|
|
Current Research Assistants
|
Alessandra Mafra Ribeiro
|
|
Alessandra earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the Federal University of Santa Catarina and has a master's degree in Educational Psychology from the University of São Paulo, both in Brazil. She has finished her master's thesis under Dr. Cameron and Dr. Laurie Ford's supervision in the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program at the University of British Columbia (Canada). She started her collaboration in the Child Study Lab as a Mitacs Globalink summer intern in 2015. Her research interests are the processes of resilience among young children who thrive despite adversity. She is also interested in prevention science.
|
|
Anna Stanzel
|
|
Anna Stanzel has graduated in B.Sc. Psychology at Leipzig University in Germany. She went to the US in her third year for a semester abroad to immerse her interest in Health and Positive Psychology and deepen her knowledge of Developmental Psychology. She says she is extremely grateful that she had the possibility to engage in child and adolescent research as a Mitacs Globalink Research Intern at UBC following her semester abroad. She is keen on exploring what factors contribute to healthy development. She is now enrolled in a Master's Program in Psychology at Leipzig University and plans on pursuing her interests in Positive Psychology. Besides her studies, she loves to exercise to stay healthy, go rock climbing and hiking.
|
|
Amy Xu
|
|
Amy is an undergraduate at the University of British Columbia in the Faculty of Science, as well as an alumnus of the University Transition Program. Her interest in human behaviour brought her to seek out Dr. Cameron after their first encounter at a school event in 2019, and she joined the Child Study Lab later in the year. Amy is currently engaged in the cross-cultural study of verbal deception and in learning the ropes of collaborating under seasoned professionals. She hopes to continue working alongside lab members and participants through collaborative research in addition to her studies in the future.
|
|
Elizabeth Gerhardt
|
|
Elizabeth graduated from the University of New Brunswick in 2017, with honours, and received a Bachelors' degree in Psychology with a minor in Sociology. Her honours thesis focused on the differential treatment and discrimination faced by female firefighters in Canada. She started in the Child Studies Lab as a research assistant in the Fall of 2016 and is now helping Dr. Cameron manage the Child Studies Lab at UNB. Over the past four years She has been involved in almost every study in the Child Studies Lab. Right now, she is focusing on a Girls' Friendships study, Truth & Trust, and Academic Integrity studies. She is planning to continue graduate education, focusing on Forensic Psychology and policy change.
|
|
Emma Yao
|
|
Emma is a high-school student at University Hill Secondary School in Vancouver. Since the summer of 2019, she has been a volunteer in the Child Study Lab. Psychology has always being a fascinating area of exploration and a subject of her interest. Participation in the Lab has sparked interest in pursuing a career in research. Even though she had learned different research methods prior to participating in the Lab, she says that having the privilege to be involved in the process of studies is still an eye-opening experience. Her main role, currently, in this Lab, is a data collector for various projects, such as Verbal Deception and Truth and Trust.
|
|
Harleen Gill
|
|
Harleen graduated from the University of British Columbia in May 2020 with a BSc in Behavioural Neuroscience. She has worked with Dr. Cameron since the fall of 2017 and has been involved with several projects, including the cross-cultural work on verbal deception and adolescents' stress responses and coping strategies. She feels that the lab has provided her with many opportunities to help collect data, analyze results, present posters, and work on publications. The Child Study Lab is like family and she has made lasting connections with her colleagues there. She hopes to attend graduate school for clinical psychology so that she can become a child-clinical psychologist.
|
|
Kaitlyn Wilson
|
|
Kaitlyn is in her fourth year of a biology and psychology double major at the University of New Brunswick. She joined Dr. Cameron’s lab to gain research experience in cultural psychology and cognition. Working in the Child Study Lab has been a great opportunity for her to pursue research in psychology outside of UNB, and she hopes to use this experience to pursue cultural cognition when beginning a Master’s degree. Outside school, Kaitlyn’s passions are cooking and hugging dogs!
|
|
Karin Kermani
|
|
Karin is a behavioral Neuroscience student at the University of British Columbia. She is interested in a variety of topics related to development and bilingualism. She is currently doing direct studies under Dr. Cameron's supervision on emergence of literacy in a first-grade student while adhering to physical distancing measures. She is very interested in cognitive development and therefore really excited to be working on this project. Following graduation, Karin would like to further her education and earn a PhD in developmental clinical psychology and then practice as a child psychologist.
