Convocation November 2009

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership and Policy)

• Dr. Pius Gerard Ryan: "Dr. Ryan's research was a case study focused on the analysis of a Networked Learning Community of teachers within a geographically and culturally diverse school district in BC. His findings focused on policies as well as factors in the local context that create an enabling environment for district wide networks as a vehicle for teacher development. In addition, his research provides insight on the role a network can play in teacher engagement, teacher empowerment, and teacher connections."
• Dr. Lorna Marilynne Waithman: "Dr. Waithman researched three topics which influence student learning in the public education system: social justice principles, school-choice policies and year-round schooling. She explored strategies which supported student learning and developed several recommendations for policy, practice and future research relevant to public education."
• Dr. Diane E Reed: "Dr. Reed studied educational partnerships between public and private post-secondary institutions offering health programs in British Columbia. She developed a framework for understanding these partnerships, for use by educators, administrators, and policy-makers, based on ideas about institutional compatibility and boundaries between the two types of institutions."

Doctor of Musical Arts

• Dr. Joseph Scott Amort: "Dr. Amort composed a musical work that reflects a variety of extra-musical topics, including fragmentation, non-linear time, fractals and algorithmic modelling. He was also influenced by the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and the prose of Samuel Beckett, combining these ideas within a Spectralist-influenced compositional framework."
• Dr. Caroline H. Harder: "Dr. Harder interrogated the scarcity of "mothers" as operatic characters, and their stereotypical association with the mezzo-soprano voice. Her research showed that socio-cultural values, plot conventions, and marginalization of operatic women other than love interests, contributed to the idealization of the soprano voice. Three case studies further illuminated the timeless mother stereotype."
• Dr. Wing Yin Cherry Li: "Dr. Li examined the aspects of narrative and representation in Robert Schumann's late piano cycle, Waldszenen. The document demonstrates that Jean Paul Richter's narrative devices remained relevant in Schumann's late works."

Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology)

• Dr. Sharon Michelle Fortney: "Dr. Fortney examined and critiqued power relationships between First Nations and museums, from how concepts of collaboration are understood, to the ways museums work with communities to implement projects. Her research provides insights into the perspectives of Coast Salish communities, identifying areas where relationships can be strengthened."

Doctor of Philosophy (Audiology and Speech Sciences)

• Dr. Paola Elizabeth Colozzo: "Dr. Colozzo's work described children's memory strategies - how they change with age, relate to intellectual and language abilities, and vary from task to task. Her findings offer a solution to debates about the nature of verbal rehearsal and indicate greater individual variability than has been recognized in prior studies."

Doctor of Philosophy (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)

• Dr. Scott Dorjan Zuyderduyn: "Dr. Zuyderduyn developed methods to help understand the large amounts of complex information generated from certain methods of profiling cancers. Dr Zuyderduyn used these methods to identify several genes that may be important in the initiation and progression of a common form of lung cancer."
• Dr. Steve Wong: "Dr. Wong studied iron storage in bacteria and focused his research on the protein bacterioferritin. He uncovered details of the molecular mechanism by which this protein converts iron into a biomineral. His discoveries enhance our understanding of iron storage proteins that are found in nearly all living organisms."
• Dr. Michael Christopher Gretes: "Dr. Gretes studied the x-ray crystal structures of proteins involved in bacterial antibiotic resistance. He also examined the way that two new drugs precisely interact with their protein targets. It is hoped that his work will help guide the development of new, more effective antibiotics."

Doctor of Philosophy (Botany)

• Dr. Sarah Michelle McKim: "Dr. McKim investigated the genetic regulation of shedding or abscission of lateral organs in plants. She showed that the function of two genes was essential for development of the cellular anatomy necessary for abscission in leaves and flowers, greatly contributing to our understanding of a key life event in plants."
• Dr. Robin Elizabeth Young: "Dr. Young studied how plants make pectin. The plant cell uses the Golgi apparatus as the primary site of pectin production. Using Arabidopsis seed coat cells, Dr. Young used advanced microscopic techniques to show that all of the scattered Golgi stacks work together to produce cell wall polysaccharides including pectin."
• Dr. Songhua Zhu: "Dr. Zhu examined how a coastal diatom species copes with changing light intensity. She found that unique members of the light-harvesting family of proteins are regulated differently from the other members of this superfamily and are involved in photoprotection during long term high light stress."

