Lab Members

Lyndsay Woolridge, Graduate Student – PhD 5

lyndsay.woolridge@ontariotechu.net

Lyndsay is in her final year of the Direct Entry PhD program in Forensic Psychology, working under the supervision of Dr. Amy Leach. She completed her master’s degree in Linguistics at York University and received her BA (Hons) in Linguistics and Psychology from Queen’s University. Her primary research area focuses on deception detection in non-native English speakers and the implications of observer biases when making veracity judgments in legal settings. As a secondary focus, Lyndsay has also conducted several studies related to deception and attributions of arousal. Currently, she is investigating the impact of interpreter use on deception detection during courtroom examinations.

Click here to download Lyndsay’s CV

Lyndsay’s ResearchGate profile

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Brooklyn Ferguson, Graduate Student – MSc 2

brooklyn.ferguson@ontariotechu.net

Brooklyn is in her second year of the Forensic Psychology MSc program at Ontario Tech University. Brooklyn is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Amy Leach to explore the topic of apologies. Her master’s thesis will look at the impact of pseudo-apologies and their effect in the courtroom.

Brooklyn recently graduated from Ontario Tech University, where she majored in Forensic Psychology and minored in Criminology and Justice. During her undergraduate degree, she completed an honours thesis also under the supervision of Dr. Amy Leach. Her honours thesis explored police officers’ perceptions of professional interpreters and the quality of interpretation in suspect interviews.

Brooklyn’s LinkedIn profile

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Alia Louati, Graduate Student – MSc 2

alia.louati@ontariotechu.net

Alia is a second-year Forensic Psychology MSc student under the supervision of Dr. Amy-May Leach. Alia’s master’s thesis compares observer deception detection performance across accounts provided by non-native witnesses in their native language versus accounts conveyed by interpreters.

Alia recently received her HBSc degree from the University of Toronto, where she completed a specialization in Psychology and a minor in Forensic Science. Her undergraduate honours thesis investigated the role of rhythm on attention to speech in complex acoustic scenes consisting of multiple different sound types (i.e., environmental, music, animal, and speech sounds). 

Alia is very excited to be a member of The Lie Lab!

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Daniela Druzgala, Graduate Student – MSc 1

daniela.druzgala@ontariotechu.net

Daniela is a first-year MSc student in the Forensic Psychology program working under the supervision of Dr. Amy-May Leach. Her master’s thesis will look at people’s ability to distinguish between true apologies (i.e., apologies made by individuals for a transgression they committed) and false apologies (i.e., apologies made by individuals for a transgression they did not commit), presented in the form of written apology letters. 

Daniela recently graduated from the BSc Psychology program at Ontario Tech University, where she also completed an honours thesis under Dr. Amy-May Leach’s supervision. Her research examined the impact of apologies made during police interrogations, focusing on how they affect jurors’ perceptions and decision-making in a criminal trial. 

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Jolie Huang – Project Assistant

jolie.huang@ontariotechu.net

Jolie is a second year Medical Laboratory Science student at Ontario Tech University. She is very excited to be supporting the lie lab as a project assistant.

Jolie is currently thinking about doing a masters in psychology or forensic psychology after she finishes her undergraduate studies.

Click here to access Jolie’s Linkedin profile

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Keenan Howells, Honours Thesis Student

keenan.howells@ontariotechu.net

Keenan is a fourth-year BSc Psychology student at Ontario Tech University completing his Honours Thesis under the supervision of Dr. Amy Leach. His thesis will examine deception detection across native and non-native speakers, specifically, looking at deception cues and their reliability. His broader research interests include interpersonal communication, social perception, and understanding the factors that influence human behaviour.

Following his undergraduate studies, Keenan hopes to pursue graduate training in counselling psychology in order to work in the mental health field

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