Kayla Wanamaker

Kayla Wanamaker is a Research Advisor at Employment and Social Development Canada in the Early Learning and Child Care Data and Research Unit. Prior to this role, Kayla worked in various research and evaluation roles at the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) in the Evaluation and the Women Offender Research divisions.  Kayla has also worked at Public Safety Canada in the Corrections and Criminal Justice Research and the Law Enforcement and Policing Research divisions.

Kayla successfully completed her Ph. D. in Psychology (Forensic) under the supervision of Dr. Shelley Brown in 2020. Her doctoral research assessed patterns of change in dynamic risk and strength factors assessed by the Service Planning Instrument (SPIn; Orbis Partners, 2003) and the relationship to reoffending outcomes for justice-involved men and women. She also examined typologies of men and women on community supervision that can be used to inform service delivery and rehabilitation efforts. In 2021, the Canadian Psychological Association awarded Kayla the Certificate of Academic Excellence for her outstanding dissertation research.

She has also completed a Bachelor of Arts Highest Honours degree in Psychology with a minor in Sociology and a Master of Arts in Forensic Psychology at Carleton University.