Contact & People
Department of Psychology
Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences
University of British Columbia Okanagan
1147 Research Road
Kelowna, BC V1V 1V7
Canada
Email: psychology.okanagan@ubc.ca
Please direct all inquires to the Department Assistant first.
Our People
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Harry Miller | Years 1 & 2 | harry.miller@ubc.ca | 250.807.9860
Research interests: Assessment of memory with traumatic brain injury; peripheral vascular disease and cognition; emotional function post stroke; effects of alcohol use on recovery from brain injury.
Teaching: Neuroscience of cognition; southern medical program.
Kaylee Misener | MA Student | Psychology | kaymis@mail.ubc.ca
Research interests: Eating disorders; implicit measures of disordered eating; cognitive biases among individuals who exhibit eating disordered symptoms; cognitive bias modification.
Crystal Mundy | PhD Student | Psychology | crystal.evanoff@ubc.ca
Research interests: Sexual offending; paraphilic interests; psychometrics; offender reintegration.
Brian O'Connor | Professor | Psychology | brian.oconnor@ubc.ca | 250.807.9636
Currently accepting graduate supervision requests
Research interests: Statistics; normal and abnormal personality; interpersonal behaviour; psychopathology; software for statistical procedures.
Teaching: Advanced statistics; research methods; interpersonal behaviour and psychopathology.
Holli-Anne Passmore | PhD Student | Psychology | holli-anne.passmore@ubc.ca
Research interests: Nature connectedness/exposure to the natural environment; various indices of well-being; positive psychology interventions to promote well-being in adults and children.
Stephen Porter | Professor | Psychology | stephen.porter@ubc.ca | 250.807.9129
Research interests: Psychology and law; legal decision-making; forensic aspects of memory/PTSD; deception detection; criminal behaviour; psychopathic personality; examines the criminal activity of psychopathic offenders, accuracy of memory for traumatic events and behavioural cues to deception.
Teaching: Forensic psychology; psychopathy; violence; personality theory.
Jill Robinson | MA Student | Psychology | robinjil@mail.ubc.ca
Research interests: Substance (alcohol and cannabis) use and abuse in child, teen and young adult populations; substance prevention programs in those who are at risk of developing substance use problems.
Katherine Rose | PhD Student | Psychology | katherine.rose@ubc.ca
Research interests: Criminal behaviour; youth sexual violence; personality; trauma; childhood maltreatment; deception; computer-mediated communication; internet crime.
Barbara Rutherford | Associate Professor | Psychology | barbara.rutherford@ubc.ca | 250.807.9527
Research interests: Communication between the hemispheres of the brain during reading in people with and without a reading disability such as dyslexia; developmental trends in hemispheric specialization for reading.
Teaching: Memory; cognitive processes.
Alison Spadafora | Adjunct Professor | Psychology | alison.spadafora@interiorhealth.ca
Teaching: Adolescent mental health; psychological assessment.
Carolyn Szostak | Associate Professor | Psychology | carolyn.szostak@ubc.ca | 250.807.8736
Currently accepting graduate supervision requests
Research interests: Rural mental health; barriers to accessing mental health services by adults 50 years and older in rural communities; media and mental health-related stigma; role of media in combating stigmatizing attitudes about mental health disorders and suicide.
Teaching: Mental health disorders; pop culture and mental health; use of psychological tests and assessments.
Michelle Thiessen | MA Student | Psychology | michelle.thiessen@ubc.ca
Research interests: Therapeutic and recreational use of cannabis and psychedelics; substance use; partner violence.
Kara Turcotte | PhD Student | Psychology | kara.turcotte@ubc.ca
Research interests: Developmental trajectory of pain response and pain perception over the lifetime; psychosocial aspects of pain experience and pain perception; emotional regulation; attachment relationships; behavioural coding.
Megan Udala | PhD Student | Psychology | megan.udala@ubc.ca
Research interests: Clinical psychology; infanticide.
Zach Walsh | Associate Professor | Psychology | zachary.walsh@ubc.ca | 250.807.9373
Currently accepting graduate supervision requests
Research interests: Cannabis use - medical and non-medical; substance use; hallucinogens; harm reduction; personality disorder; partner violence; aggression; third-stream/mindfulness behavior therapies; drug policy.
Teaching: Drugs and behavior; psychotherapy.
Marlis Wecels | Administrative Manager, Psychology Clinic | Psychology | psych.gradstudies.ok@ubc.ca | 250.807.8241
Susan J. Wells | Professor | Social Work, Psychology | susan.wells@ubc.ca | 250.807.8163
Currently accepting graduate supervision requests
Research interests: Investigates the possible causes of overrepresentation of African American children in the United States’ out-of-home care; re-entry into out-of-home care after reunification with family; stability of out-of-home care placements; explores child welfare case types to identify characteristics that more closely represent the complexity of cases seen in the field.
Teaching: Child welfare services and policy; program evaluation; research methods.
Jocelyn Wentland | Adjunct Professor | Psychology | jocelyn.wentland@ubc.ca
Teaching: Interpersonal relationships; adolescence; human sexual behaviour; introductory psychology; social psychology.
Carmela White | PhD Student | Psychology | carmela.white@ubc.ca
Research interests: Positive psychology interventions; well-being; health psychology; prevention and early intervention; predictors of treatment success.
Christopher Wilson | Adjunct Professor | Psychology | christopher.wilson@ubc.ca
Teaching: Psychological assessment.
Derrick Wirtz | Senior Instructor | Psychology | derrick.wirtz@ubc.ca | 250.807.8276
Currently accepting graduate supervision requests
Research interests: Subjective well-being; happiness; the “good life”; cross-cultural differences in emotion; flourishing & thriving; positive emotions; interventions to increase well-being.
Teaching: Introduction to psychology; introduction to research methods and design; positive psychology; social bases of behavior.
Michael Woodworth | Professor | Psychology | michael.woodworth@ubc.ca | 250.807.8731
Currently accepting graduate supervision requests
Research interests: Psychopathy; violent offending; deception detection; computer-mediated communication; assessment and treatment of forensic populations; memory and psychiatric issues primarily within a legal context.
Teaching: Psychopathy; criminal behaviour; deception detection.