Arguelles-So Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award
2021-2022: Ananya Ivaturi
An award recognizing one Psi Chi member who has displayed meaningful and explicit efforts that seek to further equity, diversity, and inclusion in the UBC community. Award value is $400.
Ananya is a fourth-year student studying Psychology and Commerce. She was born and raised in Bangalore, India for
18 years before she moved abroad for university. Over the last few years as an international student at UBC, Ananya has developed a deep passion for equity, diversity and inclusion. In the past year, she worked as the Equity and Inclusion Director for the Arts Undergraduate Society and led the introduction of the Equity and Inclusion Chapter in AUS Code of Procedure, which governs all the students in the Arts Community. Additionally, she worked as a Program Assistant at the UBC Office of Regional and International Community Engagement (ORICE) and spearheaded the implementation of a social justice event series featuring academic scholars, students and community leaders. The series was dedicated to exploring how words in activism are understood and used in different contexts. Outside of work, Ananya enjoys travelling, film photography and music. In the future, she hopes to work as an EDI consultant and pursue a Law degree in the space of human rights.
Suedfeld Scholar Award
An award recognizing the most outstanding student combining excellence in academics, research and service/leadership. The is UBC Psi Chi’s most prestigious award. Award value is $500.
2019-2020: Andy Kim
Andy will graduate with a BA Honours Psychology degree in May 2020. Currently, he is conducting research in Dr. Paul Hewitt’s Perfectionism and Psychopathology Lab, Dr. Kristin Laurin’s MAGIC Lab, and Dr. Luke Clark’s Centre for Gambling Research. Along with these supervisors, Andy is grateful for the tutelage of amazing graduate students: Gordon Heltzel and Ariel Ko. Outside of academia, Andy dedicates himself as a leader in the University Christian Ministries, helps autistic children as an integrated support worker, and volunteers at the UBC Hospital. Andy is passionate about mental health issues and wishes to pursue a career in clinical psychology.
2018-19: Brandon Forys
Brandon is a 3rd year BA Honours Psychology student who is passionate about exploring a wide variety of scientific fields. He is conducting research with Dr. Kiran Soma’s lab; Dr. Tim Murphy’s lab in the Department of Psychiatry; and Dr. Rebecca Todd’s Motivated Cognition Lab. He has presented his research as first co-author on a paper on the bioRxiv repository; has presented posters at the Psychology, Neuroscience, and Multidisciplinary undergraduate research conferences; and is an author on a Neuroscience 2018 conference abstract. He is also currently working towards a number of manuscripts. Outside of research, Brandon teaches UBC students of all backgrounds how to build their own AIs with the AMS Turing Club @ UBC, a club he co-founded. He also organizes Model United Nations conferences for UBC students as the VP Academic-Internal of UBC MUNSA, and is working with a global team of engineers and designers to create a one-person flying machine for the Boeing-sponsored HeroX GoFly Prize. Brandon is also a Wesbrook Scholar and a recipient of the HSBC Emerging Leaders scholarship. In the future, he intends to study cognitive, industrial-organizational, or human factors psychology in graduate school.
2017-18: Samantha Wong
Samantha is a senior student studying Behavioral Neuroscience, and will graduate in May 2018. She is actively involved in multiple research projects under the supervision of Dr. Richard J. Wassersug and Dr. Todd S. Woodward. She presented the results of these projects at both local and international conferences, and is currently working on the manuscripts for publication. Samantha is also involved in campus activities and have been the Vice President Marketing at Dance Horizons, co-founder and Director of Communications at UBC Neuroscience Club, and Reading Week Student Leader. Samantha is dedicated to community services with children and is looking to pursue graduate studies that would combine her interests in working with children and research in psychology.
2016-17: Manesh Girn
Manesh is in his final year at UBC, and will graduate with a BA in Cognitive Systems in May 2017. He is actively involved in Dr. Kalina Christoff’s Cognitive Neuroscience of Thought Lab and Dr. Lawrence Ward’s Psychophysics and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab. Together with his research supervisors, Manesh has co-authored a number of journal articles and book chapters. He has presented his research at such conferences as the Society for Neuroscience, and is President of the UBC Meditation Community and the UBC Psychadelic Community.
2015-16: No SSA was awarded this year.
