Lunch with the Experts
At this year’s KiwiCAM, we will be hosting a “Lunch with the Experts." You will have the opportunity to network and chat with eminent memory and cognition researchers and industry workers in a relaxed, small-group environment during the lunch hour.
Below is a brief blurb describing each of our experts' areas of interest. To help us match you with experts that align with your interests, please read these blurbs then indicate your preferences at the bottom of the page.
Gina Grimshaw
Gina Grimshaw is an Associate Professor at Victoria University of Wellington. Gina leads the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab at Victoria University of Wellington. The lab explores interactions between cognition and emotion, using behavioural experiments, EEG, and virtual reality. In her spare time, she also has interests in all areas of cognitive science, artificial intelligence, science communication, and the integration of science and art. So, no shortage of things to talk about! She has been an academic for over 30 years, having studied and worked in Canada, the US, and New Zealand.
Research profile: https://people.wgtn.ac.nz/gina.grimshaw
Stephen Hill
Stephen Hill an Associate Professor at Massey University. Stephen is a cognitive psychologist with a particular interest in the ways in which people rely on their physical and social environments when they remember, reason, and make decisions (sometimes referred to as distributed or extended cognition). A good part of Stephen’s research focuses on people’s metacognitive judgements about the role of the environment in their thinking and the cognitive biases, illusions of knowledge, and implicit assumptions that underpin these judgements. Stephen’s current work focuses on the cognitive processes that underpin the formation of beliefs and judgements about ‘hot topics’ such as conspiracies, urban myths, understandings of climate change, and juror decision making.
Research profile: https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/expertise/profile.cfm?stref=908630
Kayla Jordan
Kayla Jordan recently graduated with a PhD in Psychology from The University of Waikato. Kayla's PhD research focused on decision-making and cognitive biases, more specifically how people become overconfident in their ability to perform highly specialised skills. Kayla now works for a research and evaluation firm consulting with government, businesses and organisations. In her job, she uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative research to understand the impact that policies, programmes or initiatives could have over time. Her work spans monitoring and evaluation, social and market research, and impact modelling.
Profile: https://scarlatti.co.nz/about/#modal-79
Vincent Reid
Vincent Reid is a Professor at the University of Waikato. Vincent's research interests cover a range of multi-disciplinary research questions with psychology at the core of interactions with biology, medical imaging, obstetrics, pediatrics and physics. His research has included tackling problems in measuring the developing functional brain, understanding fetal behaviour, exploring perceptual and social development, and relations between motor-social-perceptual systems during development. Vincent explores these issues using a mix of brain and behaviour-based experimental approaches.
Research profile: https://profiles.waikato.ac.nz/vincent.reid
Melanie Takarangi
Melanie Takarangi is a Professor at Flinders University in Australia. Melanie's research addresses critical questions about traumatic memories and how they work. For example, how and why do people’s memories of traumatic experiences evolve? What roles do trigger warnings, stress, attention or social relationships play in how people remember their traumatic memories? Melanie’s work is at the forefront of bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and practical applications in legal and clinical contexts.
Research profile: https://www.flinders.edu.au/people/melanie.takarangi