Behind the scienceA multidisciplinary team of scientists and practitioners

Jessica Leifer

Senior Lead, Behavioural Science

In this role, she is responsible for leading the Behavioral Science team’s collaborations with federal departments and external partners to apply BeSci insights to improve the impact of various government programs and policies.

Prior to joining the Privy Council Office, Jess worked for a U.S.-based BeSci organization where she managed a large portfolio of projects applying BeSci insights to improve health and well-being, combat poverty and inequality, and build financial capability in partnership with governments, non-profit organizations, and businesses locally and internationally. Jess also worked as an Social Impact Bond Fellow for the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing where she advised non-profit organizations interested in developing social impact bonds and innovative finance programs.

Jess received her Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. While at Penn, she researched self-control and willpower with Dr. Angela Duckworth. Jess is passionate about experimentation, and using data and evidence about what works to drive innovation and demonstrable social impact.

Dr. Lauryn Conway

Senior Lead, Behavioural Science

Dr. Lauryn Conway is the Lead of Behavioural Science at the Impact and Innovation Unit within the Privy Council Office. In this role, she provides strategic oversight and direction for central team projects and initiatives, applying insights and methodologies from the behavioural sciences to help improve policy, programs and service delivery across the Government of Canada.

Previously, Lauryn was an Impact Canada Fellow at the Public Health Agency of Canada where she focused on dual population health aims of preventing chronic disease and reducing health inequalities. Lauryn holds a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology, Human Development from McGill University and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Toronto.

As an academic and applied practitioner working across public and social sectors, Lauryn has worked passionately on the application of behavioural science and experimentation to domestic and international policy and program design with a subject matter focus on health and wellbeing. She also has experience consulting for intergovernmental bodies and not-for-profit research institutes in the areas of educational policy and government-sector relations.

Dr. Andrew Abela

Behavioural Science Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

In this role, Andrew is advancing projects and initiatives supporting the Government of Canada’s response to COVID-19 as it relates to vaccination uptake and communications from the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer.

Previously, Andrew worked for a management consulting firm, where he applied behavioural insights to a wide variety of challenges. Andrew has also worked as a course instructor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto. Andrew holds a PhD in Psychology and Behavioural Neuroscience from McGill University where he studied the brain basis of impulse control and decision-making.

Andrew also completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, where he examined how cognition and motivation are impacted by drugs of abuse, mental illness and medication. Andrew is passionate about using scientific communication, experimentation and evidence to drive meaningful outcomes for society.

Dr. Amanda Desnoyers

Behavioural Science Fellow, Employment and Social Development Canada

Amanda is a Behavioural Scientist and Fellow at the Impact and Innovation Unit located in the Privy Council Office. Her current placement is with Employment and Social Development Canada within the Canadian Education Savings Program where she is exploring how behavioural science can be used to help increase awareness and decrease barriers to accessing educational savings incentives such as the Canada Learning Bond.

Prior to this current role, Amanda supported the Government of Canada’s response to COVID-19. Specifically, she supported the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring in Canada (COSMO) longitudinal study that surveyed Canadian’s on their perceptions, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours surrounding COVID-19.

Amanda has a Masters degree in Experimental Psychology from Laurentian University and in 2018 earned a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University where she studied mindfulness and its impact on mental health.

Dr. Maral Yeganeh Doost

Behavioural Science Fellow

Maral received her doctorate from the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, in Neuroscience in 2018 and followed this with a postdoctoral position at Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University in cognitive neuroscience and motivation. Before joining the Fellowship program, she has worked as the behavioural science content creator for a management consulting firm. She has also worked as an independent behavioural science consultant with non-profit organizations.

 

Dr. Tyler Good

Behavioural Science Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

Tyler is a Behavioural Science Fellow at the Impact and Innovation Unit who will be working with partners at Office of Strategic Policy and Planning at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). In this role, he will provide a behavioural science lens to many initiatives at PHAC including the governmental response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to this position, Tyler completed a PhD in psychology at the University of Toronto where he studied the long-term consequences of concussion using large-scale network modeling and multivariate statistical techniques.

Dr. Kyle Hubbard

Behavioural Science Fellow

Kyle is a Behavioural Scientist in the Impact and Innovation Unit at the Privy Council Office, Government of Canada. He works with the IIU’s Behavioural Science Team to expand the Federal Government’s capacity to apply behavioural science (BeSci) to key priority areas including COVID-19 and climate change.

