Serena McDiarmid

Graduate Educational Developer (Graduate Student)

Email: sdmcdiar@uwaterloo.ca

Pronouns: she/her

Serena McDiarmid
Serena McDiarmid is a third-year doctoral candidate at the University of Waterloo in the Psychology department (Faculty of Arts). Serena graduated with a BSc. Hons. in Health Studies & Gerontology from UW, a BEd. from Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Education, and a MASc in Developmental & Communication Science from the UW. In her current program, Serena is a PhD. candidate in the Developmental Psychology area and conducts research that promotes an understanding of the educational needs of youth with a refugee background and how the school system can best support them. She is involved with the European Union's "RefugeesWellSchool" research program and has conducted research in both the Canadian and Swedish school systems.

Serena completed the Centre for Teaching Excellence’s (CTE) Fundamentals program in 2019 and she is currently completing the Certificate in University Teaching (CUT) program. Serena has experience as a teaching assistant and has enjoyed delivering several guest lectures and public talks. She is also currently an instructor at Renison University College and works part-time as an elementary school teacher. Serena has a passion for trauma-informed pedagogy and enjoys building classroom connections with students from diverse backgrounds.