychology’s EDI Committee, in addition to being a member of multiple organizations, such as the International Neuropsychological Society, Sports Neuropsychology Society, and the Canadian Psychological Association. Professionally, I have worked for non-profits in the fields of social services and healthcare, which I continue to do as I complete my research and clinical training.

colekennedy@uvic.ca

Yaewon Kim

Clinical Psychology

Yaewon is a PhD student in the Clinical Neuropsychology program at the University of Victoria. She is primarily involved with testing and data management for our ongoing studies on Dino Island. The overarching theme of Yaewon’s research interests is the development and assessment of executive function and self-regulation in children with and without neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder). She is particularly interested in using a multi-method approach that incorporates different types of assessment tools, including parent/teacher questionnaires, behavioral performance measures, and neuroimaging techniques. Yaewon’s ultimate career goal is to become a community-engaged scholar in academia, striving towards knowledge mobilization.

yaewonk@uvic.ca

Bennett King-Nyberg

Cognition and Brain Science

bennettkingnyberg@uvic.ca

McKenna Knox

Clinical Psychology

McKenna's research interests include healthy aging in Indigenous populations and dementia prevention.

mckennaknox@uvic.ca

Heather Kwan

Clinical Psychology

My research interests focus on aging through a neuropsychological lens with the assistance of various neuroimaging techniques. I am interested in how various factors can impact the cognitive effects of healthy and neurodegenerative aging. I am also interested in how the differences between healthy and neurodegenerative aging can be observed through techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging and near-infrared spectroscopy.

hkwan@uvic.ca

Colleen Lacey

Clinical Psychology

I am a Ph.D. student in the Neuropsychology stream of the Clinical Psychology program. I completed my undergraduate Honours in Psychology in the Gawryluk Lab in 2018 and then re-joined the Gawryluk lab in 2019 for my Master’s. My research interests include using neuroimaging and neuropsychological measures to evaluate healthy and abnormal aging processes. For my Master’s thesis, I looked at the impact of Apolipoprotein E (APOE) alleles on brain structure, using multimodal MRI techniques, and cognitive functioning in healthy older adults. For my PhD, I am comparing the neurobiological, cognitive, and lifestyle factors between women with and without Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

clacey@uvic.ca

Jessica Li

Clinical Psychology

jessyli@uvic.ca

Jie Li

Clinical Psychology

Jie is a doctoral student in Clinical-Lifespan Psychology. Her research interests include immigrant family systems, acculturation and enculturation, and mental health. Her current study focuses on mapping out immigrant family acculturation profiles and examining their impacts on individual adjustment and family processes.

zoejieli@uvic.ca

Erin Light

Clinical Psychology

emmlight@uvic.ca

Sam Lloyd

Individualized Program

Sam is a PhD student in the Department of Psychology, working under the supervision of Dr. Katya Rhodes. His research applies psychological insights to the improvement of climate policy and government-academia collaboration, favouring a qualitative approach.

He completed his undergraduate and master's degree at the University of Cambridge, where he also worked as a research assistant in the Cambridge University Political Psychology lab for several years. His research there focussed on motivating pro-environmental behaviour, studying UK political beliefs, and designing climate change message framing strategies which formed part of the UK government’s contribution to COP26.

samuellloyd@uvic.ca

Emilie Longtin

Clinical Psychology

Emilie Longtin is a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at the University of Victoria. Her research focuses on fostering belonging and safety for marginalized communities, with a particular emphasis on refugee resettlement. Emilie’s work examines the strengths and challenges of Canadian sponsorship programs, offering insights to inform and strengthen resettlement practices in Canada and other countries engaged in refugee resettlement. Her current research explores the complex intersection of resettlement and identity among LGBTQ+ refugees, shaped by the contemporary geopolitical climate and hostile policies toward non-heteronormative gender and sexual identities.

