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The 2025 holiday season is upon us, bringing a host of both celebrations and unique stresses. From the science of happiness and family dynamics to health, affordability, food waste, and deep fakes/holiday scams, 51ÉçÇøºÚÁÏexperts are available to comment throughout the winter break.

Buying, budgeting, and affordability

BRENT MCFERRAN, professor, marketing
bmcferra@sfu.ca (available until December 18, 2025)
Expertise: social and interpersonal influences, consumer identity, moral psychology and prosocial behaviour, consumer behaviour, food marketing

ANDREY PAVLOV, professor, finance
apavlov@sfu.ca (available until December 28, 2025)
Expertise: real estate markets, housing affordability, B.C. and Canadian economy, interest rates, inflation

TAMMARA SOMA, associate professor, resource and environmental management
To arrange interviews, please contact MediaRelations@sfu.ca or leave a message at 1.778.782 9543  
Expertise: food waste, food systems, food security, waste management, food access, circular economy

Family and relationships

BARBARA MITCHELL, professor, gerontology and sociology
mitchelo@sfu.ca
Expertise: families and aging, youth transitions to adulthood and living arrangements, boomerang kids, baby boomers and their young adult children, parenthood and parent-child relations, gender, family and marital relationships, family caregiving and health

ANDREW WISTER, distinguished professor, gerontology, director of the Gerontology Research Centre
andrew_wister@sfu.ca
Expertise: population aging/population health, resilience and aging, social isolation, patterns of family and social support, baby boomer health, environment and aging

Happiness

LARA AKNIN, distinguished professor, psychology, director of the Helping and Happiness Lab
Please contact Lara Aknin at lara_aknin@sfu.ca to arrange interviews with various experts at the Helping and Happiness Lab.
Expertise: happiness, helping, well-being, generosity, kindness, social relationships

Holiday scams and deep fakes

AHMED AL-RAWI, associate professor, communication, director of the Disinformation Project
aalrawi@sfu.ca 
Expertise: social media, news, computational journalism, popular culture, international communication, disinformation, deep fakes, digital scams

Health

SCOTT LEAR, professor, health sciences, Pfizer/Heart & Stroke Foundation Chair in Cardiovascular Prevention Research
salear@sfu.ca
Expertise: prevention and management of heart and other chronic diseases, obesity, physical activity/exercise, e-health

STELLA HARDEN, PhD candidate, geography
stella_harden@sfu.ca
Expertise: runner preferences and patterns, Strava, accessibility of environments that promote wellbeing, gendered experiences within running