2020 Professional Development Award Winners

---

My name is Andreja and I am a 4th year Psychology student at York University in Toronto, Ontario. The CCDP Professional Development Award gave me the opportunity to attend a computational neuroscience summer school, as well as the chance to attend a leading visual sciences conference. Attending the conference gave me the opportunity to network with other neuroscientists from around the world, and the summer school taught me the skills I need to be competitive in my career. I am deeply grateful to the Canadian Council of Psychology Departments for facilitating my participation at these incredible events. 

 I received the Professional Development award during the last year of my undergraduate degree. I am now a first-year MA student studying at the University of Waterloo. I've used the award to fund (a) my attendance at an upcoming virtual research conference and (b) several books on the topic of my MA thesis.

Currently a PhD Candidate in the Applied Social Psychology program at the University of Saskatchewan under the supervision of Dr. Mark Olver. Her research tends to focus on forensic topics including perceptions of sexual violence, multiple perpetrator sexual offences, risk assessment, children under 12 with concerning sexual behaviour, zoophilia and bestiality, and populations with disabilities.  Alexandra used the CCDP Professional Development Award to attend the 39th Annual Research and Treatment Conference for the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers where she shared research on the experiences of individuals who identify as Involuntarily Celibate or "incels."

I am a second year Clinical Psychology MSc student at Acadia University. I used the CCDP Professional Development Award to contribute to my registration fee for EMDR Therapy Basic Training. I am currently completing my clinical practicum and this training allowed me to obtain supervision in this specialized therapy in addition to other modalities. Ultimately, this award afforded me the opportunity to obtain unique and specialized training early in my career, which will expand the breadth of my practicum experience and potentially enhance my competitiveness for job prospects post-graduation. 

My name is Avnee Sharma and I am in my first year of the Masters Psychology program at Wilfrid Laurier University. I have chosen to use the CCDP Professional Development award to further my understanding of various aspects of psychology by purchasing a variety of psychology-based books on topics related to my Masters thesis, such as social media and celebrity. These books will assist me in getting some more background on the subject. Thank you CCDP and Faculty of Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University.

  Kira Schieck recently completed her B.A specialization in psychology accompanied by a minorin Sociology. She is beginning her M.A in the fall at Nipissing University in North Bay Ontario under the supervision of Dr. Tracey Curwen. Kira has been a member and research coordinator for the Violence and Victimization Lab at Nipissing University supervised by Dr. Curwen since 2018. During that time, she has had the opportunity to collaborate on various research studies and present her work at regional and national conferences. Kira’s research interests include concerning sexual behaviours and violence of children under the age of 12, sexual coercion, gender and sexuality, and burnout in victim care providers. Kira has used the CCDP Professional Development Award to access resources aiding her MA research, attending and presenting at conferences, and trainings related to sexual violence. The. CCDP award has provided career and academic professional development.