2014-15: Charlotte Kukowski
Charlotte was a 4th-year BA Honours student in the 2014-2015 academic year. In addition to taking on many leadership roles in the community, she was involved in the Motivated Cognition Lab (lab website link: http://mclab.psych.ubc.ca), researching the role of attentional bias and attributional style in relationship satisfaction.
2013-14: Nathan Wispinski
Nathan was a 4th-year BA Honours Psychology student in the 2013-14 academic year. In addition to being an active member of the department, he produced manuscripts and presentations during his time conducting research with Dr. Elizabeth Dunn, Dr. Todd Handy, and Dr. Craig Chapman.
2012-13: Elaine Chan
Elaine was a 4th-year BSc Psychology student working with Dr. S. Evelyn Stewart and Dr. Deborah Giaschi in the 2012-13 academic year. In addition to extensive research achievements encompassing both publications and poster presentations, she was active in leadership and service roles within the community and with organizations such as Scouts Canada.
2011-12: TamilSelvan Ramis
Selvan was a 3rd-year BA Honours Psychology student in the 2011-12 academic year. He amassed an impressive research background and coupled with playing a pivotal leadership role in the Psychology Students’ Association for more than two years (along with his role in other student organizations), he has proven himself as one of our department’s very best.
Goldsmith-Whillans Award for Outstanding Student Leadership
A service/leadership-based award designed to recognize an outstanding student leader in our department and/or community. Award value is $250.
2021-22: Deea K. Dev (she/her)
Deea is in her 4th year of undergrad, completing her BSc in Behavioural Neuroscience. She is passionate about social work and neuroscience and hopes to integrate these passions to help those struggling with psychiatric disorders. She is currently involved in nutrition education projects at Atira Women’s Resource Society as well as research at the UBC Memory and Imagination Lab, and the non-profit organization Simbi Foundation that supports refugees in Uganda. Additionally, Deea’s interests in immigrant advocacy intersecting with her passion for STEM motivated her to start an organization, STEMPacts, which offers STEM engagement opportunities to young immigrants and refugees.
2019-20: Marisha Boyd
Marisha is a 3rd year student majoring in Behavioural Neuroscience with a minor in Health & Society. Her research interests include the intersections between public health and climate change, and she is fortunate to have presented her work across Canada. She is currently working in the Addiction and Concurrent Disorders Lab and completing a directed studies with Dr. Jiaying Zhao as part of the Climate Justice Research Collaborative. Marisha is also starting her second year as the Co-President of the UBC Neuroscience Club, where she and her team have launched a mentorship program and continue to run an annual conference. Marisha’s interest in sustainability has led her to pursue leadership positions within Common Energy, represent British Columbia’s youth at international energy conferences, and she will soon be travelling to New York City to attend a United Nations conference on the Sustainable Development Goals. She also enjoys working as a UBC Student Ambassador, where she leads campus tours for prospective students from around the world. Marisha looks forward to pursuing graduate studies in a field that will combine her interests in neuroscience, public health and sustainability.
2018-19: Alicia Wong
In her time at UBC, Alicia was the president of the Psychology Students’ Association, and worked as a study manager in in Dr. Jeremy Biesanz’s Social Accuracy Lab as well as Dr. Toni Schmader’s Social Identity Lab. Additionally, she led an investigation as part of a directed studies project on the effects of consuming acetaminophen on psychological pain for 2 years in Dr. Steve Heine’s Culture & Self Lab.
2017-18: No GWA was awarded this year.
2016-17: Thalia Lang
Thalia is a 3rd year BA Honours student interested in the impact of psychopathology on relationships. She is chair of the UBC United Way Student Committee and works with children with autism as a Behavioural Interventionist. She is currently wrapping up her AMS Impact Grant study on the effects of interpersonal factors on suicidal ideation and attempts of first-year students transitioning to UBC.
2015-16: Yousef Shahin
Yousef was a 3rd year BSc Psychology student in the 2015-2016 academic year. He has been continuously involved in developing a number of initiatives to improve his community. Most recently, he has co-founded a mentorship program for high-school students in Langley. This program serves as an educational platform for students, and provides them with access to information about university life as well as personal accounts of the struggles of UBC professors during their undergraduate careers.
2014-15: Sarah Cheung
Sarah was a 4th year BSc Psychology student in the 2014-2015 academic year. Apart from her dedication in two research labs, she was actively engaged in supporting individuals with disabilities. She was a trustee for Families of SMA Canada (http://www.curesma.ca/), and was involved with “Bridging the Gap: A Palliative Approach for Young Adult Transition,” with hopes of starting a free standing palliative care facility for young adults in BC.