Prior to joining the core Behavioural Science Team in the IIU, Kyle was a Behavioural Science Fellow at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). During his time at ECCC he led BeSci research to promote pro-environmental behaviour change; applied a BeSci lens to the development of program, policy, and service initiatives; and helped build capacity for using experimentation and evidence-based decision making wherever possible.

Kyle holds a Doctorate of Philosophy (educational psychology) from McGill University.

Dr. Mark Morrissey

Behavioural Science Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

In this role, Mark is currently supporting work on vaccine confidence within the Immunization Promotion and Partnership Unit. Mark is working on the application of BeSci to advancing projects and initiatives supporting the Government of Canada’s response to COVID-19, particularly as it relates to vaccination uptake.

Mark received his doctorate from the University of Toronto in Psychology and Neuroscience in 2015, and followed this with a postdoctoral position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. Prior to joining the Fellowship Program, Mark worked as an Associate at a behavioural science management consulting firm. In 2019, Mark also began instructing undergraduate courses in Psychology at the University of Toronto Scarborough as a Lecturer and is now a part-time Assistant Professor. Mark is energized by the interest within government in the application of behavioural sciences and at the opportunity to work and collaborate with so many dedicated and bright minds.

Brian Pereira

Behavioural Science Fellow

Brian is a Behavioural Science Fellow within the Behavioural Science team at the Impact and Innovation Unit. He will be working on applying behavioural science research in response to COVID-19, including projects related to misinformation and disinformation.

Prior to joining the Fellowship program in April 2021, Brian worked at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health studying predictors of substance use behaviour in young adult populations.

Brian holds a Master of Science in Neuroscience from Western University and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Toronto.

Dhawal Selerka

Behavioural Science Fellow

Dhawal is a Behavioural Scientist with the Impact and Innovation Unit, Privy Council Office, Government of Canada. He is responsible for applying insights from the behavioural sciences (e.g. social psychology, cognitive sciences, etc.) across a range of files, including how the government communicates with its citizens, using experimental methods and techniques.

Prior to working with the core team at the IIU, Dhawal was placed at Transport Canada to help apply behavioural science across numerous programs and domains, including boating safety, organizational safety, and policy formulation.

Prior to his current role, Dhawal was a graduate student with the University of Toronto where he received a Master of Arts (Psychology)

Nick Thompson

Research Associate

In this role, he executes statistical analysis to generate policy insights targeted at assisting the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 response. In addition to his work with the Privy Council Office, Nick is currently completing a Master of Public Policy at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Before joining the Impact and Innovation Unit, he was a Research Associate at the Munk School’s Policy, Elections and Representation Lab where he helped launch a dashboard visualizing data on jurisdiction-level policy responses to COVID-19. Nick holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Studies from Queen’s University.

Currently Most Interested in… The application of Python to problems requiring statistical analysis. In particular, the use of Python to engage in automated approaches to analysis and large-scale data manipulation.

Sarah Wall

Behavioural Science Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

Sarah Wall is a Behavioural Science Fellow at the Impact and Innovation Unit within the Privy Council Office. She will also be working within the Public Health Agency of Canada to support the application of Behavioural Science and experimental methods to their continued response to COVID-19.

Sarah is educated at Wilfrid Laurier University where she earned her Master’s degree in social psychology, and is working concurrently on completing her Doctorate in social psychology, with a focus on motivation and decision-making in close relationship domains.

Alyssa Whalen

Advisor

Alyssa is an Advisor on the Behavioural Science team in the Impact and Innovation Unit at the Privy Council Office, Government of Canada. In this role, she applies principles and methods from Behavioural Science and other human-centred approaches to address complex policy and program challenges across the Government of Canada. During Alyssa’s time at the IIU, she has carried out numerous priority-driven projects as an applied researcher, and played a leading role in scoping and coordinating the team’s program of Behavioural Science research supporting the Government’s response to COVID-19.

Prior to joining her current role, Alyssa researched and studied at Queen’s University, concentrating in consumer behaviour and decision-making research. From Queen’s, she holds a Master of Science in Marketing and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, as well as certificates in Business and Social Impact. 

Wook Yang

Behavioural Science Fellow

Wook is working under the Natural Resources Canada’s energy efficiency program, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across Canada. To deliver an effective program, he will be working with a multidisciplinary team and applying behavioural approaches throughout the development process.

Wook holds a Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology and he is currently completing the final year of his PhD in Social and Behavioural Health Sciences at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health where he focuses on aging and mental health of Canadian minority populations.