84 Applications: PSYC100 Alumni in Policy
By Justine Tanguay, Riley J.T. Bonar, and Meghan E. Norris
In this unit, we explored topics related to motivation and emotion, and we connected this with SDG2: Zero Hunger. There are many pathways that apply this science, and the pursuit of the SDGs. Here, we are pleased to share a PSYC100 alumnus who has pursued a career that allows her to apply her knowledge about social determinants of health, psychological science, and research methods and statistics to inform policy.
Introducing, Justine Tanguay!
Justine Tanguay is a Policy Advisor who graduated from Queen’s in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology! Justine’s pursuit of advising policy began at Queen’s University, when she took a course on the Social Determinants of Health. The class examined how factors like income, housing, education, and environment are shaped by public policy, which made her realize that many of the issues she was passionate about are deeply connected to government action. Understanding how policy can either support or hinder people’s well being made Justine want to be part of the process, and part of a team working to improve the quality of life for Canadians. A typical day in the life of Justine as a Policy Advisor, involves working closely with the Director General to identify priorities, guide strategic initiatives, and support the successful delivery of major projects. She often acts as the link between leadership and staff, helping teams stay aligned and navigate challenges as they arise. Justine’s psychology background, particularly in research methods and statistics, gives her a strong foundation for gathering and interpreting data that informs thoughtful, evidence driven policy development. Understanding how to gather, interpret, and apply high quality data is essential to informing sound policy decisions, and the analytical foundation provided from her psychology training at Queen’s helped strengthen her advice and recommendations.
By taking PSYC 100, you join a vast community that contains members who have graduated and had a variety of experiences! We caught up with Justine and asked what her favourite memory from PSYC 100 was. Justine told us that her favourite memories from PSYC 100 were the tutorials. The tutorials provided such a great opportunity to connect with peers in a more hands on, collaborative environment. Justine loved completing the in-class experiments with friends, comparing their results, and seeing psychological concepts come to life in real time. It made the material feel tangible and exciting, and it helped Justine understand how the theories learned in lectures play out in everyday behaviour. Justine also offered some advice about careers to students currently taking PSYC 100 and said to be open to the opportunities that come your way. Each new experience teaches you something valuable about yourself: what you enjoy, what you don’t, the environments where you thrive, and the kind of colleague or leader you want to become. When Justine started her undergraduate degree, she was very focused on having a plan. But when everything is mapped out too rigidly, you can unintentionally close the door on possibilities you never even knew to consider. Careers are fluid. Your goals evolve as you gain experience, meet new people, and discover what energizes you. Give yourself permission to explore, change direction, grow, and be courageous enough to try new things.
If you are interested in learning more about what Justine does for a living, you can check out the Canadian government’s website. If there are any policy subjects that you want to learn more about (i.e., global affairs, health or environment, etc.), Justine encourages you to review the individual Ministry websites.
References:
Global Affairs Canada. (n.d.). Global Affairs Canada. Government of Canada. https://international.canada.ca/en/global-affairs
Government of Canada. (n.d.). Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en.html
Government of Canada. (n.d.). Environment and climate change. https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change.html
Health Canada. (n.d.). Health Canada. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada.html
United Nations. (n.d.). Goal 2: Zero hunger. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/
How to cite this using APA Style:
Tanguay, J., Bonar, R.J.T., & Norris, M.E. (2026). Applications: PSYC100 Alumni in Policy. In PSYC 100: Principles of psychology. eCampusOntario. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/testbookje/chapter/applications-psyc100-alumni-in-policy/
