Meet our Current Lab Members
Heba Elgharbawy
PhD Student
Heba is pursuing a PhD in the Clinical Lifespan Psychology program at UVic. She completed her Master’s in Clinical Psychology at UVic and her Honours Bachelor in Applied Science degree in Psychology at the University of Guelph-Humber. Her research interests include mood disorders in youth, the impact of COVID-19 on youth mental health, and improving mental health services and quality of care for all-particularly for people of colour and other minority groups. Heba hopes to identify current gaps in mental health services, barriers to accessing services, and how to support youth mental health.
Aleah Ross
PhD Student
Aleah Ross (MSc) is a PhD student in the Clinical Lifespan Development program and the AMES Lab. Aleah is grateful to live, work, and play on the traditional, unceded territories of the Tseycum and Pauquachin First Nations. Her primary research interests are generally within the discipline of health psychology. Most recently, Aleah has conducted research evaluating a web-based physical activity intervention for youth with low mood and depression engaged in primary and community clinical care across BC. Through this and related work, Aleah aims to support youth mental health and wellbeing, and build evidence for alternative care and treatment of mental and chronic health conditions. Aleah also has special interests in the integration of BC primary and community care services with the goal to improve the delivery of healthcare services. Aleah has experience in applied research with mixed and community-oriented methods. Professionally, Aleah works as a researcher and coach on a number of excellent teams that have grown her passion and skills in health promotion, as well as clinical and research disciplines. She thrives in fast-paced and collaborative environments that contribute to healthy communities. When she is not in the lab, you’ll find Aleah at the beach with her dog Paisley, or off hiking the island.
Emmett Sihoe
Graduate Student
Emmett is pursuing a Master’s in the Clinical Lifespan Psychology program at the University of Victoria. Emmett completed his Bachelor’s of Science (Honours) at Uvic prior to his graduate studies. Emmett’s research focuses on the relationship between health behaviours, digital media use, and mental health outcomes in adolescents. Specifically, he is studying the relationship between screen time, sleep and physical activity, and mental well-being in high school students. He also is researching the experiences of autistic students in post-secondary settings with the aim of supporting autistic students’ success in school. Prior to entering the program, Emmett worked as an Addictions and Mental Health Outreach worker in the community.
Kevin Styba-Nelson
Graduate Student
Brayden Boyd
Graduate Student
Olivia Gale
Honours Student
Olivia is currently a 4th year student working towards a BSc Honours in Psychology. Olivia’s honours thesis explores how teens with somatic symptoms feel connected to their bodies and if emotional regulation and physical activity play a role in that connection. She plans to continue research into graduate school for clinical psychology studying pediatric pain and the sociocultural aspects of the pain experience.
Kai Punt
Honours Student
Kai is currently a 5th-year student working towards a BSc Honours in psychology with a minor in art education. Kai has been apart of the Ames Lab since the Fall of 2022 and has helped with research projects pertaining to supports for autistic post-secondary students and online physical activity interventions for depression. As an autistic student themself, Kai has found their passion in research that promotes the strengths of autistic individuals and dismantling medical perspectives of disability. They also have an interest in promoting gender-diversity in the field of psychology, amongst various other topics.
Trisha Carville
Research Assistant and Lab Coordinator
Trisha is in her third year of a Bachelors of Science in Psychology at UVic, and is a research assistant and lab coordinator. She is interested in the physiological effects of mental illnesses, particularly how anxiety and depression can cause physical responses in people.
Meet Our Past Lab Members
Travis Menuz
Ames Lab Alumna
Travis graduated with an MSc. in the Lifespan stream of the Clinical Psychology program at UVic. Before coming to UVic, Travis completed his Honours B.A. in Psychology at Mount Royal University. Travis’ research focuses on understanding the link between mental health concerns and health behaviours. Specifically, Travis is interested in exploring the effect of physical activity on depressive symptoms. Travis’ research aims to utilize intensive, longitudinal sampling methods, and employ ecological momentary assessment to allow for predictive multi-level structural equation models to be created in analysis. In future work, Travis aims to identify how physical activity can be tracked using wearable technology, and subsequently used as an effective prevention and intervention tool in addressing depression in adolescents.
Jessica Ryan
Ames Lab Alumna
Jessica was a volunteer research assistant and honours student within the Ames lab. Motivated by her work with at-risk youth, she is passionate about knowledge translation; particularly, she is interested in understanding risk and protective factors associated with depressive symptoms and self-damaging behaviours (e.g., suicide, non-suicidal self-injury, and disordered eating) and how best to integrate this information into early-identification strategies and the development and delivery of prevention programs. Her honours thesis examined physical self-concept as a mediator between physical activity and depressive symptoms and explored the moderating potential of social media use, self-objectification, and reasons for exercise engagement.
Cara Baudin
Ames Lab Alumna
Cara received her BA with Honours at the University of Victoria. Cara has many research interests in the field of psychology, including youth, mental health, resilience, harm reduction, and interpersonal relationships. In her research, she utilizes a holistic lens to consider the contextual variables that contribute to our unique lived experiences. Additionally, Cara approaches her research with strong values of inclusivity, mindful of the barriers that some individuals face in engaging with research. Her experiences working in the non-profit sector have prompted her to see the world through a community-oriented lens, with the goal of using evidence-based practice to improve the health and well-being of communities. Cara’s Honours thesis was on teen mental health and strengths-based behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic and introduced a new conceptual model and theory for capturing the interactional effects of resilience.
Emily Coombs
Ames Lab Alumna
Emily is a queer autistic researcher who was a research assistant at the Ames lab. They worked alongside Dr. Ames to research Autistic experiences within higher education settings. Presently, Emily is a graduate student at the University of Calgary, where she studies the intersection of Autism and LGBTQ+ identity, the experiences of autistic women and lesbian mental health. Emily is also affiliated with the University of Alberta where they support studies related to autistic adults’ experiences with higher education, autistic autonomy and indigenous-autistic lived experiences.
Rachel Grohovac
Ames Lab Alumna
Rachel was a volunteer research assistant and graduated with honours, with a Bachelors of Science at UVic in Psychology. She is interested in adolescent and young adult mental health, and in particular, the implications of experiencing anxiety and depression during this transitional period.
Oliver Choquette
Ames Lab Alumna
Oliver was a reasearch assistant for the AMES lab, and completed their undergraduate studies in psychology (honours). Oliver’s thesis is concerned with the differences in minority stress among members of the affectional and gender minority community, particularly along racialized intersections. Their additional project includes evaluating the current graduate-level education for mental health practitioners regarding affectional and gender minority community members. Oliver’s research aims to improve the quality of care for the affectional and gender minority community, with specific support for those members who experience multiple intersections of oppression.
Tyler Stack
Ames Lab Alumna
Tyler graduated with a BA in the Psychology Honours program. Working with youth and growing up playing sports inspired Tyler to develop research interests in physical activity and mental well-being. Tyler’s Honours thesis is investigating how contextual factors of exercise, such as where adolescents exercise, and who they participate in exercise with, affect how exercise reduces stress in adolescents.
Sydney Foreman
Ames Lab Alumna
Sydney was a volunteer research assistant for the Ames lab, and is a 5th-year psychology student. They worked on an independent study in the Ames lab, using a bioecological framework to examine the experiences of autistic students during the transition from high school to post-secondary school. Sydney joined the Ames lab in August 2023, and had such a pleasure getting to know her labmates both academically and personally. She plans to continue research into graduate school for clinical psychology in child or developmental clinical studies, emphasizing childhood and adolescence. She has specific research interests in autism spectrum disorder and the effects of adverse childhood experiences on emotion and behaviour regulation.