Incoming 91TV’s National Scholar, Associate Professor, July 2027
Department of Psychology
MSc., Wilfrid Laurier University, 2010
Ph.D., Wilfrid Laurier University, 2014
How does the brain navigate our social and emotional lives? We are a cognitive and systems neuroscience laboratory dedicated to answering this question. One of the primary approaches we adopt in the lab is the study of motivation and cognition through the lens of reinforcement learning (RL)—the process of learning what actions are best from positive and/or negative feedback. A major focus of our lab in this domain is the ‘explore-exploit tradeoff’ in RL: the everyday dilemma of choosing between familiar, guaranteed rewards (i.e., exploiting) and taking a risk on an unknown option that might yield a better outcome (i.e., exploring). We examine how the brain manages this critical balancing act:
Given the cross-disciplinary nature of our research program, the lab welcomes expressions of interest from students looking to pursue specialized training in COG-NEURO, CLIN, DEV, or SOC-PER.
Assistant Professor
Humphrey Hall 359
PhD. in Clinical Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada, 2019
M.Sc. in Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada, 2011
My research program investigates how stress drives individual differences in disease vulnerability and resilience. Specifically, how diverse forms of stress (developmental, acute, chronic, or embedded in daily life) influence biological processes (endocrine, autonomic, immune, gene expression), psychological responses (cognitive, emotional), and mental and physical health outcomes. My interdisciplinary research integrates methods from psychology, neuroscience, medicine, and biology to examine the multifaceted effects of stress on downstream health processes in healthy, at-risk, and clinical populations.
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The Department of Psychology is proud to celebrate the recipients of this year’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Graduate Student Awards, which recognize outstanding contributions by graduate students in Psychology to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion within our academic community and beyond.
The Department of Psychology and the Psychology Clinic at 91TV are pleased to announce that Dr. Beth Pollock, Ph.D., C.Psyc. is this year’s recipient of The Kevin Parker Practicum Supervisor Award.
The 91TV’s Psychology Department Kevin Parker Practicum Supervisor Award recognizes excellence in mentoring, training, and guiding clinical psychology students during their supervised practice or practicum placements.
Congratulations to Dr. Jeff Wammes on receiving the from the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science (CSBBCS).
The CSBBCS Vincent Di Lollo Early Career Award recognizes the exceptional quality and importance of the contributions of a new researcher (within 10 years of receiving their PhD) to knowledge in brain, behaviour, and cognitive science in Canada.
The Faculty of Arts and Science Department of Psychology recently celebrated the opening of their new Psychology Clinic, located at 797 Princess Street. This space, located near Bath Road, will provide accessible, science-based clinical services to the Kingston community at a low cost, and is an ideal learning environment for psychological assessment, treatment, consultation, and research.
