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Psychology

Meet our graduate students

Picture of UVic graduate student Aleah Ross.

Aleah Ross, PhD Student

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.

Picture of UVic graduate student Alison Chung

Alison Chung, PhD Student

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.

Picture of UVic graduate student Sam Coleborn

Sam Coleborn, MSc Student

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.

Picture of UVic student Alejandra Contreras.

Alejandra Contreras de Solorzano, PhD student

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.

Picture of UVic student Sybil Goulet-Stock.

Sybil Goulet-Stock, PhD Student

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.

Picture of UVic student Sunny Guo.

Sunny Guo, MSc Student

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.

Picture of UVic graduate student Sepasen Kingsley Ivande.

Sepase Kingsley Ivande, PhD Student

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.

Barbie Jain, MSc Student

Clinical psychology

Picture of UVic student Haley Keenan.

Haley Keenan, MSc student

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.

Picture of UVic graduate student Erin Lowey

Erin Lowey, PhD Student

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.

Picture of UVic graduate student Baeleigh Vanderzwaag

Baeleigh VanderZwagg, PhD Student

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.

Picture of UVic student Sammi Wong.

Sammi Wong, MSc student

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.

Aleah Ross, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Megan Ames

Alejandra Contreras, lifespan health and development, supervised by Dr. Maurcio Garcia-Barrera

Alice Shen, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Brianna Turner

Alison Chung, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Theone Paterson

Andrew Switzer, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Brianna Turner

Baeleigh Vanderzwagg, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Maurcio Garcia-Barrera

Barbie Jain, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Catherine Costigan

Bennett King-Nyberg, cognition and brain science, supervised by Dr. Steve Lindsay

Brandon Justus, social psychology, supervised by Dr. Nigel Mantou Lou

Brayden Boyd, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Megan Ames

Breanna McCreary, lifespan health and development, supervised by Dr. Kelci Harris

Buse Bedir, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Sarah Macoun

Carolyn Helps, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Brianna Turner

Chenxi Wu, social psychology, supervised by Dr. Nigel Mantou Lou

Christina Robillard, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Brianna Turner

Cian Dabrowski, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Theone Paterson

Cole Kennedy, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Maurcio Garcia-Barrera

Colleen Lacey, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Jodie Gawryluk

Debra Torok, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Catherine Costigan

Drexler Ortiz, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Catherine Costigan

Elisa Do, social psychology, supervised by Dr. Danu Stinson

Elysia Desgrosseilliers, social psychology, supervised by Dr. Danu Stinson

Emilie Longtin, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Catherine Costigan

Emmett Sihoe, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Megan Ames

Erin Light, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Ulrich Mueller

Erin Lowey, social psychology, supervised by Dr. Danu Stinson

Geneva Mason, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Brianna Turner

Hayley Casey, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Jodie Gawryluk

Haley Keenan, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Jodie Gawryluk

Heather Kwan, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Jodie Gawryluk

Heba Elgharbawy, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Megan Ames

Helia Sehat-Pour, lifespan health and development, supervised by Dr. Andrea Piccinin

lmran Tatla, social psychology, supervised by Dr. Nigel Mantou Lou

Jessica Lewis, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Sarah Macoun

Jessica Li, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Catherine Costigan

Jessica Ryan, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Brianna Turner

Jie Li, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Catherine Costigan

John Sheehan, individualized program, supervised by Dr. Sarah Macoun

Kelby Mullin, social psychology, supervised by Dr. Danu Stinson

Kevin Styba-Nelson, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Megan Ames

Kimberly Ning, social psychology, supervised by Dr. Nigel Mantou Lou

Kingsley lvande, social psychology, supervised by Dr. Nigel Mantou Lou

Lauren Matheson, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Erica Woodin

Lauren Qualls, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Colette Smart

Lillea Hohn, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Colette Smart

Liz (Elizabeth) Williams, individualized program, supervised by Dr. Ulrich Mueller

Lorna Breen, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Erica Woodin

Madeleine MacDonald, social psychology, supervised by Dr. Danu Stinson

Madeline Doucette, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Maurcio Garcia-Barrera

Madeline Gregory, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Theone Paterson

Maria Stepanyan, social psychology, supervised by Dr. Frederick Grouzet

McKenna Knox, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Emily A.P. Haigh

Michaella Trites, cognition and brain sciences, supervised by Dr. James Tanaka

Morgan Schaeffer, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Theone Paterson

Nazanin Babaei, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Colette Smart

Nazanin Saadat, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Jodie Gawryluk

Noah Cain, lifespan health and development, supervised by Dr. Paweena Sukhawathanakul

Otis Geddes, lifespan health and development, supervised by Dr. Paweena Sukhawathanakul

Patrick Nicoll, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Erica Woodin

Peter Sugrue, individualized program, supervised by Dr. Andrea Piccinin

Philippe Brunet, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Sarah Macoun

Quinn Storey, clinical psychology, supervised byDr. Erica Woodin

Sabrina Francescangeli, social psychology, Dr. Frederick Grouzet

Samantha Coleborn, lifespan health and development, supervised by Dr. Sarah Macoun

Samuel Lloyd, individualized program, Dr. Katya Rhodes

Sean Morgan, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Erica Woodin

Stacey Voll, lifespan health and development, supervised by Dr. Stuart MacDonald

Sunny Guo, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Sarah Macoun

Sybil Goulet-Stock, lifespan health and development, supervised by Dr. Tim Stockwell

Tara Cooper, lifespan health and development, supervised by Dr. Andrea Piccinin

Tessa Chomistek, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Sarah Macoun

Violet Cieslik, lifespan health and development, supervised by Dr. Ulrich Mueller

Yaewon Kim, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Sarah Macoun

Yanxin Xu, cognition and brain sciences, supervised by Dr. Tarek Amer

Yen Yen Sammi Wong, social psychology, supervised by Dr. Kelci Harris

Yueling Sun, cognition and brain sciences, supervised by Dr. Jim Tanaka

Zoe Gilson, clinical psychology, supervised by Dr. Theone Paterson