{"id":45495,"date":"2026-06-23T13:49:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/psychology\/?post_type=cu_people&p=45495"},"modified":"2026-06-23T13:49:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:49:29","slug":"catalina-hernandez","status":"publish","type":"cu_people","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/psychology\/people\/catalina-hernandez\/","title":{"rendered":"Catalina Hernandez"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n \n \n \n <\/h1>\n\n \n <\/header>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Catalina<\/strong> earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a concentration in Forensic Psychology in 2021, followed by a Master of Arts in Law and Legal Studies in 2023. She is currently working as a Senior Policy Analys<\/strong>t with Public Safety Canada<\/strong>, contributing to the development and evaluation of policies that support public safety and national priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

“Try out as many courses as you can, even if you might be on the fence about them! Expose yourself to as many fields and sub-fields. In hindsight, I wish I explored more of the different concentrations in Psychology. Don\u2019t narrow yourself to one subject!<\/strong>“<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Brief description of what I do!<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In my current role, I support a Director General (DG) on crime prevention programming. I have been responsible for drafting and reviewing a range of products (decks, speaking notes, responses, etc.) to prepare my DG for executive-level engagements, overseeing the coordination of daily taskings, leading weekly look-ahead meetings with executives, work closely with crime prevention program tasks, and provide recommendations to senior management, among many other responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What inspired your career path after graduation?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Independent Study course (PSYC 4900)<\/em> I completed in fourth year allowed me to work with a team at Correctional Services Canada (CSC)<\/a> and exposed me to what working in the government in my field could look like. I really enjoyed both the independent and collaborative aspect of it, and how it challenged my thinking and writing, making me adapt to a government-style of writing. Networking with CSC colleagues opened up my eyes to the opportunities in the federal government, and I ended up being referred to my current department – Public Safety<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did your experience in the psychology program shape your journey?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Two courses in the psychology program really shaped my journey and where I am today. In my first year, I completed a seminar on \u201cDiversity in Psychological World Views\u201d<\/em> taught by Dr. Herman Hawthorne, where I learned about cultural competency, white privilege, cultural racism, and the many forms of discrimination that unfortunately persist today. The course was eye opening and stuck with me throughout the program and into my Masters, leading me to focus my MA thesis on colour-blind racism, and join a team at Public Safety that led work on making our programs more inclusive for the public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually finding this role at Public Safety – one that aligned with my interests – was thanks to an Independent Study course (PSYC 4900) that I completed with Correctional Service Canada (CSC), where I gathered research that would help inform a new long-term offender strategy. Through the networking that this practicum provided, I was referred to Public Safety Canada\u2019s crime prevention programs team and worked there for two summers while completing my Masters. Once my studies were complete, I was able to join a team that aligned with my initial EDI interests, and worked on making our programs more inclusive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my case, the Psychology undergraduate program at Carleton both shaped my interests, and provided me with the network to help pursue those interests!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What skills or experiences were most valuable after graduation?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Note taking during lectures, lots of reading material, knowledge translation to ensure the audience understands what you\u2019re trying to say! I would also say defending both my B.A. and M.A. thesis and answering difficult questions about my work – getting me to think deeply about it and also know when to be honest that I don\u2019t have the answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are there specific Psychology courses, professors, or experiences that stood out during your time at Carleton?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Courses: Practicum, Independent Study, Thesis; Professors: Dr. Atiya Husain<\/a> (LAW), Dr. Herman Hawthorne, Dr. Evelyn Maeder<\/a>, Dr. Michael Christensen<\/a> (LAW), Dr. John Zalenski<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has been a highlight or proud moment in your career so far?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Receiving awards after putting in a lot of time and dedication to my work: 1) SSHRC scholarship for my Masters research; 2) Carleton University\u2019s Senate Medal for outstanding academic achievement (when graduating with my M.A.); 3) Public Safety Recognition Awards (2025 and 2026).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":328,"featured_media":45312,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cu_people_first_name":"Catalina ","cu_people_last_name":"Hernandez","cu_people_initials":"CH","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_people_type":[55],"cu_people_expertise":[],"class_list":["post-45495","cu_people","type-cu_people","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_people_type-alumni-profiles"],"acf":{"cu_people_job_title":"","cu_people_degree":" Masters of Arts in Law and Legal Studies (2023), and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a Concentration in Forensic Psychology (2021)","cu_building":"","cu_people_office_num":"","cu_people_pronoun":"","cu_people_designation":"","cu_people_email":"","cu_people_phone":"","cu_people_phone_ext":"","cu_people_linkedin":"","cu_people_bluesky":"","cu_people_twitter":"","cu_people_instagram":"","cu_people_facebook":"","cu_people_website":"","cu_people_orcid":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_people\/45495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_people"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_people"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/328"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_people\/45495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45497,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_people\/45495\/revisions\/45497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_people_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_people_type?post=45495"},{"taxonomy":"cu_people_expertise","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_people_expertise?post=45495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}