Category: Profile

Where are you from and how did you end up in U of T Psychology?
Ontario; I met my supervisor at a conference and we agreed that I would be a great fit for the lab!

Whose lab are you in and what are you studying?
Jay Pratt, studying visual attention and memory.

What do you currently want to know more about? Or what is a skill you would like to develop?
Data collection via the internet.

Last non-non-fiction book you read?
Can’t remember!

If not this, what would you be doing with your life?
Wondering what to do with my life.

Advice for potential graduate students?
Get involved in a lab in any way you can. Knowing whether you enjoy the day-to-day research work is very important.

Want to get in touch with Jason? He can be reached at: jason.rajsic <at>mail.utoronto.ca

Where are you from and how did you end up in U of T Psychology?
I’m from Toronto, I came to the U of T graduate psychology program via the University of Waterloo’s social psych and environmental studies departments, where I cultivated my interest in exploring environmental issues through psychology.

Whose lab are you in and what are you studying?
I am in Dr. Elizabeth Page-Gould’s Social Psychophysiological Research and Quantitative Methods Laboratory (SPRQL) studying environmental and political attitudes, how and why they change, and related behaviour.

What do you currently want to know more about? Or what is a skill you would like to develop?
I would like to improve my knowledge of different statistical methods and software.

Last non-non-fiction book you read?
Snow Falling on Cedars.

If not this, what would you be doing with your life?
A National Geographic Photographer, traveling the world and writing neat, informative captions under beautiful images.

Advice for potential graduate students?
Never stop learning.

Want to get in touch with Jacklyn? She can be reached at: jacklyn.koyama <at>mail.utoronto.ca

Where are you from and how did you end up in U of T Psychology?
I’m originally from Newmarket Ontario, but I completed my undergraduate degree at McGill University in Montreal. I originally planned to be an artist, but somehow was enticed into the realm of cognitive neuroscience by the department of psychology.

Whose lab are you in and what are you studying?
I’m in Dr. Mary Pat McAndrews lab, studying long-term memory in individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy. We are specifically interested in learning more about accelerated long-term forgetting, which is a phenomenon where patients’ learning and retention is normal up to around 30 minutes and is forgotten at an accelerated rate at some point thereafter. We think there is a lot to be learned about long-term consolidation and forgetting by studying this patient population.

What do you currently want to know more about? Or what is a skill you would like to develop?
Always looking to improve my MATLAB skills. Also want to be proficient at analyzing MEG data. I’ve always wanted to be able to brew my own beer…

Last non-non-fiction book you read?
1984, George Orwell.

If not this, what would you be doing with your life?
Traveling.

Advice for potential graduate students?
Don’t compare yourself to other grad students. Everyone is on their own path, in their own field, and we will all get there eventually.

Want to get in touch with Samantha? She can be reached at: samantha.audrain <at>mail.utoronto.ca

Where are you from and how did you end up in U of T Psychology?
I am from Brandon, Manitoba, where I studied at Brandon University.

I’m not sure how I ended up at U of T myself! During my undergrad I worked at a crisis unit, where I taught and did research. Upon graduating I worked for a year at Pine River Institute, a residential treatment center for youth with addiction. During the summer I also worked for Statistics Canada as a crew leader for the 2016 census.

Whose lab are you in and what are you studying?
I am in Amy Finn’s lab. At present I am studying the development of implicit memory. I also have a side interest in the interaction of mindfulness and memory.

What do you currently want to know more about? Or what is a skill you would like to develop?
I would really like to learn more about imaging measures, and could definitely develop my coding (R, Python) skills.

Last non-non-fiction book you read?
I don’t think I’ve read a fictional book in a long time…

If not this, what would you be doing with your life?
I have no clue. Puppy farmer?

Advice for potential graduate students?
Use your morning hours well. Get involved in stuff.

Want to get in touch with Johnny? He can be reached at: m.dubois <at>mail.utoronto.ca

Where are you from and how did you end up in U of T Psychology?
I grew up in Madison, WI, and did my undergrad at at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver. I ended up at U of T because of the awesome faculty to work with and the facilities of the psych department.

Whose lab are you in and what are you studying?
I work in Dr. Amy Finn’s lab, and I study the development of statistical learning, in order to help understand why kids are better language learners than adults.

What do you currently want to know more about? Or what is a skill you would like to develop?
I’m excited to learn more about computational modeling!

Last non-non-fiction book you read?
The Crpytonomicon, by Neal Stephenson.

If not this, what would you be doing with your life?
Lately I’ve been thinking it would be awesome to be a pilot!

Advice for potential graduate students?
Get in touch with the people you’re hoping to work with ahead of time to make sure you could see yourself working with them.

Want to get in touch with Tess? She can be reached at: tess.forest <at>mail.utoronto.ca

Where are you from and how did you end up in U of T Psychology?
I’m from Lawrenceville, New Jersey. This program was the only one I applied for in Canada, and I’m glad that I chose it as my home for 5 years. It has taken me into areas of research I never expected to go into, and I still get excited at the possibilities of where my research experiences here could take me in the future. I swear that no one has paid me to say that.

