Meet Our Team
Dr. Jonathan Fawcett
Jon is a Cognitive Psychologist by training who has studied a great deal of topics throughout his career. From early on his primary interests have been in understanding the neurocognitive mechanisms through which we control unwanted memories. He has approached this and related topics using tools borrowed from Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychophysiology, and Clinical Epidemiology. In addition to understanding the basic mechanisms through which memory control functions, he is also interested in understanding how these processes relate to mental disorders characterized by an inability to control unwanted thoughts (e.g., OCD, PTSD). In addition to being the principal investigator of the NeuroFog Laboratory, Jon is also an avid read, musician, and gamer.
Lab Managers
Ashlee Coles
Ashlee completed her BA (Hons.) in Psychology with Drs. Jonathan and Emily Fawcett. Her honours thesis examined the lay public’s ability to identify lesser-known subtypes of OCD, and how stigma differs depending on OCD presentation. She is currently completing her MSc under the co-supervision of Drs. Jonathan Fawcett and Nick Harris examining the prevalence of comorbid cannabis use disorder in individuals with anxiety or related disorders. Ashlee is excited to begin the PsyD program at MUN in the Fall of 2024.
Madi LaSaga
(2022-Present | NSERC USRA | MUCEP | Directed Studies x 2 | Lab Manager)
Madi is a lab manager and a third-year BSc (Hons.) student in Psychology (Co-op). Madi is currently completing her Directed Study under the co-supervision of Dr. Jonathan Fawcett and Dr. Chris Quinn-Nilas and collaboration with the Recreational Fear Lab, developing a scale to measure the severity of horror media-induced intrusions (e.g., especially frightening horror movie scenes popping into mind). Her work is focused on bridging memory control research with the study of recreational fear to understand how individuals control unwanted thoughts and memories through the lens of horror.
Current Lab Members
Chelsea Lahey
(2020 – Present | Hon. Thesis | M.Sc. | Psy.D.)
Chelsea has completed her BA (Hons.) Psychology degree (supervised by Dr. Jonathan Fawcett) and MSc in Experimental Psychology (co-supervised by Drs. Emily and Jonathan Fawcett) at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her research has primarily focused on the identification of and stigmatization against lesser-known symptom presentations of OCD, specially Harm OCD. She is currently a PsyD student at MUN, completing her thesis research project under the co-supervision of Drs. Emily and Jonathan Fawcett. For this project, she intends to conduct a systematic review considering world-wide prevalence of illy-defined “miscellaneous” OCD symptoms in clinical samples. She has been a member of the Neurofog lab since Spring 2019, having proudly held the position of lab manager until Fall 2023.
Quinn Morrison
(2020 – Present | Psy.D.)
Quinn is in her final year of the Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) program at MUN. She has a diverse educational background, first completing Theatre Studies in New York before later pursuing her BA with Honours in Psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University. Under co-supervision of Drs. Emily and Jonathan Fawcett, Quinn’s current research explores worldwide prevalence and predictors of aggressive obsessions in OCD populations. Quinn is looking forward to beginning a 1-year predoctoral residency; her last step in becoming a Registered Psychologist.
Jenna Price
(2023 – Present | Hon. Thesis)
Jenna is a fourth year BA (Hons.) student in Psychology minoring in linguistics. She is currently completing her honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Fawcett on directed forgetting.
Siyue Hu
(2023 – Present | MUCEP)
Siyue is a third-year BSc (Hons.) student in Psychology. She will be supervised by Dr. Jonathan Fawcett and be doing research about production effect combing with eye tracker (studying what emotion factors can be involved in the production effect. Her main field of research is memory control and anxiety disorder.
Alexander Sproul
(2022 – Present | MSc.)
Alex completed his Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in Psychology/Neuroscience at Acadia University in 2017. He has since completed courses in Computer Science at Dalhousie University, as well as IT Data Analytics from Nova Scotia Community College. Alex is currently enrolled in the Masters of Experimental Psychology program supervised by Dr. Jon Fawcett. His thesis research focuses on how a person’s sense of identity shifts when roleplaying as a character in tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons.
Kyla Malayang
(2021 – Present | Ph.D.)
