people

Principal investigator

Dr. Lauren Guillette (she/her)

2024 Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Alberta (Canada)

2022 Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Ecology (Tier 2)

2018-2024 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Alberta (Canada)

2018-2021 Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Biology, University of St Andrews (UK)

2015 BBSRC Anniversary Future Leader Fellow, School of Biology, University of St Andrews (UK)

2013 Royal Society Newton International Fellow, School of Biology, University of St Andrews (UK)2012 PhD University of Alberta (Canada)

2007 MSc Mount Holyoke College (USA)

2002 BA Ripon College (USA)

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8777-6543

Scopus Author ID: 35237420800

ResearcherID: K-8154-2013

Twitter: @laurenguillette

Bluesky: @laurenguillette.bsky.social

Post-doctoral researcher

Dr. Ben Whittaker (they/them)

2022- Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Psychology, University of Alberta (Canada)

2021 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph (Canada)

2019 PhD, Department of Biosciences, Swansea University (UK)

2012 MSc Biodiversity and Conservation, University of Leeds (UK)

2011 BSc Ecology and Environmental Biology, University of Leeds (UK)

Ben is interested in understanding how personality affects the way individuals interact with each other, specifically in terms of communication strategies and trade-offs between cooperation and conflict. Their previous research focused on how cleaner fish interact with salmon in aquaculture and developed tools for identifying commercially desired behaviours. Ben also enjoys podcasting, creating art, and being in nature.

Website: https://bawhittaker.weebly.com/

Ph.D. students

M.Sc. students

Steven “Rocky” Baker (he/him)

Fall 2025, Department of Psychology MSc Student, University of Alberta (Canada)

2023 BA Psychology, University of South Alabama (USA)

2023 BSc Mathematics, University of South Alabama (USA

Rocky has worked on projects involving several different species, including dogs, monkeys, and hermit crabs. He is primarily interested in how animals learn and solve problems and the relationship between these processes. Outside of his academic pursuits, Rocky enjoys hiking, camping, sports, and playing with his cats

Sofia Garrido Villegas (she/her)

Fall 2024, MSc Student, Department of Psychology MSc Student, University of Alberta (Canada)

2020-2024, BA First-Class Honours, Biology, Universidad del Rosario (Colombia)

Twitter: @soficgarrido

Website: https://sofiagarrido.owlstown.net/

Sofia is interested in neurobiology, cognition, and animal behaviour. She is intrigued by why animals exhibit certain behaviours, the choices they make, and the significance of these choices in both environmental and social contexts. Her bachelor thesis focused on the process of social integration of new individuals into already established groups in guinea pigs. Apart from her academic pursuits, she engages in literary activities, both reading and writing, and she enjoys taking walks in nature.

Undergraduate students

Shahmeer Mughal (he/him)

2025-2026 Independent Studies Student

Shahmeer is in his 4th year of a BSc Psychology specialization program with an interest in neural networks and how learning and experience shape cognition and behavior. He is currently exploring nest-building in zebra finches and how individual style emerges from experience. In the future, he hopes to apply computational tools to study animal perception and decision-making. Outside of school, he is a WNBF Men’s Physique bodybuilder and enjoys hockey, mountain biking, skiing, surfing, photography, electric guitar, and collecting vinyl records.

Caitlyn Nguyen (she/her)

2025-2026 Independent Studies Student

2024 Volunteer

Caitlyn is a third-year undergraduate working towards a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Sociology. She is fascinated by instinctual behaviours, conditioning methods, and cognitive processes in non-human animals, captivated by the parallels and differences across species. Outside of her academic pursuits, Caitlyn enjoys baking, hitting the gym, and doing art. 

Walter Ibalio (He/Him)

2025-2026 Independent Studies Student

2024 Volunteer

Walter is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in psychology. Walter is interested in exploring social conformity specifically social vs. asocial learning. He has many psychology interests such as neuropsychology and social psychology. When not studying, Walter enjoys playing golf, playing the piano and snacking.

Francesca Uy (She/Her) 

2025 Independent Studies Student

2024 Volunteer

Francesca is in her 3rd year of a BSc Psychology program with a broad interest in several fields, including developmental psychology and animal cognition. She has previously studied the roosting preferences of the little brown bat and hopes to delve more into cognitive ecology, specifically courtship preferences in birds and other animals. Outside of school, she likes collecting little trinkets, reading manga, playing the piano, and hanging out with her cats.