elongtin@uvic.ca

Erin Lowey

Social Psychology

I have always been fascinated with how people choose romantic partners, as well as the underlying mechanisms of attraction, such as why people are drawn to certain others romantically while others remain as friendships. During my master's, I explored how friendships transition to romance and compared their relationship initiation trajectories with couples who became romantic almost immediately. During my PhD, I became fascinated with self-expansion theory and the role it might play in relationship initiation. I am excited to investigate how emotional intimacy, passion, and self-expansion interact to facilitate relationship initiation, specifically in friendships transitioning to romance.

elowey@uvic.ca

Madeleine MacDonald

Social Psychology

Maddy is an MSc student in the lifespan psychology program at UVic, co-supervised by Dr. Stinson and Dr. Paweena Sukhawathanakul. She is studying how young people with chronic illnesses can heal from internalized disability stigma by reconnecting with their bodies.

madeleinemacdonald@uvic.ca

Geneva Mason

Clinical Psychology

genevamason@uvic.ca

Lauren Matheson

Clinical Psychology

Lauren is a PhD student in Clinical Psychology at the University of Victoria. She is passionate about sexuality research, particularly research examining sexual identity and sexual orientation. Currently she is working on two projects examining plurisexuality (i.e., attraction to more than one gender) and how plurisexual individuals understand their sexual identity. Lauren also engages in psychotherapy with clients at the University of Victoria Student Wellness Centre.

laurenmatheson@uvic.ca

Breanna McCreary

Lifespan Health and Development

Breanna is a Doctoral student in the Department of Psychology’s Individualized program. Breanna’s research adopts critical social psychology perspectives to investigate the social and psychological determinants of collective and individual actions on climate change. Breanna is working as an RA on the Daily Experiences of Climate Change Distress project.

bmccreary@uvic.ca

Sean Morgan

Clinical Psychology

Sean is a Clinical Psychology master’s student in the Lifespan Stream. He is interested in exploring romantic relationships and their association with health outcomes. In addition, he intends to explore the dynamics of couples during the transition to parenthood, focusing on prevention approaches more specifically.

seanmorgan@uvic.ca

Kelby Mullin

Social Psychology

I’ve always been interested in examining the unique differences and challenges we face as individuals. I like pondering about what makes you ‘you’, and how different lived experiences create different connections, perceptions, and ideas of self. I began my studies as an engineering/computer science major, but ever since I took a first-year psychology course as an elective I’ve been hooked. Over the last six years, I’ve worked for several grassroots disability-related non-profit organizations. During this time, I noticed that there is a general lack of awareness and research that involves/is inclusive of people with disabilities (especially within psychology). What is published tends to focus on rehabilitation and how to ‘fix’ disabilities and the people with them. As a person who was born with a permanent disability myself, I truly believe that my disabled experience is invaluable and has shaped my interactions and who I am. I would like to examine how other disabled people interact with the world around them as well – currently focusing on the process of recovering from internalized disability stigma.

kelby@uvic.ca

Pat Nicoll

Clinical Psychology

Pat is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program (lifespan stream). His research interests broadly relate to resilience and transformational coping in the context of extreme and unusual environments (EUEs). For his master’s thesis, Pat ran a mixed-methods study on a group of Antarctic expeditioners, examining the phenomenon of post-expedition psychological growth in the aftermath of experiences in isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments. Lately, Pat has been interested in exploring the role of healthy relationships in small group/team functioning on missions to ICE environments, such as Antarctica and outer space.

patricknicoll@uvic.ca

Kimberly Ning

Social Psychology

My name is Kimberly Ning (or just Kim) and I’m an MSc. student pursuing a degree in Social Psychology at the University of Victoria. I come from Edmonton, AB which is where I completed my BSc. (Psychology Major with a Minor in Business) from the University of Alberta.

I love the study of Psychology as a whole and have a multitude of research interests, but my focus tends to fall into the realm of minority-status group processes. As such, I am highly invested in the topics of intersectionality and discrimination, as well as immigration and acculturation. Currently, I am researching the intersection between queerness and ethnicity and hope to eventually expand my research towards examining the queer migrant experience.

