Update

UBCO honours this year’s most outstanding researchers

Research Excellence | Strategy 7: Research Support
Theme: Innovation
Drs. Heather Gainforth, Greg Gerard and Isaac Li are UBCO’s 2023 researchers of the year.

UBC Okanagan is celebrating six outstanding researchers with one of its most prestigious research awards—Researcher of the Year.

The award recognizes the ways in which UBCO researchers—three faculty and three graduate student or postdoctoral fellows—are making the world a better place through excellence in research and scholarly activity. Alongside her teaching in the School of Health and Exercise Sciences, Dr. Gainforth’s research in the area of spinal cord injury (SCI) is focused on helping people with SCI live better lives. Dr. Garrard researches how humans’ activities and their perceptions of their environments shape the physical landscapes they inhabit. Immersed in the study of the physical interactions between cells, Dr. Li, Assistant Professor in the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, is an emerging leader in his field.

Three graduate or postdoctoral researchers were also recognized for their excellence in scholarly activity and highlighted as researchers to watch in the coming years:

  • Postdoctoral Fellow Researcher of the YearDr. Femke Hoekstra, Faculty of Health and Social Development
  • Doctoral Student Researcher of the YearMelanie Dickie, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science
  • Master’s Student Researcher of the YearHanna Paul, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

“It’s inspiring to see the breadth of subject matter and the quality of research conducted by our students and postdocs,” says Dr. Peter Simpson, Dean of the College of Graduate Studies.

Visit the UBC Okanagan News site to learn more.

Through Strategy 7: Research Support, UBC is enhancing digital research infrastructure in many areas of scholarship.