Stephanie supports Dr. Thompson on all grant funded projects. Her responsibilities include coordination of participant recruitment and data collection, troubleshooting any data collection challenges, booking and scheduling program sessions, and participant compensation. She also schedules and coordinates meetings among research team members and lab team members, and review manuscripts prior to submission. Stephanie is interested alcohol and cannabis labelling, marketing, and policy.

Dr. Darien DeWolf earned a PhD in Mathematics at Dalhousie University in 2017. His research interests include category theory, (inverse) semigroup theory, and applied statistics. Darien is currently a research associate of the SHEA lab and specializing in statistical analysis.

Rachael is a 2022 StFX graduate from the BASc Health Program. She has been with the SHEA lab as a research assistant since 2020. Rachael pursued an honours thesis in her fourth year under the direction of Dr. Thompson, focusing on the simultaneous use of alcohol and cannabis, based on the Sex and Cannabis study. She continues to further her knowledge and work on substance use and population health at the University of Ottawa pursuing a Master’s in Public Health. Rachael recently accepted a summer 2023 practicum placement at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) focusing on the Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms Project.

Will is a 2024 St.FX graduate from the BA Psychology honours program. He has been with the SHEA lab as a research assistant since 2023. He is working in a part-time capacity and is currently a Juris Doctor (JD) candidate at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. Will completed his 4th-year honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Thompson, focusing on the relationship between depressive symptoms and academic practices and challenges in male undergraduate students utilizing the UniVenture project. He supports Dr. Thompson’s lab by aiding in different stages of manuscripts, data collection and cleaning for current projects, data analysis, guidance to current honours students, and grant applications.

Reese Mann is in her final year of studies in the BASc of Health program at StFX. She is an honours student supervised by Dr. Kara Thompson. This summer she worked as a research student in the SHEA Lab. As a recipient of the Irving Oil Mentorship Research Award, she is conducting a qualitative study looking into how parents balance play and structured activities for their children. The study seeks to understand the following research questions: What are parents' perceptions of the importance of play? What do parents consider barriers and facilitators to play? How do societal pressures influence parental scheduling choices? Reese is passionate about childrens health, the power of play, and barriers to healthy development. Post graduation, she hopes to pursue an MSc. of Occupational Therapy to become a pediatric play-based occupational therapist.

Sophia Kydd is in her fourth and final year of study in an honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology at STFX supervised by Dr. Kara Thompson. For her thesis project, she will be investigating the influence of zero-alcohol products (ZAP's) on youth. The study will aim to answer the following research questions: How does the marketing of (ZAPs) and no and low (NOLO) alcohol products influence the attitudes and behaviours of youth? How does this impact their future perception of regular alcohol products? Does it accelerate alcohol initiation and normalize consumption? Post graduation, Sophia hopes to pursue a J.D and become an attorney to help advocate for those who have been impacted by substance use.

Maren is in her final year of study in the Bachelor of Arts program majoring in Psychology. She is an honours student supervised by Dr. Kara Thompson. She is conducting her research on the sex differences found in anxiety sensitivity among young adults who use cannabis, with a focus on cannabis use expectancies. Maren is passionate about substance use and its effect on mental health. After graduation, Maren will be pursuing a master's degree in counselling to become a child and youth counsellor.

Adrianna D’Amico is a fourth-year student, completing her Bachelor of Arts and Science in Health at St. Francis Xavier University. Over the past two summers, Adrianna has worked as a summer research student in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, studying life expectancy trends in Atlantic Canada under the direction of Dr. Kyran Cupido. With an interest in quantitative analysis, she is completing honours project this year, supervised by Dr. Kara Thompson. Adrianna will be using data collected from the 2021-2022 UniVenture survey. This survey was administered at five universities across Canada and surveyed undergraduate students regarding their academic achievements, personal health, and substance use. Adrianna’s project aims to uncover the academic challenges and adverse outcomes experienced by Canadian university students who use prescription drugs non-medically (i.e., not as directed or prescribed by a healthcare professional). Adrianna is very interested in the pharmaceutical industry, specifically in areas of misuse and abuse of medications. After graduation, Adrianna hopes to pursue a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, with the goal of becoming a mental health-focused pharmacist.