2013-14: Vivian Kwan
Vivian was a 4th year BSc Psychology student in the 2013-2014 academic year. Resourceful, innovative and persistent, she created and led a student directed seminar titled “Traumatic brain injury: the full picture of impact”. This course brought together students, brain injury survivors and health care providers to promote awareness of the Headway Centre.
2012-13: Zhenxinyu (Derek) Zhang
Derek was a 4th-year BA Honours Psychology student in the 2012-13 academic year. As an undergrad, he was actively initiating service projects with the Golden Key in his roles as a committee member, Vice President, and then as UBC Chapter’s Co-President. In Summer 2012, he founded the Application Peer Program to assist international applicants from China with their applications to Canadian universities.
2011-12: Houman Rashidian
Houman was a 4th-year BSc Psychology student in the 2011-12 academic year. His commitment to the UBC and greater Vancouver area was stunning, evidenced by an impressive list of previous and ongoing service commitments, many of which were in a leadership capacity. Houman plans to pursue medical school after UBC to specialize in psychiatry.
Distinguished Undergraduate Research Award (DURA)
A research-based award designed to recognize an outstanding student researcher in our department or an affiliated lab/facility. Award value is $250.
2021-22: Eliscia Sinclair (she/her)
Eliscia has spent the past three years working with Dr. Darko Odic (Centre for Cognitive Development) where she developed her own directed studies project. Eliscia will continue this project in the summer, funded by an NSERC USRA. This year, Eliscia completed two other directed studies projects with Dr. Kristin Laurin (MAGIC Lab) and Dr. Luke Clark (Centre for Gambling Research). Eliscia is also a research assistant with Dr. Dale Griffin (Behavioural Decision Lab, Sauder School of Business). This spring, Eliscia is finishing her fourth and final year at UBC. She is excited to continue her research career and will be attending Ryerson University’s MA/Ph.D. Clinical Psychology program in the fall.
2019-20: 2 awards given
Talia Morstead
Talia is a senior student who has been working with Dr. Anita DeLongis on various projects examining the impact of stress on physical and psychological health and the role coping plays in such processes. In 2019, Talia was awarded the Quinn Research Assistantship Award and the Peter Crocker Award in Health Psychology for her work including contributions in her role as project coordinator for the UBC Genetic Connections Study. Most recently, Talia has been working with Dr. Anita DeLongis and Dr. Nancy Sin as project coordinator for ongoing studies assessing the psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and hopes to continue research in this area in graduate school.
Hannah Rosen
Hannah is a fourth-year full-time student who will be receiving her Bachelor of Arts from the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia in May 2020. She is a passionate peer researcher with over three years of experience as a volunteer research assistant, advertisement coordinator, study coordinator, and lab manager / research coordinator in both the UBC’s Personality, Emotion, and Behaviour Lab and Social Health Lab. She specializes in LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention research, and is enthusiastic about outreach, education, and the de-stigmatization of mental and social health concerns within the queer community. She intends to pursue her PhD and later career specializing in LGBTQ+ clinical psychology motivated by her desire to improve the lives of those who have high need and low representation. Being both bisexual and non-binary, her goal for both her professional and research career in psychology is to use her unique experience and perspective to conduct more representative and comprehensive research on, provide more accessible and effective resources to, and expand public knowledge on the unique needs of, at-risk LGBTQ+ youth in the hopes of reducing queer youth suicidality worldwide.
2018-19: Kevin Chi
As a fourth year psychology student, Kevin has been conducting research alongside Dr. Nancy Sin and Dr. Christiane Hoppmann. His research focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of well-being, as well as socioeconomic and racial disparities in adaptive aging. Kevin has received several awards for his research, including the Peter Crocker Award in Psychology (2017) and Quinn Research Assistantship Award (2017 & 2018). He has presented his research at the annual meeting of the Canadian Association on Gerontology, Gerontological Society of America, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and the Western Psychological Association.