Whose lab are you in and what are you studying?
I’m in Michael Inzlicht’s lab at UTSC. I use EEG, EMG, behavioral measures, and experience sampling to study how emotions facilitate and influence cognitive control and self-regulation. Members of my laboratory use a “social neuroscience” approach, combining techniques and theory from both social psychology and cognitive neuroscience to understand how people and their brains control their behavior and make decisions.

What do you currently want to know more about? Or what is a skill you would like to develop?
Right now I really want to learn more about how to use computational modeling and Bayesian cognitive models. My experience with both of these techniques right now is pretty rudimentary. The amount that I do understand, however, is enough to get me excited about their future use in psychology.

Last non-non-fiction book you read?
Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others. One of his stories in this collection was recently turned into the movie Arrival. Both his stories and the movie are great!

If not this, what would you be doing with your life?
I would be doing the same thing as my twin brother — playing music in New York City.

Advice for potential graduate students?
Don’t be afraid to ask for help!

Want to get in touch with Nathaniel? He can be reached at: nat.brown <at> mail.utoronto.ca

Where are you from and how did you end up in U of T Psychology?
I grew up in Markham, Ontario, and completed Bachelor of Health Sciences at McMaster University, where I discovered my love for cognitive neuroscience and research in general. I was drawn to U of T because of its high research calibre and opportunities to study autism using neuroimaging.

Whose lab are you in and what are you studying?
I am in Dr. Randy McIntosh’s lab. I study intrinsic brain dynamics in individuals with autism spectrum disorder using structural and functional neuroimaging and computational modeling.

What do you currently want to know more about? Or what is a skill you would like to develop?
I am always looking to improve my programming skills, especially in Python, MATLAB, and R.

Last non-non-fiction book you read?
Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain, by Antonio Damasio.

If not this, what would you be doing with your life?
Good question – I have no idea 🙂 .

Advice for potential graduate students?
Stay positive and don’t be afraid to ask for help!

Want to get in touch with Amanda? She can be reached at: amanda.easson <at>mail.utoronto.ca

Where are you from and how did you end up in U of T Psychology?
I am from Korea but I did my undergraduate degree at UBC.

Whose lab are you in and what are you studying?
Dr. Penelope Lockwood‘s lab; I am studying interpersonal relationships.

What do you currently want to know more about? Or what is a skill you would like to develop?
I want to learn more about how people relate to each other and what may contribute compatibility between dyads
Skill set I want to develop: Stats, coding.

Last non-non-fiction book you read?
The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence (Gary Haugen and Victor Boutros).

If not this, what would you be doing with your life?
A competitive swimmer.

Advice for potential graduate students?
Strive to be excellent not perfect..

Want to get in touch with Sue? She can be reached at: sue.song <at> mail.utoronto.ca

Where are you from and how did you end up in U of T Psychology?
I did my undergraduate degree in psychology and Western University. At the time I volunteered in a memory lab and my supervisor recommended U of T as one of the top schools in the world to study human memory. When I interviewed here and met my potential supervisors for the first time, I knew this was where I wanted to be.

Whose lab are you in and what are you studying?
Dr. Morgan Barense and Dr. Andy Lee, human memory.

What do you currently want to know more about? Or what is a skill you would like to develop?
Advanced fMRI analyses

Last non-non-fiction book you read?
The Evening Class by Mauve Binchy

If not this, what would you be doing with your life?
A writer and/or public speaker.

Advice for potential graduate students?
Once you become a graduate student, don’t ever worry about what anyone else in the program (or elsewhere) is doing. It’s easy to compare yourself to others, but doing so will kill all the joy of the work. Focus on projects you find fun and interesting, learn as many skills as you can, and though you may be a scientist now, don’t take yourself too seriously!

Want to get in touch with Celia? She can be reached at: celia.fidalgo <at> mail.utoronto.ca

Where are you from and how did you end up in U of T Psychology?
I have always been interested in the psyche of human interactions. Therefore, it was no surprise that I became increasingly more passionate about psychology as a field throughout my undergraduate degree. I developed a particular interest for studying issues related to intergroup relations while conducting my undergraduate thesis. When considering possible graduate programs, I was first drawn to U of T’s exceptionally strong psychology department. Fortunately, I was able to find a supervisor and a lab at U of T that matched my research interests and my professional goals.

Whose lab are you in and what are you studying?
I work at the Adult Development Lab under the supervision of Dr. Alison Chasteen. My main research focus is on stereotyping and prejudice. In particular, I study attitudes towards stigmatized romantic relationships, such as mixed-race or mixed-faith couples, and how these attitudes affect behaviours towards these couples and the couples’ families.

What do you currently want to know more about? Or what is a skill you would like to develop?
I’m excited to learn to apply eye tracking and mouse tracking techniques to my research.

Last non-non-fiction book you read?
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

If not this, what would you be doing with your life?
As a current certified teacher, I would be teaching Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology as well as French courses in high school.

Advice for potential graduate students?
Consider very carefully what career path you are interested in and whether graduate school is the best way to achieve that goal. Although I enjoy research very much, it is not for everyone.

Want to get in touch with Maria? She can be reached at: maria.iankilevitch <at>mail.utoronto.ca