Rebecca Neel, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator // ​Lab Director

Dr. Neel received her B.A. in English from Carleton College, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from Arizona State University. From 2013-2018 she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa's Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the University of Toronto's Department of Psychology.​
​​
becca.neel@utoronto.ca  |  CV

---

Stephanie Oliinyk
​Lab Manager

Stephanie is in the 5th year of her Honours B.S. as a Psychology Research Specialist at the University of Toronto - St. George Campus. Her research interests include: stereotypes, stigma, and person perception. Specifically, she is interested in marginalized groups such as people who use drugs. 
​
stephanie.oliinyk@mail.utoronto.ca

---

Bethany Lassetter
​Graduate Student

Bethany received her B.S. in Psychology and General Science from the University of Oregon and her M.A. in Psychology from the University of Iowa. She studies how beliefs and stereotypes influence social judgment. More specifically, she is interested in how goal relevance (i.e., whether you think others can facilitate or impede your goals) shapes social attention and emotion. She also examines beliefs about who can vs. cannot change and the consequences of these beliefs, primarily within intergroup contexts..

bethany.lassetter@mail.utoronto.ca

​Elia Q. Y. Lam
​Graduate Student

Elia received her B.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Waterloo. Broadly, Elia’s research interests include: intergroup relations and culture, beliefs about change, and self-regulation. More specifically, she is interested in how beliefs about change can impact intergroup relations and persistence. Elia is also interested in social invisibility and whether differing expectations can mitigate the effects of feeling invisible.

elia.lam@mail.utoronto.ca

---

---

Joel Le Forestier
Affiliated ​Graduate Student

Joel received his HBA in Social Development & Business at the University of Waterloo and his MA in Social Psychology here at the University of Toronto. Broadly speaking, Joel is interested in social psychological factors that prevent members of marginalized groups from thriving and how we can leverage knowledge of these factors to intervene to promote equity. More specifically, he is interested in how our identities—and how we engage with them—impacts outcomes in the domains of academics, health, and general well-being. Joel's work involves topics including concealable social identities, prejudice, and social belonging.

​joel.leforestier@mail.utoronto.ca

---

Jordana Schiralli 
Affiliated ​Graduate Student

Jordana received her B.Sc. and M.A. in Psychology from the University of Toronto. Jordana is primarily working with Dr. Alison Chasteen in the Intergroup Relations Lab. Her current lines of research are exploring how targets are perceived when confronting sexism and how sexist attitudes are prescribed to women who hold intersectional identities. 
​​
jordana.schiralli@mail.utoronto.ca

Veronica Bergstrom
Affiliated ​Graduate Student

Veronica received her BSc Honours in Psychology from the University of Alberta and her MA in psychology from the University of Toronto. Veronica is primarily working with Dr. Alison Chasteen in the Intergroup Relations Lab. Her interests lie in the area of prejudice and stereotyping. More specifically, she investigates how intersecting identities affect stereotype content. Additionally, she has a line of research that focuses on religious and nonreligious group biases. 

​v.bergstrom@mail.utoronto.ca

---

CURRENT RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

​Lok Sang Jeffrey To
Maryam Fakri
​Sooyeon (Jordan) Lee
Yibo (Eable) Sun

Interested in volunteering?

Join Us

---

ALUMNI

Adira Daniel | Lab Manager; now at Western University

Merril Chesser | Post-Bac Research Assistant; now at the ACLU of Iowa

Joshua Gold, Ph.D. | Affiliated Graduate Student; now Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Washington 

Chloe Huelsnitz | Lab Manager; now at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

​Austin Simpson, M.A. | Affiliated Graduate Student; now at University of California, Davis

Jillian Stuart, Ph.D. | Affiliated Graduate Student; now Assistant Professor of Psychology at Virginia Military Institute

Kelsey Thiem, Ph.D. | Affiliated Graduate Student; now Assistant Professor of Social Psychology at Ball State University 
​
​Ji Xia, M.A. | Affiliated Graduate Student; now at SUNY University at Buffalo

---

PAST RESEARCH ASSISTANTS 

​Adrienne Jensen
Alexandrea Martin
Allyvia Fogarty
Ambur Hageman
Andrea Heinz
Anna Kraft
Annalise Castro
Bernardo Duarte
Bridget Ross
Chelle Praska
Conor Mittauer
Crystal Terman
Donney Jackson
Francesca Walton
Gabby Dillman
​Gabrielle Grothe
​​Gustav Lundberg

​Hala Bucheeri
​Jessica Mielenz
​Jingen (Anna) Yan
​Jovana Pajovic 
Justin Dodd
Kayla Karegianes
Lingyu (Albee) Li
Madhuri Belkale
Mckinna Wilts
Mina Jyung
Nora Tucker
Seunggun Lee
Solomon Worlds
Taylor Magnuson
Xiaotian (Amy) He
​Yu Han
Yuhao Chen
Zara Teichroew

---

PAST LAB GROUPS​

---