My education and training in psychology have been diverse, spanning the areas of stress, coping, and occupational health; social support and relationships; spirituality and personal meaning; and dreams.

BSc (Psychology). I received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Trent University in 2006. My honours thesis examined the relationships among dream content and aspects of self-reported health. During my undergraduate degree, I had the opportunity to be involved in a few different studies on dreams and dreaming, and it was during this time that I realized many related interests, including personal meaning, trauma, and health.

MSc (Statistical Modelling/Psychology). Following my undergrad, I completed a Master of Science degree at Trent University in 2008. As part of an interdisciplinary program focused on statistical modelling, I examined the concept of spiritual intelligence. This involved the proposal of a new model and definition of spiritual intelligence, as well as the development and empirical validation of a corresponding self-report measure, the SISRI-24. (For more information, see my publications here.)

PhD (Psychology). I received my PhD in health psychology from the University of British Columbia in 2013. My research addressed work-related stress and the ways in which couples cope with stress together across settings. We initially recruited over a hundred paramedics and their cohabitating partners/spouses from across Canada in order to better understand their experiences with stress, including their ability to cope with stress originating on the job. Employing daily diary methods, we found evidence of stress transmission/contagion between home and work settings and between paramedics and their partners. Additional findings are continuing to be published. 

More recently, I have been involved in research examining how individuals cope with stress arising from disease outbreaks, pandemics, and other collective threats to health and well-being. Other interests include the long-term effects of trauma among healthcare professionals (e.g., paramedics) and the application of transactional models of stress and coping to clinical, ‘invisible,’ and otherwise vulnerable populations (e.g., older adults, Holocaust survivors, Indigenous and LGBTQIA+ people).

In addition to my research, I have been teaching at the university level since 2012, leading upper-level courses in personality, health psychology, the psychology of death and dying, and the psychology of sex and gender in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. In 2019, I was awarded the Knox Master Teaching Award for excellence in teaching in psychology. In my role as Lecturer, I am committed to fostering critical thinking and supporting collaborative engagement in the field of psychology. 

Over the past decade, I have authored multiple papers in peer-reviewed journals and co-authored two undergraduate textbooks (see Books and Publications). I have received multiple awards for research in psychology, including an Early Career Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association and a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Award from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). For more information on my research and publication history, you read find my CV here. 

In 2015, I moved to Bowen Island, British Columbia, a small island community located in Howe Sound, just off the West Coast of Canada. After living in Vancouver for nearly a decade, it was time to escape the concrete jungle and reconnect with nature. I have had a lifelong affinity for nature and nonhuman life, and this informs all aspects of my work, from my writing to my teaching. I am also an advocate for social justice, particularly in matters of human rights and environmental conservation. I consider myself a feminist and a staunch defender of equality, whether in the classroom or beyond. To this end, I strive to be an ally to those who are marginalized. I have a strong communal orientation to the world around me and consider decency and kindness two of my greatest values.