Welcome to the Hurd lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alberta. Headed by Dr. Peter Hurd, we are a member of the BioCognition Unit and the University's Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute. Our research focuses on the biological basis of individual differences in aggressive behavior and other social and personality traits related to sex differences. We approach these questions from a number of directions:
- What makes some individuals more aggressive than others?
- How do events during the process of sexual differentiation (becoming male, female or something in between, or outside of those classes) produce individual differences in adult personality?
- In species in which adult sex is influenced by environmental influences during early development, how does this process influence brain and behaviour, and do similar processes and influences exist in humans?
- What genetic influences are there on social, and other, behaviours, that may interact with early development to influence personality in humans and other animals?
- How does evolutionary and game theory predict how individuals ought to behave in social conflicts?
The People of the Lab:
Summer 2016 lab photo. John Hoang, Pete Hurd, Rose Driscoll, Rahul Singla, Kali Heatherington, Nathan Brandwein, Brittany Hope, Nathan Bartlett (LtoR), missing on picture day: Bianca Cioceanu, Kennedy Fjellner.
Fall 2015 lab photo. Kennedy Fjellner, Nathan Brandwein, Bianca Cioceanu, Kerry Howell, Pete Hurd, McKenna Oleksuik, Brittany Hope, John Hoang, Kirsten Kelly, Nick Batty, Raj Kapoor, Sourav Saha, Nathan Bartlett (LtoR), missing on picture day: Emma Svensen.
Summer 2014 lab photo. Rochelle Evans, Cheryl Seaver, Febisola Oyelana, Pete Hurd, Bianca Cioceanu, Michele Moscicki, Kirsten Kelly, Erin Nesjan, Ashley Latty, (not pictured: Cassandra Husband, Sayeed Devraj-Kizuk, Jacob Baran, Jason Cameron).
Summer 2012 lab photo. Pete Hurd, Zoe Francis, Leah Elder, Jacob Baran, Michele Moscicki, Cheryl Seaver, Sayeed Devraj-Kizuk, Veronica Lepp, Karine Whiteside, Kathryn Vaillancourt (not pictured: Sydele Merrigan).
Fall 2011 lab photo (Fish Crew). Cheryl Seaver, Tristan Pasek, Pete Hurd, Michele Moscicki, Nicole McEwen, Jasmine Mah, Veronica Lepp (not pictured: Daniel Ostapowicz, Sydele Merrigan : also not pictured, Human Crew: Kathryn Vaillancourt, Nicole McEwen, Zoe Francis, Erin Nesjan).
Summer 2011 lab photo. Michele Moscicki, Nicole McEwen, Veronica Lepp, Pete Hurd, Kathryn Vaillancourt, Jasmine Mah, Ian Helgesen, (not pictured: Erin Nesjan, Daniel Ostapowicz, photo by Steven Hamblin).
Summer 2010 lab photo. Pete Hurd, Jasmine Mah, Michele Moscicki, Kathryn Vaillancourt, Natalie Dinsdale, Ian Helgesen, (not pictured: Josh Noble, Nick Conradi, Daniel Ostapowicz).
Fall 2009 lab photo. Michele Moscicki, Ian Helgesen, Reginia Yan, Pete Hurd, Natalie Dinsdale, Cristian Gutierrez (of the Wylie Lab) Michael Kreuzer (co-supervised by Doug Wylie) (not pictured: Kathryn Vaillancourt, Josh Noble).
Fall 2008 lab photo. Reginia Yan, Natalie Dinsdale, Matt Ian Helgesen, Kathryn Vaillancourt, Adam Reddon, Pete Hurd (not pictured, Josh Noble).
Summer 2008 lab photo. Jaimie Rathor, Kathryn Vaillancourt, Pete Hurd, Natalie Dinsdale, Adam Reddon, Reginia Yan.
The Sex & Violence lab at the 2005 Animal Behaviour Society Conference. Steven Hamblin, Alisha Brown, Adam Reddon, Maria Modanu, Walter Espinoza.
The 2005 lab photo. Front: Pete Hurd, Honey Case, Alisha Brown; Middle: Walter Espinoza, Troy Iwanyshyn, Andrea Becking, Adam Reddon; Back: Steven Hamblin, Lori Singh, Maria Modanu, Reginia Yan.
The 2004 lab photo. From left to right: Maria Modanu, Honey Case, Patricia Gongal, Amanda Tsui, Alisha Brown, Allie Bailey, Andrea Becking, John Doskas, Walter Espinoza, Pete Hurd.
The 2003 lab photo. From left to right: Pete Hurd, Walter Espinoza, Darren Clark, Allie Bailey, Alisha Brown, John Doskas.