|
|
Katja Pollak
|
|
Katja M. Pollak is a graduate psychology student at the University of Ulm in Germany and she started working in Dr. Cameron's Child Study Lab as a Mitacs research intern in summer 2018. She is interested in various research topics related to developmental psychology, biological psychology as well as sport and exercise psychology, especially responses to sports injuries. She likes to keep in touch with lab members and is still involved in lab projects.
|
|
Leo Duan
|
|
Leo is a third-year undergraduate student at UBC who is currently employed as a Work-Learn student in the Child's Studies Lab. Aspiring to pursue a career in school psychology in the future, he aims to gain experience in the lab and contribute to the projects as much as he can. Currently, he focuses on studying gender stereotypes in Chinese-Canadian adolescents and aims to extend the project to include participants in mainland China. During leisure, Leo often games on his computer and watches spooky East-Asian movies.
|
|
Lexie Czich
|
|
Lexie is completing her Honours degree in Psychology specializing in Neuroscience at UNB. She hopes to pursue post-graduation studies by attending medical school, focusing on pediatrics. Working as a research assistant for Dr. Cameron has given her valuable hands-on experience and knowledge working with children that she hopes to use in the healthcare field. This opportunity to collaborate with researchers across the globe has opened her eyes to the many aspects of multiculturalism and she is excited to continue learning from Dr. Cameron.
|
|
Mahsa Rad
|
|
Psychology has always been Mahsa's favorite ground to dig. This eagerness left her no option but to switch fields after a B.Sc in chemical engineering. She earned her master's degree in psychology from the University of Tehran, and currently, is a Ph.D. candidate in Psychology in Iran. Her field of interest mostly focuses on gender identity, and cross-cultural studies. She joined the Child study lab in 2019 as a visiting international research student to broaden her capabilities in research and teamwork, and she genuinely enjoys working in the friendly and supportive atmosphere of the lab since.
|
|
Morgan Elizabeth Richard
|
|
Morgan graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a B.Sc. majoring in Biology and a B.A. (Hons) in Psychology. She is in the Experimental Psychology MA/PhD Program at the University of New Brunswick. She feels fortunate to have been with Dr. Cameron's Child Studies Lab for three years and counting! She has enjoyed working on the following Child Studies Lab projects: Verbal Deception, Truth and Trust, Boys' Navigational Processes of Romantic Relationships, Asian Masculinities, and Confidence in Communications. For fun, she loves to dance and is currently taking four classes per week.
|
|
Rachèle Phinney
|
|
Rachèle graduated from UNB with a BA (Honours) in psychology and is pursuing a PsyD in Clinical Psychology. Her Honours work focused on teaching visually-impaired individuals life skills using a modified behavioural framework. Rachèle has worked in Summer camps specifically created to promote the autonomy of youth, living with visual impairments and/or intellectual and behavioural disorders, by teaching them how to perform everyday life skills (i.e. cooking, grocery shopping) and by providing access to otherwise inaccessible activities (i.e. paddle boarding, kayaking, rock climbing). Her work in the Child Studies Lab has focused on developing the new Girls Friendship study and has provided opportunities to understand and communicate with a more diverse range of people. Rachèle enjoys music and has been to over 15 concerts!
|
|
Saman Fouladirad
|
|
During his time in the lab, Saman had the opportunity to be involved in many different projects. He attended numerous national and international conferences to present the work done at the lab. He is currently a medical student at UBC and is working on putting the finishing touches on a manuscript alongside Dr. Cameron and Dr. McKay regarding the cortisol stress reactivity of adolescents. While school keeps him busy, he still finds himself coming back to the lab. He finds opportunities to catch up at the delicious Bowen Brunches, with the wonderful people who made his time in undergraduate studies so memorable and special.
|
|
Shuai Shao
|
|
Shuai Shao earned a B.S. in Psychology from Beijing Normal University in 2017 and an M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago in 2018. He began working in the Child Study Lab as a Mitacs Globalink student during the summer of 2016, participating in Verbal Deception, Coping Strategies, and other projects. Shuai is especially interested in cross-cultural comparisons of moral development between Chinese and Canadian teenagers. He started his doctoral studies at UC San Diego in September 2019.
|
|
So Yun (Fiona) Chae
|
|
Fiona is a second-year Psychology student at McGill University with a great interest in the processes of human development. With her school-year being held remotely, she has taken this opportunity to gain experience in the Child Study Lab. She is currently taking part in the Development of Integrity study, as well as the Asian Masculinity project. She is keen to become more engaged, and experience different areas of development in the lab. Fiona hopes to earn a doctorate in psychology to pursue her dream of being a clinical psychologist.
