In this week's episode of Neural Pathways, host Rana Ghafouri speaks to Dr. Emily Coffey, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Concordia University. and follow the show to never miss an episode.
Dr. Emily Coffey’s passion for learning about human behaviour began long before her academic career, and her role in academia allows her to take full advantage of this interest. As an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Concordia University, Emily teaches courses and runs the , which focuses on the auditory system, experience-dependent neuroplasticity, and sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Her favourite part of being a professor is her research; she appreciates working with her students, coming up with new projects, and staying involved with analyses in her studies.
As a young adult, Emily says that she had a lot of trouble deciding what career to pursue. After high school, she worked at a flying company instead of going straight to university—until one day she was in a plane crash and began reconsidering what she wanted to do. She realized that what she enjoyed most wasn’t the flying, but rather seeing the way she learned and watching other people learn. In other words, she was interested in the process of human change and behaviour. After completing her undergraduate studies in Psychology at the University of Ottawa, she went on to work at the European Astronaut Centre in Germany to observe astronauts in isolated and confined environments and coach them to work as a team. While this was a very interesting experience, Emily decided that she missed research, so she went on to obtain her Master’s in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Amsterdam, before coming to McGill for her PhD, working on the auditory system at The Neuro.
As a supervisor, Emily believes that it is important to personalize her mentorship for each of her students and to take their interests, safety, and mental health into consideration. To trainees interested in being a professor, she suggests finding mentors that can give them personalized feedback and guide them through different aspects of their interests, and she emphasizes the importance of learning to bring projects to their conclusions. For a career in academia, Emily outlines that it is crucial to recognize what that entails and be comfortable with all parts of the job. “It’s a very high-energy, high-dedication, high-time commitment type of career, and you might have to sacrifice other aspects of your life in order to be successful at it,” she explains.
Like many graduate students, Emily admits that her biggest challenge during graduate school was having confidence in her work. She advises that it is important to not dwell on that, and instead try to continue on with the science and persevere. “You waste time doubting yourself when you should just get back to it,” she reflects. She emphasizes that there is no fixed path to follow in order to reach a goal, and things will work out by working hard and following your interests.
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