Mount A psych students shine at APICS Conference
2006-05-12 08:52:45
SACKVILLE, NB — Ten psychology students from Mount Allison University attended the Annual Atlantic Provinces Council on the Sciences (APICS) Undergraduate Psychology Conference held May 5-6 at Cape Breton University.
Four Mount Allison students gave oral presentations: Adam Reid of Windsor, NS; Kristen Conrad of Chezzetcook, NS; Karla Emeno of Moncton, NB; and Jamie Farquhar of Charlottetown, PEI. Six students gave poster presentations: Jason Forsey of Sydney River, NS; Carolyn Shaffner of Wolfville, NS; Naomi Stright of Pictou, NS; Jillian MacNeil of George’s River, NS; April Mandrona of Sackville, NB; and Katie Powles of Carlisle, ON. In total, there were two concurrent talk sessions with 17 presenters each as well as 28 poster presentations. Jamie Farquhar won an award for best oral presentation and Katie Powles won a honourable mention for best poster presentation.
In his session, Jamie Farquhar received the best presentation award for his talk on his honours thesis entitled “Body Conceptualization and its Psychosocial Effects on Pre-Adolescent Men.” Jamie began his undergraduate research career by completing a Directed Studies project with Dr. Odette Gould in the Adult Development and Aging Lab. Last summer he won an Undergraduate Summer Research Award to work with Dr. Louise Wasylkiw in the Personality Lab, who was also his thesis advisor. He presented his summer research at an international conference this past January in Palm Springs, California (Society of Personality and Social Psychology). In addition to his course work, Jamie was the co-president of the Psychology Society. Next year, Jamie is going to Montreal to start his PhD in Clinical Psychology at Concordia University.
Katie Powles won a honourable mention for her poster presentation on her Directed Studies project entitled “The Effect of Congruent and Incongruent Gestures on False Memory Creation,” — a remarkable achievement for a student so early in her research career. Katie began dabbling in research in her second year as a volunteer in Dr. Karen Nicholson’s Human Neuropsychology lab. She also worked in Dr. Nicholson’s lab last summer. This past year she completed a Directed Studies project under the co-supervision of Dr. Nicholson and Dr. Jennifer Tomes and was awarded a summer NSERC award to continue working with them. She will complete her honours thesis under their supervision next year.
Congratulations to Jamie and Katie and all the Mount Allison students who gave wonderful presentations. Next year Mount Allison will be hosting the APICS Undergraduate Psychology Conference.
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Photo captions: Katie Powles standing by her poster at the APICS conference. Jamie Farquhar and psychology professor Louise Wasylkiw analyzing magazines for changes in the conceptualization of the male body across different time periods.
For further information please contact Dr. Karen Nicholson, Mount Allison psychology department, tel: 364-2468 (knicholson@mta.ca).