People

The admissions deadline has passed for graduate studies in Psychology beginning in Fall 2025.  The lab is not currently taking applications for new research assistants, new honours students in 2025-26, or new graduate students beginning in Fall 2026.

Lab Director

DAN BAILIS

Professor​
Department of Psychology
​University of Manitoba

Current Students

Collectively, we are grateful for the financial support and recognition of previous and current students by numerous fellowship and award programs, notably those of the Canada Graduate Scholarship, Research Manitoba Studentship, University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship, and Psychology Graduate Fellowship.

KEVIN KRISTJANSON

Kevin is a Ph.D. Candidate in Clinical Psychology. With an interest in sport psychology, Kevin's dissertation examines the relationship between self-compassion and risk-taking in sport injury rehabilitation. In other work, he has examined the effect of dispositional mindfulness on stress experienced by collegiate student-athletes.

NHU NGOC (NATALIA) NGUYEN

Natalia is a PhD student in the Social and Personality Psychology program.  She is currently examining people's interpretations of self-compassion in terms of eating behaviours. In other work, she is also examining how trait self-compassion is linked to selective attention and processing of low-consumerist lifestyle behaviours. 

KEZIA WONG

Kezia is an MA student in the Social and Personality program. Her research interests include understanding intergroup interactions, discrimination, and social inequities. She is currently pursuing these interests through her ongoing research on self-compassion, the contact hypothesis, and attitudes toward immigration.

YIMENG HAN

LAKIN ROSE
Yimeng is an MA student in the Social and Personality program. She is interested in how psychology can help to limit climate change and what drives pro-environmental behavior. Her thesis research examines these topics through the lens of primary and secondary control striving.
Lakin is an entering MA student in the Social and Personality program. She is interested in dyadic and interpersonal relationships, as well as the personality and social psychological dynamics of competitive sports participation.

Micha  Schwartz

Micha is a third-year undergraduate in the Faculty of Arts who has contributed as a Research Assistant to many of our studies on self-compassion as it relates to food preferences and consumption, cognitive dissonance, and desire for retail therapy.​

Lab Alumni

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Congratulations to Sanya Singh, Heather Ivan, and Alex Fortney, who completed their honours theses and degrees in the lab in 2024-25!

​Katarina Klippenstein - completed her B.Sc. (hons.) in the lab.

Nathan Matthews - held a Psychology Undergraduate Research Experience Award in the lab.  He presented his findings at the 2023 Society for Personality and Social Psychology conference in Atlanta and won 3rd place in the U of M Undergraduate Research Poster Competition in the Social Sciences and Humanities category.  He went on to graduate studies in Cognitive Psychology at McGill University.

Abbey Hall - completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab and presented her findings at the 2023 Canadian Psychological Association conference in Toronto. She went on to graduate studies in Psychology at the University of New Brunswick.

Remy Desloges - completed his B.A. (hons.) in the lab.

Van Bui - Van completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab and participated for another year as its technician.  She received several awards including the Canadian Psychological Association Certificate of Excellence, W. N. Ten Have Research Award, and the Psychology Undergraduate Research Experience Award.  She went on to graduate studies in Clinical Psychology at the University of Waterloo.

Chantelle Chernick -- Chantelle completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab before returning as a graduate student in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences program area.

Ben Schellenberg – Ben completed his Ph.D. in the lab and moved to a SSHRC postdoc at the University of Ottawa before returning to the University of Manitoba as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management.

Clove Haviva – Clove completed her M.A. in the lab and went on to complete her Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Manitoba, followed by a postdoc with the Global Aging Community Initiative at Mount Saint Vincent University and further affiliation with the Department of Medicine at Dalhousie University.

Tara Giller (Thacher) – Tara completed her B.A. (hons.), M.A., and Ph.D. in the lab, and went on to become the Team Lead for Data and Research with Bold Marketing in Winnipeg, and more recently Manager of Engagement Science at Symend.

Nicolas Brais – Nic completed his B.A. (hons.) and M.A. in the lab and went on to pursue his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manitoba.

Matthew Thompson – Matthew completed his B.A. (hons.) in the lab and went on to become an Enrollment Services Assistant with the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology in Winnipeg.

Reegan McCheyne – Reegan completed his B.A. (hons.) and went on pursue his M.A. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manitoba.

Cindy Foster – Cindy completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab and went on to become the Executive Director of Regenesis Centre for Recovery in Winnipeg.

Alanna Single – completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab and went on to pursue her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manitoba.

Nicole Buck – completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab and subsequently obtained her M.A. in School Psychology at the University of Manitoba. She is now a school psychologist with the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre.

Michaela Calderwood - completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab and won the Canadian Psychological Association Award of Excellence for her thesis. She obtained her graduate training from University of British Columbia Okanagan in Social Work and is now a Care Manager/Family Advisor with SKIP of New York.

Pamela Bachewich - completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab and went on to receive her M.Sc. degree in the School of Medical Rehabilitation at the University of Manitoba.

Brian Wood - completed his B.A. (hons.) in the lab.

Jennifer McArthur - completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab and went on to obtain her M.Sc. in Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba.

Ryan Reyes – completed his B.A. (hons.) in the lab, went on to receive his M.Sc. in Community Health Sciences from the University of Calgary, and is now the Lead for Health System Analytics at the Health Quality Council of Alberta in Calgary.

Daniel Buchanan - completed his B.A. (hons.) and M.A. in School Psychology. He is now a clinical associate with Red Ladder Optimized Learning and Seven Oaks School Division.

Nathan Aird - completed his B.A. (hons.) in the lab and went on to study Law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.

Erika Pouru - completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab.

Chelsey Kent - completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab.

Tiffany Helgason - completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab and won the Program Medal for highest standing in the Faculty of Arts. She went on to complete her M.A. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manitoba.

Teddy Andres – completed his B.A. (hons.) in the lab and went on to study Business in Germany.

J. Ashley Fleming – completed his B.A. (hons.) in the lab and won the W. Ten Have Award and the Canadian Psychological Association Award of Excellence for his thesis. He went on to receive his M.A. in Psychology at the University of Manitoba.

Jesse Preston – completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab and went on to complete her M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology at Harvard University. She has held academic appointments at the University of Western Ontario, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of California - Berkeley, and University of Warwick where she is now an Associate Professor.

Tara Boyaniwsky - completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab and her M.A. in social psychology from the University of Manitoba.

Tanya Fudyk - completed her B.A. (hons.) in the lab and went on to receive her M.A. in School Psychology from the University of Calgary. She is now a Psychological Associate with the Toronto District School Board.
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Brian Strong - completed his B.A. (hons.) in the lab.