Gimran Kaur (she/her)

Winter 2026 Independent studies student

Fall 2025 Volunteer

Gimran is in her third year as a BSc psychology student. Her interest in psychology lies in cognition, particularly the cognitive processes underlying decision making, problem solving, and social learning. She’s excited to learn valuable research skills and gain experience in the field of animal cognition. Beyond her studies, she enjoys running, spending time with loved ones, and volunteering.

Mariam Moustafa (she/her)

Winter 2026 Independent studies student

Fall 2025 Volunteer

Mariam is a fourth year BSc Honors Psychology student. She has research interests in animal cognition along with early learning development. In regards to the ACRG lab, she is excited to learn more about nest-building behaviour in zebra finches and gain deeper understanding in this area of research. In her spare time, Mariam loves reading, binge-watching tv shows, and traveling to warmer destinations.

Aryan Karla (he/him)

Winter 2026 Independent studies student

Fall 2025 Volunteer

Aryan is a second-year B.A. Psychology student. He is interested in behavioural psychology, with a focus on understanding how manipulating the consequences can influence and modify behaviour in different ways. Outside of academics, he enjoys going to the gym, playing badminton, and watching cricket and anime.

Alyssia Witkowski (they/them)

2026 Mitacs summer intern, starting June 2026

Alyssia is a second-year BSc (Hons) Psychology student at the University of Nottingham (UK) with a particular interest in cognitive psychology in both humans and animals. They are especially excited to explore cognitive biases and their influence on processing and behaviour. Outside of academics, Alyssia enjoys playing electric and bass guitar, hiking, climbing, and collecting vinyl records.

Freya Zhang (she/her)

2026 Mitacs summer intern, starting July 2026

Freya is a third-year undergraduate majoring in Wildlife Protection at Beijing Forestry University (China) and is joined the ACRG through the Mitacs program in 2026. Her academic interests focus on behavioural psychology, particularly how animals solve problems and how their strategies shift in response to climate change. In her spare time, she is a keen birdwatcher and also enjoys preparing bird specimens, playing badminton and reading.

Volunteers

Hassan Gulab

2025-2026 Volunteer

Hassan is a second-year General Science student with a strong interest in animal cognition, particularly how environmental changes influence animal behaviour. They am excited to gain research experience and deepen their understanding of cognitive processes in animals. Outside of studies, Hassan enjoys working out, playing soccer, and reading.

Abreeza Batool (she/her)

2026 Volunteer

Abreeza is a second-year undergraduate Psychology major. She is interested in cognitive and social neuroscience of both humans and animals, particularly in how brain activity relates to attention, decision-making, and behavior. Through her work with the ACRG, she hopes to build subject knowledge, research skills and gain hands-on lab experience. Outside of academics, she enjoys traveling, strength training, and painting.

Jessey Primero (she/her)

2026 Volunteer

Jessy is a third-year Animal Health student at the University of Alberta. She is interested in animal behaviour, welfare, and the ways animals learn and interact with their environments. She has experience working with a variety of animal species through wildlife rehabilitation, research farms, and industry-based placements, which has helped shape her interest in animal cognition and behaviour. Outside of her academic studies, Jessy enjoys volunteering and spending time reading a wide range of literature.

Jordan Douglas (he/him)

2026 Volunteer

Jordan is a third year bachelor of science student with a specialization in psychology and interested in animal cognition, especially in dogs. He finds the olfactory system in dogs to be especially interesting, as well as how canine research could potentially help people via service dogs. He very recently adopted a German shepherd/ husky puppy named Gator who takes a lot of his time, but can’t wait to start working on scent tracking with him. He also enjoys traveling, watching hockey and back country camping.

Ben Mynzak (he/him)

2026 Volunteer

Ben is a undgergraduate Psychology student at the University of Alberta. He is interested in human behaviour and the biological mechanisms responsible for cognition and memory. He is excited to learn more about how biological processes are studied and about the specific cognitive processes that are unique to non-human animals. In his free time, he likes hiking and experimenting with cooking.

