I am an east coaster and grew up in Bedford, NS. I now call Edmonton home and live with my partner, bonus daughter, and new baby girl. When not busy with school and clinical work you can find me at the dog park with my standard poodle Dovie. My research focuses on neuropsychological development and FASD. My interest in these areas developed while I was working as an educational psychologist in the Yukon. My doctoral research investigates the development of executive functioning (EF) in youth with FASD and the relationship between EF and mental health and independent living skills. My work at the U of A also supports the clinical work I am involved with, particularly helping individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities. I am a proponent of strengths based clinical work and believe that identifying strengths is integral to supporting children and youth. 

I chose to work in the ACCERT lab because there was an abundance of excellent FASD research taking place. I knew this would be a wonderful learning opportunity and that I would be surrounded by students and professors well versed in this area. I chose the SCCP program specifically because Dr. Pei is a leading researcher in the field of FASD and she is also involved in clinical practice. Professionally, I wanted to expand my scope of practice to include clinical psychology, and the SCCP program was a perfect fit given my background in school psychology.