|
|
Vanessa Figueiredo
|
|
Vanessa is a Ph.D. student in Information Studies with a specialization in the design of human-centred interactive technologies at UBC. Her research explores ways of improving web-based information searching for elementary school children using an ecological approach. She believes that children have unique ways of perceiving and approaching information searching. After reading about some studies using the method "A Day in the Life", she decided that the DITL would give her a foundation to explore a child's information searching world. Since April/2020, she volunteered and worked closely with Dr. Cameron and other talented researchers at the Child Study Lab. Besides being a proud cat mama, she is a novice rower at the Vancouver Rowing Club.
|
|
Yingxi Li
|
|
Yingxi is a third-year undergraduate student at UBC, majoring in Psychology. She came from Hangzhou, China and is particularly interested in cross-cultural studies and started volunteering in Dr. Cameron's lab in her first year. She is mostly involved with Verbal Deception, Truth & Trust and the Asian Masculinity project. This lab gave her the opportunity to participate in studies in psychology and gain future insight into this subject as a major. She also volunteered in another research lab during the summer of 2019 and 2020 at HNU, focusing on cognitive psychology. Beyond school, she enjoys travelling and cooking.
|
Alumni
|
Arantxa Mascarenas
|
|
Ara is currently doing a Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health in Miami, Florida. She works as a preschool teacher and she hopes to keep working with children. Once she finishes her Master's, she plans to earn a PhD in Child Psychology. On her days off, she enjoys doing yoga, writing, and watching her favorite shows.
|
|
Claire Shrestha
|
|
Claire graduated with a B.Sc. in Behavioural Neuroscience from UBC in 2018. She was born into a mixed-Asian household and attended a German international school in Singapore. Coming from such a diverse cultural background, she was drawn to Dr. Cameron's cross-cultural work with adolescents. Being a part of this lab has given her invaluable insight and experience in the research process. Claire, with a great love for films and plays, took a gap year to work in the technical and design field in the film and theatre world. Back from her break, she is currently working in a research project on campus sexual assault interventions with a group of researchers from National University of Singapore. Claire aspires to pursue a medical degree in the future with the hope of contributing meaningfully in other people's lives.
|
|
Dana Dmytro
|
|
Dana graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Master of Arts degree in School Psychology. She held a position in the Child Study lab throughout her studies at UBC, where she also earned a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. During her time in the lab, she contributed to studies of thriving children in the transition to kindergarten, including investigations of agency and communion as aspects of thriving and in children's play. Her research contributions also included studies of teens' dating relationships, with a particular focus on the role of gender norms in adolescent boys' relationship navigation for her thesis study. Dana is currently working as a school psychologist and has particular interests in social-emotional learning, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and children and youth with complex developmental behavioural conditions.
|
|
Dhruv Aggarwal
|
|
Dhruv is currently pursuing an MBA at the University of New Brunswick and he joined Dr. Cameron's lab as a Work-Study student. Though from a business background, he is keen on psychology. Dhruv feels privileged to work with some of the best minds all over the world. He is presently working on the Truth and Trust project, which focuses on the development of children's trust and how early they learn to differentiate between trustworthy/untrustworthy speakers. He hopes to contribute and add value to the lab in all the ways possible. Apart from research, Dhruv loves to read about Value Investing.
|
|
Jesse Lo
|
|
Jesse completed the Psychology Honours program at UBC, and he is currently a graduate student in Special Education. He grew up in Hong Kong and moved to Canada for his high school and post-secondary education. His research interest lies in cultural differences in children development due to his bicultural identity. It is also his passion to support families with children with special needs coming from diverse cultural backgrounds. In his free time, he enjoys running and playing music with friends.
|
|
Jessica Knutson
|
|
Jessica is a Child Study Lab alumna with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UBCO and Bachelor of Social Work from UBC; she now works in child and youth engagement with a Delegated Aboriginal Agency. Jessica first joined the lab as a Work Learn student in 2017 at the beginning of her BSW, and continues to connect with research being done in the lab and with current and former lab members. During her time in the lab, Jessica engaged with many projects including: Verbal Deception, A Day in the Life, Truth & Trust, Stress & Coping, Boys' Navigation of Romantic Relationships, and Indigenous Education. She also engaged in research within the School of Social Work regarding experiences in Residential Schools and Culturally-Engaged Caregiving in the Child Welfare system. Being a part of the lab allowed Jessica to attend multiple conferences and speaking engagements, including the UBC Student Leadership Conference, the National Collegiate Research Conference at Harvard, and the annual Canadian Psychological Association conference. Jessica is passionate about Indigenous rights and sovereignty, harm reduction, holistic health and wellness, decolonizing and Indigenizing academia, and youth engagement/amplifying youth voices.