High School Students

Previous graduate team members

Previous honours students

*in reverse chronology

  • Brandon Neil, 2025 NSERC USRA, 2023-2025 Psychology Honours Student, 2024 NSERC USRA, Canadian Psychological Association Certificate of Excellence for Honours Thesis
  • Cailyn Poole, 2021-2023 Psychology Honours Student; Summer 2022 Research Assistant (2025- Law School, University of Saskatchewan, Canada)
  • Julia Self, 2021-2023 Psychology Honours Student, 2022 URI Summer Research Assistant (2023- MSc student, Animal Cognition Research Group, University of Alberta) Canadian Psychological Association Certificate of Excellence for Honours Thesis
  • Liam Nolet-Mulholland, 2019-2022 Psychology Honours Student
  • Briana Kroeker 2019-2020, Psychology Honours student, (2024- MA student, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada)
  • Kristen Laurenson 2017-2018 (University of St Andrews) Biology Honours student
  • Peter Stewart 2017-2018 (University of St Andrews) Biology Honours student (2019-, PhD student, Conservation Ecology Group, Durham University, UK)

Previous undergraduate & high school members

*in reverse chronology

  • Samuel Weetman-Gares, 2025 Summer Research Assistant, 2025 Independent Studies Student, 2024 Volunteer
  • Mylie Holmes, 2025, Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science, and Technology (WISEST) Summer Research Program, Jasper Senior High School, Jasper, Alberta, Canada
  • Tanishka Vadia, 2025, Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science, and Technology (WISEST) Summer Research Program, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School, LLoydminster, Alberta, Canada
  • Simran Gill, 2024-25 Independent Studies Student, 2024 Volunteer
  • Isabella De Guzman, 2024, Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science, and Technology (WISEST) Summer Research Program, St. Mary’s Catholic School, Vegreville, Alberta, Canada
  • Avery Baldwin, 2024, Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science, and Technology (WISEST) Summer Research Program, Harry Ainlay High School, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  • Henry Swartwood Garcia, 2024, MITACS Globalink Research Intern ) University of the Americas Puebla, Mexico
  • Umama Mir, 2024, URI Undergraduate Researcher Stipend, 2024 Independent Studies Student, 2023 Volunteer
  • Hiba Zahid, 2024, Volunteer
  • Stefan Stanescu, Summer 2023 Undergraduate Research Initiative, Undergraduate Researcher Stipend, 2023-2024 Independent Studies Student, 2022 Volunteer (2024 MSc student McGill University, Canada)
  • Nicole Gerle, 2023, Independent Studies Student, 2022 Volunteer
  • Maryam Abdelhamed, 2023 WISEST Summer Research Program, Queen Elizabeth High School, Alberta
  • Nakul Wewhare, Summer 2023 MITACS Globalink Research Intern, IISER Pune, India
  • Priya Binwal, Summer 2023 MITACS Globalink Research Intern, IISER Kolkata, India, (2024 – PhD student, University of Tubingen, Germany)
  • Harleen Kooner, 2022-2023, Independent Studies Student
  • Jessica Hewitt, 2021-2023 Independent Studies Student, 2020 Volunteer
  • Karen Yeung, Summer 2022 Mitacs Globalink Research Intern, Hong Kong University
  • Anna Nevoit, Summer 2022, WISEST summer high school student
  • Deborah Yun, Summer 2022, WISEST summer high school student, (2023- Honours student in Physiology, University of Alberta)
  • Kalie Keays, 2020-2021, Volunteer
  • Shaunak Mistry 2019-2021, Independent studies student
  • Christine McManus 2020-2021, Independent studies student
  • Maks Taghizada 2019-2020, Independent studies student
  • Harsimran Khinda 2019-2020, Volunteer, (2022- PhD student, New York University College of Dentistry, USA)
  • Maneet Sidhu 2019-2020, Volunteer
  • Chelsea Hanson 2019-2020, Volunteer
  • Brittany Perkins 2019, WISEST summer high school student
  • Cora-Lee Kashuba 2019, WISEST summer high school student
  • Alba McClinton 2017(University of St Andrews) Volunteer
  • Keren Lovie 2017(University of St Andrews) Volunteer
  • Clememnce Bonneaud 2017 (Université de Paris 13, France) Intern
  • Tas Vamos 2016 (University of St Andrews) Undergraduate Research Assistant, (2020-, PhD Student, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand)
  • Chloe Guerard 2016 (Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, France) Intern