Doctor of Philosophy (Business Administration)

• Dr. Minlei Ye: "Dr. Ye developed a theory regarding preferences over financial-statement auditing standards of the interest groups that negotiate changes in standards. By analyzing economic incentives in the process of setting auditing standards, she explains how the standards have developed into their current form."
• Dr. Qianqian Du: "Dr. Du studied how venture capital firms form syndication, and how entrepreneurs choose their ownership structures, and managerial success. Her work helps to improve ourunderstanding of the formation and performance of alliances among firms and partnerships among people."
• Dr. Huasheng Gao: "Dr. Gao examined the causes and consequences of sharp managerial pay cuts. He showed that the possibility of these large compensation cuts provided incentives for managers to exert effort to avoid poor performance and, for those who received the cuts, they provided an incentives to improve poor performance following the pay cut."
• Dr. Mariel Sofia Lavieri: "Dr. Lavieri examined two applications of operations research to healthcare. She formulated a model to assist policy makers in planning the registered nurses workforce, and . She also developed novel patient specific models that help clinicians determine when to start radiotherapy treatment for prostate cancer patients who receive hormone therapy."
• Dr. Kyung Hwan Shim: "Dr. Shim examined how statistical properties of labour income and education attainment can help explain asset holdings in financial portfolios across households. This research helps explain household portfolio choice decisions that previously seemed inconsistent with existing theories."
• Dr. Ran Jing: "Dr. Jing studied whether and how the presence of multinational retailers increases a host country's exports. She found that multinational retailers improve the general export capabilities of local areas and then increase the host country's exports. This study enriches our understanding of multinational retailers' impacts on local economies."
• Dr. Sase Narine Singh: "Dr. Singh proposed a framework to increase the success of developing and using information systems in organizations. By uncovering misalignments in goals across organizational levels, his framework detects potential problems in early system development. The case studies he used to validate his framework highlight areas in organizations where misalignments are most prevalent."

Doctor of Philosophy (Chemical and Biological Engineering)

• Dr. Rajnish Kumar: "Dr. Kumar successfully examined the prospect of employing a new approach based on hydrate crystallization for the separation of carbon dioxide from a fuel gas mixture widely known as pre-combustion capture. His findings validated the applicability of gas hydrates process to separate carbon dioxide from a fuel gas mixture."
• Dr. Alfred Yee Wai Lam: "Dr. Lam has developed a direct methanol fuel cell with a completely novel architecture. The membraneless design and new operational methods has addressed key challenges associated with conventional approaches. The direct methanol fuel cell is being considered as an alternative to batteries for mobile devices because of extended run-time and instant recharge."
• Dr. Siva Rajan Sarathy: "Dr. Sarathy investigated the impacts of advanced oxidation treatment on characteristics of organic matter in raw drinking water. His research illuminates how advanced oxidation treatment breaks down organic matter and the subsequent implications on drinking water quality. This better understanding of drinking water quality will contribute to improvement of public health."
• Dr. Clara Cecilia Gomez Henao: "Dr. Gomez developed computational fluid dynamics models for mixing of pulp fibre suspensions at different scales. Her research was able to identify the capabilities and limitations of this approach, achieving a critical step towards the effective application of numerical simulation on the re-design and optimization of complex mixing processes."
• Dr. Wajeeh O.M. Moughrabiah: "Dr. Moughrabiah designed and built high-pressure fluidization equipment to study the effect of operating conditions and particle properties on electrostatic charges in gas-solid fluidized beds. He also investigated different charge reduction methods. These studies improve our understanding of the generation and dissipation of electrostatic charges and their effects on chemical reactors."
• Dr. Jens Olaf Heymer: "Dr. Jens Heymer developed a novel method to measure heterogeneity of mechanical treatment of fibres in refiners used to enhance pulp for paper production. By applying a novel comminution theory approach to .fibre length changes, he identified key factors that effect heterogeneity in mill-scale refiners."

Doctor of Philosophy (Chemistry)

• Dr. Jason Micah Thomas: "Dr. Thomas developed new methods to study the chemistry of catalytic nucleic acids. These and other methods were used to study the mechanisms of natural and man-made catalytic nucleic acids."
• