VIU Scholarship, Research, and Creative Activity

2021 Provost's SRCA Award Recipients

VIU is pleased to announce the recipients of the Provost’s Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity Awards for 2021.

Collaborative Research Award

This is a university-wide award given to recognize faculty members that have demonstrated excellence in collaborative projects and research undertaken as part of a multi-disciplinary or multi-institutional team. This award will be granted to a researcher who excels at creating and maintaining collaborations with industry, university and/or community partners to facilitate research that affects positive changes in their respective field.

Recipient: Dr. Spencer Russell, Faculty of Science and Technology - Nominated by Dr. Eve Stringham

Dr. Spencer Russell is a professor in the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture and an expert in fish pathology and immunology. His research on the pathogenesis of Tenacibaculum bacteria, the cause of mouth rot in salmon is highly relevant as this disease results in significant economic loss for the aquaculture industry. Spencer’s long-term goal is to develop a vaccine that can be utilized in preventive strategies to reduce reliance on antibiotics to control outbreaks.

Recipient: Alison Taplay, Faculty of Health and Human Services - Nominated by Dr. Patricia O’Hagan

Alison Taplay has served as a valued instructor since 2009 for the Educational Assistant and Community Support (EACS) program on our Powell River (PR) campus. Alison’s teaching, research and collaborative work comes together through her role as the PR program placement coordinator. She has developed and expanded employer and community partnerships to ensure rich and engaging student experiences. Alison is committed to addressing full participation of students who lack a voice by identifying the requisite changes in procedures and policy. She most recently presented her findings on access to postsecondary education for individuals who identified with an Intellectual Disability, including autism.

Graduate Research Mentor Award

This is a university-wide award given to recognize an individual who has demonstrated excellence in mentoring and supporting graduate student researchers.  The recipients will have demonstrated excellence in their ability to guide graduate student research, creative projects and development helping VIU learners to move from directed to independent research and creative work.  They inspire, motivate and support student learning, maintain open communication and accessibility to students. They will have encouraged and supported students to share the results of their work as appropriate to the discipline (i.e. publications, presentations, performances) and their efforts will have resulted in transformative learning experiences for VIU graduate students.

Recipient: Mark Holland, Faculty of Social Sciences - Nominated by Dr. Pam Shaw

Mark Holland is driven by a deep commitment to ensure the next generation of planners are appropriately educated to be effective in their calling to create better communities. His focus is on student success, and he strives to ensure students have the best possible education. The letters of support for Mark speak to this dedication and his positive influence: as noted by one student, "This guy is worth every penny of the tuition we paid."

Recipient: Dr. Sean Toal, Faculty of Education - Nominated by Dr. Marian Riedel

Dr. Sean Toal is a Professor in the Faculty of Education, teaching in the M.Ed. in Educational Leadership program and serving the faculty as the Field Experience Coordinator in undergraduate programs. He started working with graduate students in 2015, teaching a variety of courses within MEDL, supervising many theses, and serving on the VIU Research Ethics Board. Prior to joining VIU, he worked for several years as a K-12 teacher, school principal, and district leader.

Undergraduate Research Mentor Award

This is a university-wide award given to recognize an individual who has demonstrated excellence in mentoring and supporting undergraduate student researchers. Recipients will demonstrate an ability to guide student research, creative projects and development that has helped VIU learners to move from directed to independent research and creative work. They will have encouraged and supported students to share the results of their work as appropriate to the discipline (i.e. publications, presentations, performances) and their efforts will have resulted in transformative learning experiences for VIU undergrad students.

Recipient: Dr. Tim Green, Faculty of Science and Technology - Nominated by Dr. Eve Stringham

Dr. Tim Green, Canada Research Chair in Shellfish Health and Genomics, is an internationally recognized expert in shellfish aquaculture. In his work, Tim has supervised undergraduate research projects aimed at understanding the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of shellfish adaption to environmental stressors. Inspired by these early career experiences, several of his mentees have continued onto research positions in graduate school or governmental agencies.

Deans’ Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity Award

This award is given to recognize individual faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding scholarly, research and creative activities (SRCA) achievements and impact on their disciplines during the previous academic year. The Deans in each Faculty can nominate one faculty member each year for this award. Nominations received on the web-based form will be forwarded to the Deans for a determination of the recipient of the award.