Lauren Qualls

Clinical Psychology

I am a graduate student in the Clinical Neuropsychology program at UVic. I eagerly joined SMART Lab in Fall of 2018. Broadly, my research interests concern affective processing and emotional regulation (ER). In particular, I am interested in interoceptive abilities (IAs): the physiological detection of and psychological interpretation of feelings. The relationship between atypical IAs and psychopathology underlies much of my research pursuits. In this realm, I hold an analogous interest in understanding how these abilities are mediated and/or moderated by emotional awareness (e.g., alexithymia) and meta-emotion (i.e., how you feel about your experience of feelings). Within SMARTLab, I am examining embodiment, ER, and emotional experience through experience sampling methods via an app.

As an extension of these interests, I hope to develop an understanding of the ways in which IAs can be improved through nonpharmacological techniques. Prior to starting at UVic, my Master’s thesis examined the role of vasoconstriction in IAs (using both physiological [heartbeat detection] and psychological [self-report survey] assessments of feeling). I completed both my Master’s degree and Honors Bachelor’s degree at Middle Tennessee State University.

Christina Robillard

Clinical Psychology

My research applies a developmental framework to understand when and why some adolescents engage in self-damaging behaviors, including self-injury, disordered eating, and substance misuse. Specifically, I combine longitudinal and microlongitudinal designs with multi-informant methods to examine how these behaviors develop within family systems. For instance, my primary line of work integrates parent- and adolescent-reports to investigate how families navigate the disclosure of a youth’s self-injury, including how dynamic parent-child interactions support or hinder recovery. The goal of my research is to produce knowledge that can refine developmental models of self-damaging behaviors, foster empathy for individuals who engage in these behaviors, and improve therapeutic interventions.

christinarobillard@uvic.ca

Jessica Ryan

Clinical Psychology

jessicaryan@uvic.ca

Nazanin Saadat

Clinical Psychology

I’m a Ph.D. student in the Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology Stream) program. I completed my BSc (Honours) in Psychology and an MSc in Neuroscience at McGill University, where I investigated cognition within the context of a pre-surgical Parkinson’s population. I am interested in using neuropsychological and neuroimaging measures to predict or understand response and outcome to interventions. My research at the Gawryluk lab involves using neuroimaging tools such as fMRI to better understand the neural underpinnings of Multiple Sclerosis, as well as brain changes following an exercise intervention in Multiple Sclerosis. I am currently completing my residency at Hamilton Health Schiences.

nsaadat@uvic.ca

Morgan Schaeffer

Clinical Psychology

Broadly, my research and clinical interests focus on the interplay between neurocognition, psychosocial functioning, and chronic illness, particularly in aging populations. My doctoral research is looking to explore the effects of cannabis use on physical, psychosocial, and neurocognitive functioning in older adults experiencing chronic pain. The focus of my research is to explore novel assessments and treatments with the goal of maximizing quality of life from a biopsychosocial perspective in older adults and those experiencing chronic illness.

mschaeffer@uvic.ca

John Sheehan

Individualized Program

John is a senior PhD student in the Child Development Lab and is the Dino Island lead on parent intervention delivery training and fidelity monitoring for the Dino Island project and is currently a doctoral student in the clinical neuropsychology program at the University of Victoria. After completing his undergraduate at the University of Utah, his Master’s thesis at UVic focused on the development of preschool assessment measures for executive functioning. For his dissertation, John is investigating the impact of the Dino Island intervention program on cognitive and behavioral flexibility in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Alice Shen

Clinical Psychology

Alice is a graduate student in the Lifespan stream of the Clinical Psychology program at UVic. Alice completed her Bachelor of Arts with an Honours Specialization in Psychology at Western University and worked as a Research Coordinator for an addictions medicine project at Fraser Health Authority. Her research interest involves biopsychosocial risk and protective factors underlying risky behaviours such as substance use and behavioural addictions, disordered eating, and non-suicidal self-injury. She is also interested in exploring how adult ADHD influences risky behaviours through factors such as emotion regulation, impulse control, and distress tolerance.

