FACULTY OF SCIENCE Department of Psychology and Neuroscience FACULTY OF SCIENCE Department of Psychology THE2016-2017 AnnualMAILROOM Newsletter DOORand Neuroscience FACULTY OF SCIENCE Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Dalhousie University The Department of Psychology and Neuroscience consists of 25 full-time faculty and five part-time faculty who exhibit a strong committment to integrating their research interests into their training and teaching. The department has clear strengths in the high calibre of research expertise and level of funding achieved to support this research. FACULTY OF SCIENCE Department of Psychology and Neuroscience FACULTY OF SCIENCE Department of Psychology and Neuroscience FACULTY OF SCIENCE Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Message from the Chair Tara Perrot, PhD Thanks to staff and faculty for meeting with me during January. It was nice to hear from everyone and I learned a lot about each of you, but more so, about the department. Overwhelmingly, people had positive things to say about being part of our department. That is not to say that things couldn’t be better and I also heard many suggestions for improvements. We will have a chance to discuss these as part of strategies for moving forward at the retreat on June 17. The date was chosen to accommodate as many people as possible through the doodle poll, so obviously some of you can’t make it. Even if you can’t be there, your opinions are welcome. You can direct general departmental comments or strategy ideas to me or Suzanne, comments regarding the The summer is a time to gather our thoughts undergraduate program to Leslie Phillmore, for the next year. This will be a challenging comments about space to Ray Klein, and year for us as we face the repercussions of a comments regarding the graduate program number of retirements. By working to Gail Eskes. Don’t forget that there will be together, I have no doubt that we can a pre-retreat session specifically to discuss continue to achieve research excellence and graduate program issues on June 7 from 9am continue to be strong and relevant in our to noon. undergraduate and graduate training. The retreat will afford us an opportunity to You will see in the following pages that we forge at least the beginning of a plan that we had numerous things to celebrate this past can build upon. term, including many awards to faculty and students. Suzanne King was hired to replace The summer is also a time for vacations and Mary MacConnachie in March and has been spending more time with friends and family. doing a wonderful job supporting the Chair’s I wish you all a great summer. office. Also, please join me in welcoming Sean Mackinnon as a continuing Instructor in Cheers, the department, beginning July 1. Tara Perrot Spring Convocation Congratulations to over 200 Psychology & Neuroscience alumnae who crossed the stage on June 1st. We welcome ... 45 Bachelor of Arts (BA) 172 Bachelor of Science (BSc.) 1 Master of Science (MSc.) 3 Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) ... graduates to our alumni family Special thanks to Dr. Sherry for giving a captivating convocation address! SPECIAL RECOGNITION Graduation Prizes Governor General’s Gold Medal Sarah Kraeutner This award is presented to a graduate in the Faculty of Graduate Studies who have achieved overall academic excellence. Two gold medals are awarded; one to the most outstanding Master’s graduate in the Natural Sciences and Engineering, and one to the most outstanding Master’s graduate in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Faculty of Science Medals University Medal in Psychology University Medal in Neuroscience Jaimie Beveridge Hayam Hamodat Medals are awarded to an Honour’s graduate in recognition of superior achievement Jaimie Beveridge holding her in his/her field of study. One medal is awarded per department. University Medal in Psychology at Spring Copnvocation dal.ca/convocation #DalGrad MAIN OFFICE MAILROOM Changing Spaces SEMINAR ROOMS CLASSROOM EVENTS CLINICAL COMMUNITY RECOGNITION BRAIN AWARENESS WEEK APPRECIATION NIGHT March 18 October 6 Brain Awareness Week is a global campaign designed to increase A huge thank you to all of you that helped make the CCRA a great public awareness of the progress success yesterday! Thank you to the committee for all your hard work and benefits of brain research. The before, during and after and thank you to Elaine, Suzanne, Logan and event took place on March 14-18, Jamie who were also a huge help! - Alissa Pencer and unites the efforts of various organizations to celebrate and educate people of all ages about the brain. Read Dal News Story CROSSROADS March 17 Crossroads is an adjudicated and peer-viewed event that emphasizes the importance of understanding health through interdisciplinary research. It provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate, graduate and professional program students from across Canada to showcase and