Meg Schlichting, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychology
​PhD in Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin
​BA in Cognitive Science, University of Pennsylvania

​Meg is the Principal Investigator of the Budding Minds Lab at U of T. She is interested in how the episodic memory system (especially the hippocampus and its surrounding medial temporal lobe cortex) interacts with prefrontal brain regions to update our stored memories with new information. Her work aims to characterize how these neural operations happen in healthy young adults, as well as how they might change as the brain develops across childhood and adolescence. In her spare time, Meg loves to cook, try new restaurants, and explore all that her new city of Toronto has to offer.

Lab Managers

Hailey Benedict
​​BA in Psychology, Behavioural Science, Social Studies of Medicine, McGill University

​Hailey has recently finished her undergraduate studies at McGill University. At McGill, she completed a bachelors degree with a major focus in Psychology, and a double minor in Behavioural Science and Social Studies of Medicine. Hailey is very interested in studying cognitive processes across development and the life course; and looks forward to applying theory learned in school to her practice in the lab! In the near future, Hailey plans to pursue graduate studies in the realms of either psychology or medicine. In her spare time, Hailey enjoys spending as many hours as possible active and outdoors, often running outside and planning hiking and canoeing trips with her friends and family. 
Contact info: buddingmindslab+manager@gmail.com
Samantha Bray Kingissepp 
BA (Honours) in Psychology, University of Western Ontario​
​
Sam became interested in the cognitive development of children while completing her undergraduate thesis project at Western, which examined how children perceive numbers in their environment. Sam is interested in pursing her research interests in graduate school and plans to attend in the near future. In her spare time, Sam likes to watch movies, practice yoga and walk her dog, Minnie.
Contact info: buddingmindslab+manager@gmail.com

Graduate Students

Sagana Vijayarajah
BSc in Psychology, York University​

Sagana is very excited to be joining the Budding Minds Lab and to be working on her Master's research under Dr. Schlichting's supervision. She is interested in exploring the developmental changes in memory that occur from childhood to adulthood and how they impact decision-making. In her spare time, she likes to bike, paint and spend time with family and friends.
Tess Forest
BA in Cognitive Systems and linguistics, University of British Colombia
MA in experimental psychology, University of Toronto​

Tess is a PhD student in the Learning and Neural Development lab, collaborating with Dr. Schlichting to study hippocampal development. She grew up in Madison, Wisconsin and has spent some time working at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at the Max Plank Institute for Psycholinguistics, in the Netherlands. Broadly, she is interested in how language learning mechanisms operate, their development over time, and how that contributes to differences in language learning abilities between adults and children. In her free time, Tess likes to cook, knit, and spend time outside… either running, backpacking, skiing, or canoeing!

Research Assistants
Hannah Tarder-Stoll
BMus in Classical Voice Performance, University of Toronto
BSc in Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Toronto (In Progress)
​Undergraduate Honors Thesis Student 

Hannah is a fourth-year student, completing a Psychology Research Specialist and a Neuroscience Major. She is studying the influence of reward on memory integration, and is broadly interested in exploring the neural networks underlying memory integration and the neurotransmitters that modulate them. In the future, Hannah is interested in pursuing graduate studies in cognitive neuroscience. In her spare time, Hannah can be found singing, petting other people’s dogs, or planning her next travel destination! 
Wangjing Yu
BSc in Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Individual Project Student

Wangjing is a third-year student in U of T, taking a psychology and neuroscience double major. She is very interested in cognitive and developmental psychology and plans on pursuing graduate studies in related areas in the future. During her leisure time, she likes to watch movies and TV shows.

Lana Duan
​BSc in Psychology Specialist and Neuroscience, University of Toronto (In Progress)


​Lana is in her fourth year at U of T, pursuing a BSc in psychology specialist and a neuroscience major. In terms of research, Lana is interested in cognitive neuroscience, especially memory, and how it develops and changes with aging. Lana is planning to continue into graduate studies in cognitive neuroscience in the near future. In her free time, Lana enjoys watching movies, exploring good food in the city, and visiting animal shelters.

Nathan Chen
BSc in Neuroscience and Immunology, University of Toronto (In Progress)

Nathan is a second year student at U of T currently studying neuroscience and immunology.  He is interested in changes in the brain over time with regards to behaviour and the neurobiology of personality.  Nathan plans to attend medical school but is still interested in graduate studies for behavioural neuroscience.  In his free time, Nathan likes to go to concerts, play cello, and take photos. 

  ​ Isabelle Vanasse Grosdidier
    BSc in Psychology, Sociology, and Physiology, University of Toronto (In Progress)

     
​    Isabelle is in her final year at U of T as a psychology specialist, sociology major, and           physiology minor. She is interested in cognitive neuroscience and physiological                 psychology. In the future, Isabelle hopes to pursue graduate studies in cognitive                 neuroscience. In her spare time, Isabelle enjoys reading textbooks, visiting cafes in             Toronto, and spending time outdoors.

Tina Farokhifar
BSc in Psychology Specialist (In Progress)
Undergraduate Honours Thesis Student
​

​Tina is a third-year student in the Psychology Research Specialist program, and she is working under Professor Schlichting’s supervision to complete her undergraduate thesis project. Tina is very interested in cognitive psychology and memory research, and the implications that these findings have for better understanding memory disorders. In her free time, she is probably watching Netflix, playing tennis, or hanging out with friends and family.

Lab Programmers

Eryk Brol
BSc in Computer Science, University of Toronto


​Eryk is an third-year Computer Science student at U of T and an aspiring software developer. His experience with JavaScript, Python, and game programming allow him to develop interactive trials and apps for the Budding Minds Lab. Eryk is also interested in psychology and wants to contribute an outside-the-box perspective to the lab's research. When he's not coding away at his computer, Eryk can be found singing, listening to music, or watching shows on Netflix.
Our lab is small, but growing - join us!
 We are beginning to recruit research assistants for 2018. We are also still looking for postdoctoral fellows to join our team!
​​Visit the Get Involved page for more information.