Meet The Current Team

Dr. Kara Thompson
St. Francis Xavier University Associate Professor, Department of Psychology Collaborating Scientist Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR)
Dr. Kara Thompson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at St. Francis Xavier University. She is a prolific scholar, with close to 70 peer-reviewed publications and is widely recognized for her research contributions on alcohol policy, and substance use in young adulthood. She is a scientist on the Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation project, and was a scientific expert for the development of Canada’s new guidance on alcohol and health.

Lab Manager
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.

Research Scientist
Dr. Darien DeWolf earned a PhD in Mathematics at Dalhousie University in2017. His research interests include category theory, (inverse)semigroup theory, and applied statistics. Darien is currently a researchassociate of the SHEA lab and specializing in statistical analysis.
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Rachael MacDonald-Spracklin
Master's Student
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.

Tim Naerebout
BSc Honours Student
My name is Tim Naerebout and I'm a BSc Honours in Psychology student from Hubbards, Nova Scotia. I'm interested in a wide range of topics but I'm currently focusing my attention on the relationship between music listening habits and emotion regulation to write a thesis with Dr. Thompson and the SHEA lab. I am working towards becoming a clinical psychologist and making a meaningful difference in the lives of others.

Hannah Dykeman
BASc Health Program Student
My name is Hannah Dykeman, I am a third year student in the BASc Health program with honours, majoring in the biomedical stream. My thesis project, which I will be completing next year, focuses on the relationship between fertility awareness in young adults and risky sexual behaviours. After graduation, I plan to complete a graduate degree and pursue a career in research, working in areas such as fertility, maternal health, sexual health, and sexual violence prevention.

Brynn Webber
BASc Health Honours Student
My name is Brynn Webber, and I am a third-year honours student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Health. For my thesis, I will be working alongside Dr. Thompson and the SHEA lab to research the long-term physical impacts of grief on adolescents. Currently, I volunteer in the lab helping with various projects and trying to learn wherever I can.

Jessica Alsop
BASc Health Program Student
My name is Jessica Alsop, I am from the small town of Powell River, British Columbia. and I am currently a third-year Health student at STFX. My major is Social Determinants with a minor in Biomedical, and next year I will be working with Dr. Thompson to complete my thesis. Following my undergraduate degree, I hope to embark on a masters program in Speech and Language Pathology, where I can eventually pursue a career working with children which has been a passion of mine for many years.

Will Langille
B.A. Honours Psychology Student
My name is Will Langille, and I am from Calgary, Alberta. I will enter my fourth year at St. Francis Xavier University as a B.A. honours Psychology student in the upcoming 2023-2024 school year. I have been a member of the SHEA Lab since the beginning of the 2023 winter semester. I will be working with the SHEA Lab over the summer on my summer and 4th-year thesis project that investigates the relationship between depressive symptoms and academic challenges in male undergraduate students. After graduation, I am looking to pursue a career in clinical psychology and continue my focus on men’s mental health, both in a research capacity and in a practicing clinician setting.
Past SHEA Lab Contributors








