Krissy Bemister

Research area: Lifespan Development

Krissy works with Dr Meg Moulson in the Brain and Early Experiences (BEE) Lab.  

Krischanda (Krissy) is an MA student in the Psychological Science stream. Krissy completed an undergraduate thesis project at Ryerson University under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Want, examining the effect of subliminally presented thin-ideal media images on women’s appearance anxiety. Following her undergraduate degree, Krissy gained experience in various labs focused on developing interventions for children with learning difficulties, investigating the role of the built environment in reducing inequities for school-aged children, examining the impacts of full-day kindergarten and studying social evaluations in infancy. Currently, Krissy is Project Manager of a community-engaged research collaborative focused on promoting sustainable improvement in marginalized students’ educational success and family well-being.

Krissy’s MA thesis combines her passion for working with children and her interest in the developmental roots of racial biases. Specifically, she will be examining how the other-race effect, paired with manipulations of informant accuracy, impacts learning in pre-school aged children.

Outside of academia, Krissy advocates for causes close to her heart, such as animal rights, mental health awareness and racial justice. She is a member of Ryerson’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Group, a Student Cohort Representative for Ryerson’s Graduate Student Anti-Racism Initiative and a member of the National Black Graduate Network. Krissy also spends time on creative endeavors, such as contributing poetry to Ryerson’s arts and literary magazine, The Continuist.