Alice plans on taking a transdiagnostic and mixed-method approach to identify qualitative contextual gaps in the current literature and give a voice to people who are often overlooked in research and clinical settings. Her goal in research is to help implement effective primary prevention interventions that promote knowledge and skill-building to bolster resilience against common mental health issues.

aliceshen@uvic.ca

Emmett Sihoe

Clinical Psychology

Emmett is pursuing his graduate studies in the Clinical Lifespan Psychology program at the University of Victoria. Emmett completed his Bachelor’s of Science (Honours) at Uvic prior to his graduate studies. Emmett’s research focuses on the relationship between health behaviours, digital media use, and mental health outcomes in adolescents. Specifically, he is studying the relationship between screen time, sleep and physical activity, and mental well-being in high school students. He also is researching the experiences of autistic students in post-secondary settings with the aim of supporting autistic students’ success in school. Prior to entering the program, Emmett worked as an Addictions and Mental Health Outreach worker in the community.

emmettyoumingsihoe@uvic.ca

Quinn Storey

Clinical Psychology

My research interests include men's mental health, the transition to fatherhood, and underlying mechanisms in intimate partner violence. I hope to explore the ways in which men experience intimacy and parenthood and the influence this carries on health behaviors, emotional wellbeing, relationship quality, and situational violence. I am also interested in interventions for high conflict couples that aim to reduce the propensity for physical and emotional violence.

qstorey@uvic.ca

Kevin Styba-Nelson

Clinical Psychology

Kevin is completing his Master’s of Science in the Clinical Lifespan program at the University of Victoria. Prior to joining the program, he completed his Bachelor’s of Arts in Honours Psychology at MacEwan University in Edmonton. His research focuses on generalized anxiety disorder, and the cognitive and developmental factors that lead to its growth. He is also focusing on the association between anxiety and depression, and the interrelation present in their development. Kevin hopes his research will provide further insight into the early presentations of anxiety and depression, and help guide their effective treatment.

kstybanelson@uvic.ca

Peter Sugrue

Individualized Program

I am primarily studying how psychology and other social sciences can inform both, mitigative and adaptive efforts toward climate change. In 2016 and 2017, I conducted multiple studies on sustainable food choices. In 2018 and 2019, I conducted a thesis study on emotional reactions to climate change. I plan on looking further into emotional reactions to climate induced emergencies and common’s dilemmas.

petersugrue@uvic.ca

Yueling Sun

Cognition and Brain Sciences

yuelingsun@uvic.ca

Andrew Switzer

Clinical Psychology

Andrew is a PhD student in the Clinical Psychology program (Lifespan specialization) at the University of Victoria. Before coming to UVic, Andrew completed a M.A. in psychology at Concordia University in Montreal, where he studied the role of heart-rate variability, a biomarker of self-regulatory capabilities, in parents’ ability to cope with stress associated with raising a young child. As a member of the Risky Behaviour Lab, Andrew is most interested in studying non-suicidal self-injury and suicide-related thoughts and behaviours.

Andrew is interested in applying novel methodologies (e.g., psychophysiology, wearables, EMA, etc.) to better understand when and why individuals engage in these behaviours, as well as identifying individual differences or contexts associated with higher risk. Andrew is also working on applying natural language processing techniques to text data collected from online peer-support forums for at-risk individuals, with the aim of identifying which thoughts, feelings, or themes are most commonly expressed in social support interactions online.

andrewcswitzer@uvic.ca

Imran Tatla

Social Psychology

My name is Imran, and I’m an MSc student in the social psychology program at the University of Victoria. My research interests focus on intercultural/intergroup relations within minority groups. In particular, I am interested in evaluating how culturally based conflicts ( e.g., choosing a romantic partner from the mainstream culture) between parent and child impact second-generation youth’s identity development.

