Camryn Yuen

Experimental Psychology and Law master's student in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Tell us a little about yourself, including what inspires you to learn and continue in your chosen field

My name is Camryn Yuen and I am a Master's student in the Experimental Psychology and Law program. I live in North Vancouver where I also grew up. As a member of the Eyewitness Lab, I conduct research on face matching under the supervision of Dr. Ryan Fitzgerald. Face matching involves judging whether two faces are the same person or different people and it is used in a variety of forensic settings, including border security and criminal investigation. I am inspired to continue my research on face matching to improve border security and prevent wrongful convictions.

Why did you choose to come to SFU?

I completed my undergraduate degree at SFU, where I was also a sprinter on the varsity track and field team. I joined the Eyewitness Lab as an undergrad where I developed an interest in face matching and prospective person memory, which is a type of memory used when people are asked to lookout for wanted or missing people during their day-to-day lives. After completing my honours thesis on face matching and prospective person memory with Dr. Ryan Fitzgerald, I knew I wanted to continue working with him as a graduate student at SFU. SFU's Experimental Psychology and Law program is one of the best programs in Canada and I am grateful to be apart of it as a graduate student.

How would you describe your research or your program to a family member?

As technology advances and concerns for public safety continue to rise, CCTV cameras are becoming more and more prevalent. When a criminal is caught committing a crime on camera, investigators use face matching to decide whether a suspect is the same person as the perpetrator in the surveillance footage. Although this seems like a relatively easy task, it is surprisingly challenging, especially under realistic conditions where surveillance footage is poor or taken from afar. Misidentifications that result from errors in face matching can lead to wrongful arrests and convictions. My current research primarily focuses on improving the identification of criminals caught on camera and preventing wrongful conviction.

What three (3) keywords would you use to describe your research?

Face matching, Identification, Surveillance

How have your courses, RA-ships, TA-ships, or non-academic school experiences contributed to your academic and/or professional development?

The course work in this program has greatly expanded my knowledge of the law and psycho-legal related issues. Through my course work I have gained valuable research skills and learned how my research can influence policy. In addition to being a student, I am also a TA in the psychology department. As a fairly new TA, I have developed valuable teaching and communication skills to guide and mentor undergraduate students.

Have you been the recipient of any major or donor-funded awards? If so, please tell us which ones and a little about how the awards have impacted your studies and/or research

I am honoured to be the recipient of the Canada Graduate Scholarship (Master’s program), funded by the the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I am also grateful to have been awarded a Special Graduate Entrance Scholarship and a Graduate Fellowship from SFU. Having this funding has allowed me to focus on learning and producing high-quality research.

Contact Camryn:camryn_yuen@sfu.ca

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