Recipient: Carla Tilley, Faculty of Health and Human Services - Nominated by Dr. Patricia O’Hagan

Carla Tilley is an experienced critical care nurse, researcher, mentor and colleague in the BSN program. Her research identifies the gaps in policy, support and programs for internationally educated nurses. This research is critical for the workforce development of Registered Nurses across BC.

Recipient: Dr. Marian Riedel, Faculty of Education -Nominated by Dr. Rachel Moll and Dr. David Paterson

Dr. Marian Riedel has been working in the field of education for over 25 years. Marian joined the Faculty of Education in 2011 and is currently Chair of Graduate Programs and teaches in both undergraduate and graduate programs. Her research interests include international field placement and exploring understandings of good teaching. Her current work explores K-12 experiences of rapidly transitioning to alternate delivery during the onset of the COVID 19 global pandemic.

Recipient: Dr. Sally Vinden, Faculty of Trades & Applied Technology - Nominated by Glynis Steen

Sally has demonstrated an enthusiasm for supporting best practices in Trades education, at home and internationally. She is a lifelong learner, earning a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Implementation Theory. Today, as a Curriculum, Teaching & Learning Specialist she comes to this work as practitioner and scholar and is constantly seeking out opportunities to learn, discover, and lend her ideas to move projects and people forward. She is collaborative and innovative in her pedagogical designs.

Recipient: Dr. Spencer Russell, Faculty of Science and Technology - Nominated by Dr. Eve Stringham

Dr. Spencer Russell is a professor in the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture and an expert in fish pathology and immunology. His research on the pathogenesis of Tenacibaculum bacteria, the cause of mouth rot in salmon is highly relevant as this disease results in significant economic loss for the aquaculture industry. Spencer’s long-term goal is to develop a vaccine that can be utilized in preventive strategies to reduce reliance on antibiotics to control outbreaks.

Recipients Dr. Sylvie Lafrenière (Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning) and Dr. Gillian Anderson - Faculty of Social Sciences - Nominated by Dr. Elizabeth Brimacombe

Sylvie Lafreniere and Gillian Anderson, accomplished researchers and educators within the Department of Sociology, are strong contributors to a vibrant learning environment in the Faculty of Social Sciences. This past year they responded to the research call to Social Scientists to document the lived experiences of COVID-19, launching a collaborative research project entitled, “The Burden of Care: Exploring the Gendered Impact(s) of COVID-19 on Mothers’ Caring Labour.” Their timely and innovative research will be vitally important to post-pandemic social and community planning.

This research project is remarkable in several ways. It responds to a pressing need to document and analyze the gendered impacts of COVID-19. Sylvie and Gillian were hoping for 20-25 participants but received over 800 responses to their survey research call. Clearly, parents across the region felt the need to articulate their experiences during the pandemic. Evidence suggests that the pandemic has led to a “she-cession” in that women’s labour has been particularly impacted, and that these impacts will be long-lasting. Gillian and Sylvie’s research makes a timely contribution to the analysis of this “she-cession”, documenting women’s changing paid and unpaid labour patterns in the Canadian pandemic context. Their research makes a significant contribution to the larger sociological analysis of work and gender, and offers some fascinating commentary on the gendered nature of care. Gillian and Sylvie have already presented their findings at a number of forums and published an article on this research. Next steps in knowledge mobilization include sharing research results with local community organizations, and regional and provincial policymakers.

Sylvie and Gillian’s work embraces many of VIU’s values including understanding, diversity, and engagement. The research engages students in the process and supports VIU’s role in applied research projects that serve our community. The research also highlights the importance of wellness and wellbeing and emphasizes the ways in which care labour is critical to society, and yet can come at a tremendous toll for individual caregivers.

Selection committee:

Andie Tomlinson, Librarian; Jessica Gemella, Instructor, Horticulture Technician Program; Joslynn Affleck, Faculty of Science and Technology; Louis Mattar, Faculty of Education; Mark Williams, Faculty of Social Sciences; Lynda Robinson, Work Integrated Learning (CEL); Monir Shahzeidi, Student representative; Samuelle Simard-Provencal, Student representative; Susan Juby, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and Nicole Vaugeois, Chair.