imrantatla@uvic.ca

Debra Torok

Clinical Psychology

Debra is doctoral candidate in the Clinical-Lifespan Psychology program. She is grateful to have lived and studied as an uninvited guest on the traditional and unceded territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples for the past five years. Her research focuses on experiences of forced migrant youth living in transit in Malaysia and Thailand. Currently, Debra is involved in a partnership project with a migrant-serving agency along the Thai-Myanmar border, collaborating on the implementation of a psychosocial peer support method for youth. Drawing on her experiences in this project, her doctoral research explores the ethics, benefits, and challenges of engaging in virtual, transnational partnership research with forced migrant communities. When Debra isn’t studying, she can often be found hiking, cooking, and cross-stitching.

debratorok@uvic.ca

Michaella Trites

Cognition and Brain Sciences

mtrites@uvic.ca

Baeleigh VanderZwagg

Clinical Psychology

My research and clinical interests are within the area of neurorehabilitation. My research has focused on studying novel methods for the management and treatment of traumatic brain injury, with an emphasis on psychedelics. My master's thesis focused on examining the attitudes of the sports community regarding the use of psychedelics, specifically psilocybin, for concussion recovery and management of persisting concussion symptoms.

This study described overall interest and willingness from the sports community to consider the use of psilocybin for managing concussion symptoms and persisting symptoms, while also identifying current concerns from the sports community such as long-term effects. My dissertation will focus on studying naturalistic psychedelic use among TBI survivors globally with the intent of evaluating patterns of use among a large and diverse sample and highlighting self-reported outcomes and experiences.

baeleighv@uvic.ca

Stacey Voll

Lifespan Health and Development

Stacey Voll's academic work foci has been in International Population Health Data Science, Research/Project Management and Psychometrics. Her research involves examination of meta-data systematics in longitudinal designs and methods such as, complex sampling, impacts of age-period-cohort effects, cognitive measurement and culturally relevant research tools. At UVic, she has taught learning/development theories, measurement/evaluation, psychological/educational diagnostics and statistics for statistically-anxious post-secondary students. She holds positions as research associate at UVic’s Institute of Lifelong Health & Aging and as a clinical psychometrician at Queen Alexandra Centre for Children’s Health.

svoll@uvic.ca

Sammi Wong

Social Psychology

My research interests centre around friendship, personality, and youth well-being, with a particular focus on how these variables operate within educational contexts. I aim to develop a research program that lies at the intersection of social/personality psychology, educational psychology, and community-engaged research. For my Master’s thesis, I am exploring how undergraduate students engage in various clubs, groups, and organizations, and how such involvement influences their perceived well-being and friendship development. This work aligns with my broader interest in understanding how young people maintain both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the face of academic, emotional, and personal challenges, and how these experiences shape their friendships, personality development, and academic outcomes. In addition to this, I am deeply committed to community-engaged and youth-led participatory research, which I view as essential for producing meaningful, inclusive, and actionable knowledge.

yenyensammiwong@uvic.ca

Chenxi Wu

Social Psychology

I’m deeply fascinated by the intricate interplay between human psychology and technology, particularly in the realm of motivation. My research centers on exploring the diverse motivations behind individuals’ use of technology, with a keen focus on how it might influence their social and emotional well-being.

My curiosity in this area stems from the rich tapestry of portrayals of robots and AI in popular culture, ranging from the endearing companionship depicted in films like “Her” (2012) and the classic manga “Astro Boy,” to the ominous and menacing representations seen in works like “Terminator” and “M3GAN” (2022). Beyond exploring the nuances of technological motivation, I’m also intrigued by the potential cultural variations in perceptions of humanoids and social chatbots. I’m particularly interested in investigating how these differences in perception may impact individuals’ interactions and experiences with technology.

chenxiw@uvic.ca

Yanxin Xu

Cognition and Brain Sciences

Yanxin is completing an MSc in Psychology (Cognition and Brain Sciences) under the supervision of Dr. Jordana Wynn and Dr. Tarek Amer. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Queen's University in Kingston, where she discovered her interest in cognitive neuroscience. In the future, she hopes to conduct research that advances our understanding of visual cognition and ways we could apply scientific research to better people's daily lives.

yanxinxu@uvic.ca