engage in discussions about their innovative health-related research. OPEN HOUSE 2015 Read the Dal News Story October 21 A big thanks to everyone who used their Saturday to help out with the Open House (Oct. 24th)! Thanks to Jen Stamp, Janusz Borycz, and John Christie, as well as the DAPS and UNS volunteers. This year was a huge success - our first session was standing room only. We had so many students visit our table that we ran out of booklets! - Leanne Stevens Read Dal News Story THRIVE March 14 DISCOVERY AWARDS A University-wide mental wellness initiative was November 24 launched on March 14th, aimed at building a At the 13th edition of the annual event last Thursday, Dalhousie positive mental health environment for faculty, researchers from the Faculties of Science and Medicine walked away with staff, and students. wins in three of the four major categories: Innovation, Professional of Distinction and Emerging Professional. Read Dal News Story Read the Dal News Story . FEATURED EVENT | Dalhousie Defeat Depression The Dalhousie PROsocial Project is taking part in the Defeat Depression fundraising walk to support the Canadian Mental Health Association Halifax/Dartmouth. This organization does great work in our community, and as the PROsocial Project hosted our own “Dalhousie Defeat Depression” fundraiser in the Fall- we are taking part in their event October 7, 2016. Learn more about Defeat Depression. Dalhousie Project Staff The Dalhousie University research team is made up of Co-PIs Drs. Michael Teehan and Sherry Stewart, Dr. Kara Thompson, Research Assistants Jennifer Swansburg and Parnell Davis-MacNevin, and Graduate Student Annie Chinneck. Media Highlights PUBLICATION IN FOCUS STEPS TO BETTER SLEEP NARCISSISTIC PERFECTIONISTS HURT THOSE Katie Birnie Dr. Penny Corkum AROUND THEM Being a Role Model for Undergraduate The big, big one in today’s society, that Simon Sherry Women in Science by Living Out Our research is showing to have a huge impact, “It is our working hypothesis … that proximity to a Own Professional and Personal Goals is electronics in the bedroom. PhD Candidate, Clinical Psychology narcissistic perfectionist is hurtful, it damages you” The Chronicle Herald Read Article in Focus DAL Media Highlight | CBC News THE REAL MASTERS OF SEX AT NOVA EW STUDY LOOKS AT THE ROLE SIBLINGS CAN DIABETES SNIFFING DOG STUDIES N Catherine Reeve SCOTIA’S ONLY SEX RESEARCH LAB PLAY IN A CHILD’S EXPERIENCE WITH PAIN “That’s in itself quite rewarding to know Dr. Natalie Rosen & PhD. Students, Meghan Schinkel you could help contribute to the field of Kate Rancourt, Maria Glowacka “I hope the study will give us information to share research and help improve the lives of “There are a number of improvements with parents and health care professionals around people with diabetes” we need to make in regards to sexual having a sibling present when a child is in pain” health in Nova Scotia” CBC News | DAL Media Highlight CTV News @ 5 | CBC The Coast RESEARCH BY DAL PROF SHOWS BRAIN RESEARCHERS SCAN THE BRAIN FOR CLUES ON PROCESSES SIGN LANGUAGE LIKE GREAT SEXPECTATIONS SMOKING AND ADDICTION SPOKEN LANGUAGES Dr. Sarah Vanier Kim Good Dr. Aaron Newman “It’s almost like having romantic beliefs is like “We were interested in trying to determine what “It tells us that sign language is really putting on rose-coloured glasses: you see the is different. Why is it that some people are able to engaging language-specific areas of the world through that lens, through those beliefs” quit and other peple aren’t? brain” Dal News DAL Media Highligjht | Herald News Global News FEATURED STUDY | Better Nights, Better Days Penny Corkum, PhD and a national team of researchers including Dal- housie University’s Christine Chambers, PhD are preparing to launch a randomized controlled trial assessing a new online sleep program this summer! Better Nights, Better Days is an online program designed to offer accessible support to parents with children 1-10 years old who have sleep problems. Research shows up to 25% of children suffer from insomnia, a problem that includes having trouble settling down at the end of the day, falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking too early. Very few children with insomnia receive behavioural treatments despite the vast amount of evidence sup- porting their success. This is primarily due to a shortage of available treatment resources. The interactive and dynamic online program aims to help parents understand their child’s sleep problems and provide evidence-based FEATURED PRESENTATION | Teacher Help strategies to help their child sleep better, all from the comfort of their own home. Focusing on behavioural principles, the intervention en- courages positive behaviours that will help children learn to settle down more quickly at bedtime and achieve a better quality of sleep throughout the night. Anyone who is a parent/guardian knows, when children sleep better they lead healthier and happier lives.