Lab Director
Peggy L. St. Jacques, PhD (she/her)
peggy.stjacques@ualberta.ca ORCID
Dr. Peggy L. St. Jacques is an Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. She received her Honours BSc from the University of Toronto, where she first was inspired to pursue research in autobiographical memory. During her Ph.D. at Duke University, she gained expertise in functional neuroimaging studies of autobiographical memory. Dr. St. Jacques then pursed postdoctoral training at Harvard University, where she used wearable camera technology to elicit autobiographical memories to investigate the neural mechanisms by which remembering updates memory with new information. She established her Memory for Events Lab initially at the University of Sussex in 2015, prior to moving back to Canada to join the University of Alberta in 2018. Her primary research focus is to understand the cognitive and neural mechanisms that support memory for events, including autobiographical experiences from one’s personal past and realistic experiences encoded in a more controlled setting. In particular, she is interested in how long-term representations of memory are modified via retrieval related mechanisms and the role of visual perspective. As an Indigenous scholar, Dr. St. Jacques also values equity, diversity, and inclusivity in science. One of her favourite autobiographical memories is when she visited a Balsamic Vinegar House in the Reggio Emilia area in Italy.
Graduate Students
Selen Küçüktaş, MA (she/her)
kucuktas@ualberta.ca
Selen received her BA in Psychology from Yeditepe University, and completed an MA in Psychological Sciences at Boğaziçi University, Turkey. She has been pursuing her PhD in the ME Lab since 2019. Her main research interest focuses on how adopting distinct visual perspectives impacts the retrieval of emotional aspects of events, as well as the neural mechanisms supporting this process. One of her favourite autobiographical memories is her trip to Belgrade, Serbia, to attend an international Argentine tango festival.
Anna Romero, MSc
Anna is a recent graduate of the University of Alberta’s Psychology Honours program. Anna completed her honours thesis here at the ME Lab with Dr. St. Jacques. She has recently accepted an offer to the MSc in Psychology at the University of Alberta, where she will be continuing her work at the Memory for Events Lab. Her main research interest is in understanding how schemas and prior knowledge inform autobiographical memory. One of her favourite autobiographical memories was seeing her grandma after not having seen her for seven years.
Júlia Feminella, BSc
Júlia received her BSc in Psychology from Universidade de Brasília. She’s currently pursuing an MSc in the lab. Her research involves how format (2D/3D) and emotional valence in virtual reality settings can affect memory. One of her favorite autobiographical memories is shooting a short film in a single afternoon along with her friends.
Research Assistants
Mae Pacificar
Mae received her Honours BSc in Psychology at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Dr. Hayward in the VASP Lab. She is currently a research assistant at the ME Lab and is interested in the role of vision and visual perspectives in autobiographical memory processes. One of her favourite autobiographical memories is seeing the first peaks of the Rocky Mountains during her first family trip to Banff as a new immigrant in Canada.
Lab Alumni
Heather M. Iriye, PhD: Postdoctoral Researcher, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Magda Jordao, PhD: Research Fellow, University of Leeds, UK
Petra Marcotti, MSc, PhD: Associate Lecturer in Psychology, University of Essex, UK and Life Coach
Farrow Sow, MRes: PhD in Psychology, University of Waikato, New Zealand
Anna Cuff, BSc: MSc in Occupational Therapy, University of Alberta, Canada
Joey Nosko, BSc: MSc in Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Canada (co-supervision with Dr. Dana Hayward)
Shikang Peng, BSc: MA in Social Sciences, University of Chicago, USA; PhD in Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada
Victoria Pane, BSc: PsyD in Clinical Psychology, Concordia University, Canada
Shanela David, BA: MSc in Speech, Language, & Pathology, University of Alberta, Canada
Victoria Mackie, BA: MA in Counselling Psychology, Yorkville University, Canada (co-supervision with Dr. Dana Hayward)
Jenaya Therriault, BSc: MEd in Counselling Psychology, University of Ottawa, Canada
Anna Romero, BSc: MSc in Psychology, University of Alberta, Canada
Azra Panjwani, BSc: MSc in Public Health, University of Alberta, Canada
Bryton Wong, BSc: MD, University of Alberta, Canada
Maryanne Mudavadi, BSc: MSc in Human Resource Management, University of Sussex, UK
Yoko Lam, BSc: Postgraduate Certificate in Mental Health Practice, University of Sussex, UK
Chloe Fenn, BSc: Virgin Startup Lead, Virgin Startup, UK