|
|
Nancy Yiu
|
|
Nancy is a fifth-year undergraduate student at UBC, majoring in Psychology and Linguistics. She is extremely passionate about developmental psychology, particularly studying the longitudinal development of a child's cognitive skills and language. Additionally, she is very interested in the cross-cultural research Dr. Cameron does on the topic of verbal deception. This allows her to gain a better understanding of differences in the development of children and youth between cultures. Beyond school, she is also a program leader in her community, creating and leading after-school programs that facilitate skill-building and friendship for children.
|
|
Neringa Dainaraviciute
|
|
Neringa is a PhD candidate in the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program of Social Work and Psychology at UBC. Her research interests focus on resilience among racialized young people in Vancouver. She is a clinical social worker at Vancouver Coastal Health. Neringa was involved with the UBC Child Study Lab working on the Day in the Life projects with kindergarten children and older adults in Canada and Lithuania.
|
|
Sara Kean
|
|
Sara is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of New Brunswick, pursuing an Honours degree in Psychology. Her involvement in the Child Study Lab began in the winter of 2019. Since then, she has been fortunate enough to collaborate on several projects investigating topics such as verbal deception, moral decision-making and adolescent girls' relationships. She finds the cross-cultural focus of Dr. Cameron's work to be very interesting and is thankful to be part of such a collaborative team. In her free time, she enjoys reading, running and spending time in nature with her golden doodle.
|
|
Serena Jenkins
|
|
Serena is currently a PhD candidate in Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, studying under Dr. Robbin Gibb. Her research examines the effects of maternal preconception experience on offspring development. Specifically, she is investigating how maternal chronic exposure to alcohol or nicotine prior to conception impacts offspring development. She is also questioning if positive experiences, such as sobriety and complex environments, can mitigate the effects of drug use. She worked with Dr. Cameron for nearly three years during her Undergraduate degree studies at the University of New Brunswick, where she worked with Anne Hunt to collect data with two kindergarten children and an older adult as part of the Day in the Life project. Her hobbies include knitting, baking, and reading non-fiction, especially the works of Richard Dawkins.
|
|
Winni Chou
|
|
Winni completed her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Master of Occupational Therapy at the University of British Columbia where I graduated in 2017. She currently works as an Occupational Therapist in the areas of pediatrics and community therapy. Her involvement in this lab began in early 2013 while pursuing her undergraduate degree in Psychology, and she has had the privilege of collaborating with other members of this lab in a variety of projects including the Verbal Deception, a Day in the Life, and the Boys' and Girls' Adolescent Relationships projects. She has a passion for working with children and has acquired 14 years of experience working with children as a swimming instructor, Sunday school teacher, summer camp counsellor, behaviour interventionist, and now, an Occupational Therapist.
|
|
Ye-Von Lee
|
|
Ye-Von graduated from UBC with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a minor in Health & Society. She initially joined the lab as a directed studies thesis student working with Dr. Cameron on Truth and Trust, but soon realized that she wanted to stay longer to work on more projects with all the wonderful team members and Dr. Cameron. Since then, she has worked on projects focused on verbal deception and coping strategies. After completing her undergraduate degree, she began working as a research assistant/coordinator at Oak Tree Clinic, a multidisciplinary clinic providing specialized clinical care for women and children living with HIV/AIDS. Since recognizing the complex challenges prevalent in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) through her work, she focused her time and interest in volunteering with advocacy groups and organizations addressing the needs of the DTES community. She is eager to complete nursing studies at the University of Toronto, so that she can pursue a career in healthcare in hopes of providing low-barrier, on-demand care through outreach medical services.
|
|
Yingsheng Liu
|
|
Yingsheng is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Hong Kong. Studying a double-degree programme in Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education, she is interested in the cross-cultural study of how children develop important abilities such as languages and moral understanding. Yingsheng got to know Dr. Cameron because of the Mitacs Globalink Research Programme 2020 and has become a member of her Child Study Lab since then. With the passion for making contributions to education and better catering for children's needs in their development, Yingsheng is prepared for continuing postgraduate studies in related areas.
|
|
|
