Graduate Student Research Assistants

Martin is a second year MA student in the Human Development, Learning, and Culture program with a concentration on Self-Regulated Learning. As an educational psychologist from Peru (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2017), Martin has been previously working as a research assistant, university tutor, teaching assistant, and as an IB Diploma Programme teacher (Psychology, and Theory of Knowledge teacher). Currently, besides working as a GRA in the lab, Martin is also a teaching assistant in ECPS and a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) specialist. He is interested in exploring social perspectives of learning and teaching and examining motivational phenomena in diverse education settings. As part of his research, Martin is interested in studying how teachers conceptualize and understand motivation in education and their role in supporting students’ high-quality motivation and adaptive outcomes.

Ben is a PhD candidate in the Human Development, Learning, and Culture program. His research investigates the impact of mentoring relationships on human development. He is currently investigating an innovative mentoring model that has been labelled Youth-Initiated Mentoring (YIM). Rather than matching youth with volunteers who live in a different neighbourhood (and who are often from a higher socio-economic status), YIM invites youth to select their own mentors from within their existing social networks. Ben joined Nancy’s lab in 2014 and has worked on various projects, including the longitudinal study, the St. James Music Academy project, and the Connections project. Ben is also a Quality Mentoring and Capacity-Building Specialist at Mentor Canada, where he works with mentoring programs across the country to grow and innovate the quality of their programming.

Marissa is a PhD student in School and Applied Child Psychology. Her research focuses on the role of self-regulation in children’s social, emotional, and behavioural functioning and academic achievement. Marissa is a GRA in two labs (SRL and Children, Families and Community). She also works for the Centre of Teaching, Learning and Technology at UBC as an evaluation specialist for Students as Partners and a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning specialist where she supports faculty members completing research in education. In addition to her research experience, Marissa has several years of experience working with children and youth with diverse mental health needs and learning challenges. She facilitates intervention groups for teens with Autism as a PEERS certified provider and provides psychoeducational assessments for children and adolescents. Marissa received her B.A. in Psychology at Western University in Ontario. When not engaging in research or practice, Marissa spends her time in the backcountry hiking and skiing.

Hazel Ryan Sheehan

PhD Student and Research Assistant, Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology, and Special Education
Email: hazel.ryansheehan@ubc.ca

Hazel is a PhD Student from ECPS, in Special Education. She has over 15 years school, district and community based professional experience in Special Education. Having completed her Master of Education (2016, University of Limerick, Mary Immaculate College, Ireland) she is encouraged to continue research in inclusive education, within general education settings. Hazel is a GRA with two labs (SRL and BVI) and former GTA for SPED. She prides herself on having high standards and capabilities in interpersonal, organisational and operational skills. Her previous training, teaching and experience, working directly with students with disabilities, school-based staff and parents uniquely positions her as a special education researcher, and is extremely relevant and beneficial to her proposed field of study.

Daryl Lo. M.Ed. Human Development, Learning, and Culture, UBC, 2016
Daryl is working in School District 71 (Comox Valley) as a Kindergarten/Grade 1 teacher at Courtenay Elementary School and was previously a teacher in School District 60 (Peace River North) and an instructor for pre-service teachers at Northern Lights College.

Grace McDonald. M.Ed. Human Development, Learning, and Culture, UBC, 2015.
Grace currently works at Framingham State University in Framingham Massachusetts where she manages a grant-funded program supporting students with disabilities succeed in college.

Jocelyn Micallef. MA Human Development, Learning, and Culture, UBC,2019.
Jocelyn currently works at UBC in Health Promotion & Education, and the Centre for Teaching Learning and Technology. Through her role as an educational developer she work on projects related to wellbeing in learning environments.

Natasha Parent. MA Human Development, Learning, and Culture, UBC, 2018.
Natasha is a PhD student in Human Development, Learning, and Culture.Expecting to graduate in 2022. Her interests relate to issues pertaining to the intersections of human development and technology, and the influence of computer mediated communications in modern culture. Her current research focuses on adolescents’ and young adults’ relationships with their smartphones.

Lorena Restrepo. M.Ed Human Development, Learning, and Culture, UBC, 2015