Advisory Board

Co-Directors

Erin Maloney

Co-Director

University of Ottawa

Dr. Erin Maloney is an Associate Professor of Psychology and a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Academic Achievement and Well-Being at the University of Ottawa. She earned a PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Waterloo (2011). Prior to joining the University of Ottawa, Dr. Maloney worked as a Post-Doctoral Scholar at the University of Chicago (2011-2015), as a Senior Researcher at the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (2016-2017) and as a Defense Scientist for the Canadian Department of National Defense (2017).

Dr. Maloney is a world-leader in the study of math anxiety. She has been awarded early career awards from the Province of Ontario (2021), the Psychonomic Society (2022), and the University of Ottawa (2021/2023). Passionate about knowledge mobilization, she is a sought-after speaker on the topics of academic achievement and emotional well-being, and is the author of a popular-press children’s book on math anxiety. Being legally blind herself, Dr. Maloney advocates for the importance of accessibility, equity, and diversity in science and education.

Veronica Whitford

Co-Director

University of New Brunswick

Dr. Veronica Whitford (she/her) is an Associate Professor of Psychology, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Cognitive Neuroscience, and Director of the Lifespan Language and Cognition Lab at the University of New Brunswick. Originally from Montréal, Québec, she obtained her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from McGill University. Subsequently, she completed Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT)- and NSERC-funded postdoctoral fellowships in developmental cognitive neuroscience at Western University, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to joining the University of New Brunswick, she was an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Dr. Whitford’s research lies at the intersection of developmental-cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and psycholinguistics. Her work examines the cognitive and neural processes that support language, reading, and related cognitive abilities in diverse linguistic, cognitive, and clinical populations across the lifespan. Her research has been supported by several international, national, provincial, and institutional funding agencies and organizations, including the Society for Research in Child Development, Language Learning, Canada Foundation for Innovation, NSERC, New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, ResearchNB, and Harrison McCain Foundation.

As Co-Director of WiCSC+, Dr. Whitford is committed to advancing representation, mentorship, professional development, and leadership opportunities for researchers (across all career stages) from groups historically under-represented in cognitive science, including (but not limited to) women, gender-diverse scholars, first-generation scholars, racialized scholars, and scholars with accessibility considerations. She is also passionate about ensuring that scholars at smaller, less-resourced, and/or Francophone institutions across Canada are included in national networks and initiatives within cognitive science.

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