2017-18: George Kachkovski
George has had the amazing opportunity to explore a whole bunch of research interests over his time at UBC. He started out in Prof. Alan Kingstone’s lab, working on projects that explored the impact of film editing rules, and social gaze cueing. George then joined the lab of Prof. Kiran Soma, where he assisted in researching the effects of maternal high sucrose diets on offspring health and behaviour, as well as the role of local neural synthesis of testosterone on behavioural flexibility. He later joined the lab of Prof. Brett Finlay, where he worked on projects exploring the interaction between the brain and the gut microbiome. In the future, George plans to focus on research that has health and clinical implications. In his spare time, he works on projects related to the downtown east side street community.
2016-17: Ariel Ko
As a 5th-year BA Psychology student, Ariel currently holds research positions in three labs. She is conducting bilingual language studies on toddlers at the UBC Infant Studies Centre, leading an investigation on the cultural differences in parents’ attitudes and knowledge of ADHD at BC Children’s Hospital, and examining the relationship between perfectionism and attachment in children and adolescents as the project manager at UBC’s Perfectionism and Psychopathology Lab.
2015-16: Quentin Raffaelli
Quentin was a 5th-year BA Psychology student in the 2015-16 academic year. Initially volunteering in the Dr. Snyder’s lab, he then turned to cognition by working in the labs of Dr. Kingstone, Dr. Todd, and Dr. Christoff. During his two years as a research assistant, Quentin presented at multiples conferences and submitted several manuscripts. Graduating in spring 2016, he plans to pursue academic research while applying for graduate school.
2014-15: Shih-Ting (Tina) Huang
Tina was a 4th year BA Honours Psychology student in the 2014-2015 academic year. During her time at UBC, Tina has accumulated extensive research experience from the labs of Drs. Todd Handy, Geoffrey Hall, James Enns, and Peter Graf, encompassing manuscripts and conference presentations. She is interested in cognitive psychology and she plans to pursue graduate studies after her graduation in spring 2015.
2013-14: Megan MacPherson
Megan was a 4th year BA Honours student in the 2013-14 academic year. Working alongside Dr. Kiley Hamlin and Dr. Amori Mikami, Megan has been conducting research on the development of gender stereotypes and the negative outcomes of acting in counter-stereotypic ways. Megan is graduating in spring 2014 and plans to continue this line of research while applying for graduate school.
2012-13: Xiaolei (Charlie) Deng
Charlie was a 4th-year BA Psychology student in the 2012-13 academic year. Charlie has pursued research on perfectionism and its clinical implications with support and guidance from Dr. Paul Hewitt. Besides clinical research, Charlie is also interested in quantitative methods. Charlie is graduating in spring 2013 and he plans to take some time off to conduct research before applying to graduate school.
2011-12: David Wu
David was a 4th-year BSc Psychology student in the 2011-12 academic year. David gained an impressive amount of research experience in his time at UBC working with Dr. James Enns and Dr. Alan Kingstone, having both presentations and manuscripts to show for it. Even though he will be joining UBC Law in Fall 2012, he still plans to keep active with research in our department.
Eich Undergraduate Travel Award (EUTA)
A research-based award designed to financially support undergraduate research presentations at national or international conferences. Award value is $250-400, depending on the number of winners and available resources.
2019-20: No EUTA was awarded this year
2018-19: No EUTA was awarded this year
2017-18: Vrinda Munjal
Vrinda is in her final year of her BSc. in Integrated Science specializing in Neuroscience and Physiology. She has been actively involved in research in the Perception-Action Lab under the supervision of Dr. Naznin Virji-Babul for the past three years. She has previously published a research article and presented her work at UBC conferences and at the International Conference for Paediatric Acquired Brain Injury. Along with research, Vrinda also works with individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities through an organization called “Best Buddies”. She will be attending medical school next year.
2016-17:
Dawson Born
Ariel Ko
Elizabeth Leong
Joey Manaligod
Katherine Moore
Austin Rothwell
2015-16: Kara Hawley
Kara was a 4th-year BA psychology student and a research assistant for Dr. Kenneth D. Craig in the 2015-2016 academic year. In May 2016, Kara presented a poster entitled “The Acceptability on Participating in an Investigation of Ongoing and Instigated Pain During Post-Operative Recovery for Children and Their Parents” at the annual Association for Psychological Science convention in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
2015-16: Lauren Wylie
Lauren (B.A. in Psychology, 2016) was a directed studies student and project coordinator for Dr. Michael Souza’s Student Engagement Program. In April 2016, Lauren will be co-presenting a poster entitled “ Increasing student engagement for second year psychology majors: An experimental study ” at the Western Psychological Association (WPA) Convention in Long Beach, California.
