Lynne completed a BA at Algoma University in 1995 and quickly realized that she needed more out of academia. She went back to Algoma for two more years to complete a thesis and other courses she needed to move on to graduate studies. After a lot of support and encouragement from her undergraduate mentors (including a certain podcast host), Lynne went on to complete a PhD in Jeff Galef’s social learning lab at McMaster University where she got rats drunk so that they could get other rats drunk. After a post-doctoral fellowship at McMaster and SUNY Binghamton, Lynne joined the Department of Psychology at MacEwan University in 2003. It had been her goal to have a career at a teaching-focused university like her alma mater, so the fit at MacEwan has been ideal. Lynne is known for engaging classes with lots of hands-on learning, and has earned a couple of awards for her efforts. Her annual field school in animal learning (affectionately known by students as “bear camp”) provides students with insights about training and husbandry for captive animals.
Lynne’s research and scholarly work has also focused on students and their learning. She’s a co-author of a popular textbook for learning and behaviour, and her research projects are designed to train students in research rather than to build an enviable CV. In fact, her CV resembles a patchwork quilt with topics including human mate choice, personality, dog greeting behaviour in dog parks, and authentic assessment techniques for undergraduate students. Her most recent project involved a captive bear who needed to deal with his past.
Outside of work, Lynne’s got a lot of hobbies and interests. She fosters and trains dogs for a local animal rescue, travels whenever she and her partner Paul can manage it, and is usually planning at least one trip/tattoo/music festival/home renovation at all times. When she retires she would like to become a pro wrestling manager, preferably for a heel.
