Master’s student Natasha Korva is once again researching overseas.

She is at the University of Surrey in the U.K., assisting a team of researchers with their projects involving interviewing and deception.

She found out about the opportunity through her supervisor, Psychology Professor Craig Bennell, who did his graduate studies in the U.K.  

A few months ago, Korva spent five weeks in Singapore interning with the Singapore police research unit.

Once again, it was her supervisor, Dr. Craig Bennell, who found out about the internship through his connections with the directors of the HTBSC through the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology.

She worked with the Home Team Behavioural Sciences Centre (HTBSC), an applied psychological research and training centre that focuses on criminal and investigative psychology. The centre is part of the Home Team Academy, which is a police department committed to training police, security and safety officers.

As part of her internship, she gave two presentations. The first one for the HTBSC focused on Canadian forensic psychology programs. “My second talk was to help educate law enforcement personnel and members of the HTBSC about psychopathic individuals, how they deceive others, and ways to interview psychopaths in investigative settings, based on the research documented in academic literature,” shares Korva.

Natasha Korva at her Singapore presentation
Korva points out that her Singapore internship offered other opportunities. “I learned so much about the culture, enjoyed the various ethnic cuisines and made great friends. I loved the excessive heat, seeing monkeys wander freely around the parks and the cheap bubble tea located practically on every corner.”

Natasha Korva surrounded by monkeys in Singapore

As one of her long-term goals is to do consulting for the police, Korva said she chose to study policy psychology for her master’s degree. “I knew that Carleton had a fantastic forensic psychology research program and after meeting Craig at the Canadian Psychological Association, I knew that it would be a great fit,” says Korva.

Korva says that moving across the country to work with Bennell for her master’s degree was the best decision she could have made. “He has set me up with so many wonderful opportunities and has supported me through everything. He encourages student research development and attending psychological research conferences, which has really allowed me to grow as a researcher. I enjoy working in his lab and with everyone in it, and highly recommend other students to work with Dr. Bennell if they’re interested in police psychology.”

Korva also has great things to say about the psychology program.“The program has been fantastic! All the faculty are very established and knowledgeable in their fields, and it’s such a privilege to be surrounded by these scholars. It is also great to have the opportunity to branch out and do research with other faculty members for independent research studies; this really allows students to broaden their knowledge in their field of study.”

Korva is a SSHRC recipient (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council).

N. Korva - Night skyline of Singapore

Friday, June 21, 2013 in ,
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