2015-16: Joanne Zhou
Joanne (Yuan) was a 4th-year BA Honours student with Dr. Paul Hewitt in the 2015-2016 academic year. In June 2016, Joanne presented a poster entitled “Maternal autonomy support, insecure attachment, and socially prescribed perfectionism among young adults” at the Annual Convention of the Canadian Psychological Association in Victoria, BC.
2014-15: Shawn Sanders
Shawn Sanders (BA [Honours] in Psycholgoy, 2015) worked with Dr. Peter Suedfeld, and presented his research (titled “Integrative complexity in conspiracy theory adherents and non-adherents: A comparison of online communities”) at the 76th annual convention of the Canadian Psychological Association, in Ottawa, Canada.
2014-15: Kurtis Stewart
Kurtis (BA Psychology, 2014) was a research assistant in Dr. Charlotte Johnston’s Parenting Lab. In May 2015, Kurtis will be presenting a poster (titled “How children’s responses to their mothers’ attributions moderate the relation between child problems and the parent-child relationship”) at the Association for Psychological Science’s annual convention in New York, New York.
2014-15:Charlotte Kukowski
Charlotte was a 4th-year BA Honours student in the 2014-2015 academic year. In addition to taking on many leadership roles in the community, she was involved in the Motivated Cognition Lab, researching the role of attentional bias and attributional style in relationship satisfaction.
2013-14: Megan MacPherson
Megan was a 4th year BA Honours student with Dr. Kiley Hamlin in the 2013-14 academic year. In June, 2014, Megan will present a poster “Emotion Expression: The Developmental Trajectory of Gendered Display Rules” at the World Association for Infant Mental Health in Edinburgh, Scotland.
2013-14: Naiomi Neufeld
Naiomi was a 4th year BA Honours student with Dr. David Klonsky during the 2013-14 academic year. In April 2014, Naiomi presented a poster entitled “Explaining the Transition from Suicide Ideation to Suicide Attempts: A Systematic Comparison of Two Theories ” at the Annual Conference of the American Association of Suicidology in Los Angeles, California, USA.
2012-13: Sophia Bobovski
Sophia was a 4th year BA student with Dr. Andrew Baron in the 2012-2013 academic year. In April 2013, Sophia presented a poster “The Automaticity of a Minimal Group Bias among Preschoolers” at the Society for Research on Child Development biennial meeting in Seattle, Washington.
2012-13: Xiaolei (Charlie) Deng
Charlie was a 4th-year BA student and a research assistant for Dr. Paul Hewitt in the 2012-13 academic year. In July 2013, Xiaolei will present a poster “Perfectionism, Maladaptive Self-presentation and Suicide Ideation in Male Retirees” at the Annual APA Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii.
2012-13: Marina Le
Marina was a 4th-year BA student with Dr. David Klonsky in the 2012-13 academic year. In April 2013, Marina presented a poster entitled “Suicidal Ideation: Positive Affective Experiences” at the Annual Conference of the American Association of Suicidology in Austin, Texas, USA.
2011-12: Carol Chu
Carol was a 4th-year BSc student and a research assistant for Dr. David Klonsky in the 2011-12 academic year. In July 2012, Carol presented a poster entitled ” Borderline Personality: Disorder of Positive and Negative Emotion Dysregulation or Disorder of Elevated Negative Affect?” at the Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
2011-12: Kaitlyn Goldsmith
Kaitlyn was a 4th-year BA Honours student with Dr. Boris Gorzalka in the 2011-12 academic year. In July 2012, Kaitlyn presented a poster entitled “Attachment Style and Female Sexuality: Investigating the Role of Sexual Satisfaction, Sexual Communication & Gender Role Ideology” at the Annual Meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research in Lisbon, Portugal.
2011-12: Erik Thulin
Erik Thulin was a 4th-year student in the Cognitive Systems program working with Dr. Joseph Henrich in the 2011-12 academic year. In June 2012, Erik presented a poster tilted “Why We Punish: The Normative Correlates of Third Party Sanctioning” to the Annual Meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology in Boulder, Colorado.
2011-12: Ashley Whillans
Ashley was a 4th-year BA Honours student with Dr. Elizabeth Dunn in the 2011-12 academic year. In January 2012, Ashley presented a poster entitled “Feeling like you made a difference: The importance of perceived prosocial impact when giving to others” at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in San Diego, California.