Kyla is a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) student in Psychology. She has a diverse educational background, with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology and a Master of Science in Kinesiology. As an aspiring educator, her goal is to ultimately provide individuals with a learning disability with a cohesive voice at the provincial level, by advocating for the creation of accessible and research-informed programs to enhance their literacy skills. Her doctoral work broadly examines factors that contribute to academic success among post-secondary students. Beyond the lab, she enjoys volunteering with the Learning Disabilities Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as spending time with family.
NeuroFog Alumni
Alumni
- 2022 – 2023: Brooke Hiscock (Hon. Thesis)
- 2022 – 2023: Kera McGrath (Hon. Thesis)
- 2021 – 2023: Ahida Shahrier (Hon. Thesis | SURA)
- 2021 – 2022: Chad Synyard (Hon. Thesis)
- 2021 – 2022: Anna Froude (Hon. Thesis)
- 2020 – 2022: Noah Pevie (SURA/Co-op | Directed Studies | Hon. Thesis)
- 2021: Harsha Ajith (Directed Studies)
- 2020 – 2021: Laura Pittman (Hon. Thesis)
- 2020 – 2021: Bethany Seim (Hon. Thesis)
- 2020 – 2021: Jennifer Bent (Hon. Thesis)
- 2020 – 2021: Aimee Hirwa (Hon. Thesis)
- 2019 – 2021: Chris Clark (M.Sc.)
- 2019 – 2021: Delainey Drakes (M.Sc.)
- 2019 – 2021: Ryan Lee (Hon. Thesis)
- 2020: Suhail Hassan (SURA | Summer Co-op)
- 2019 – 2020: Alicia Stewart (Hon. Thesis)
- 2018 – 2020: Hannah Willoughby (M.Sc.)
- 2017 – 2020: Kelsi Hall (Hon. Thesis | M.Sc.)
- 2019 – 2020: Janaya Toope (Hon. Thesis | Directed Studies)
- 2019: Zahin Prangon (MUCEP)
- 2017 – 2019: Vanessa Strong (Psy.D.)
- 2018 – 2019: Rachelle Wakeham-Lewis (Hon. Thesis | MUCEP | NSERC Summer)
- 2018 – 2019: Iain Gamba (Hon. Thesis | MUCEP | NSERC Summer)
- 2018 – 2019: Liam Foley (Hon. Thesis)
- 2017 – 2019: Julia Rose (Hon. Thesis | SURA | NSERC Summer)
- 2017 – 2018: Landon Churchill (Ph.D. Student)
- 2017 – 2018: Jillian Penney (Hon. Thesis)
- 2017 – 2018: Rabia Farmahan (Hon. Thesis | Directed Studies)
- 2017 – 2018: Brittany Flood (Hon. Thesis)
- 2017 – 2018: Jenny Tiller (x2 Directed Studies)
- 2017 – 2018: Marcus Alves (FAPESP Visiting Doctoral Scholar (Brazil)
- 2017 – 2018: Julia Greenham (NSERC Summer Student | MUCEP Student)
- 2017: Rachel Hewitt (Directed Studies)
Volunteers
- 2023 – Present: Robyn Cumben
- Robyn is a volunteer and fourth-year BA (Hons.) student in psychology. Currently, Robyn is involved in the development of a scale which measures the severity of horror media-induced intrusions as well as an epidemiological meta-analysis of the prevalence of anxiety disorders in youth populations with ADHD. Robyn plans to pursue graduate work in the near future and looks forward to incorporating elements of her Neurofog work into research focusing on relationships and sexuality.
- 2024 – Present: Campbell Trask
Campbell is a second-year BA Psychology student. Campbell is currently volunteering for Dr. Johnathan Fawcett in a weapon focus effect study investigating how the presence of a weapon in a crime scene can affect eyewitness memory and attention. She is eagerly preparing to apply for her honours program with a keen interest in forensic psychology.
- 2021 – Present: Justine Yick (Hon. Thesis)
- 2022 – Present: Brooke Hiscock (Honours Student)
- 2023 – Present: Matt Wheeler
- 2024 – Present: Claudia Walsh
- 2024 – Present: Kaden Nivens
- 2024 – Present: Kyra Williams
- 2024 – Present: Lauryn Eagles
- 2024 – Present: Nathaniel Wells
- 2024 – Present: Sydney Knapman
Collaborators
- 2022 – Present: Ada Vaziri
- Dr. Nicholas Harris
- Dr. Emily Fawcett
- Dr. Josh Rash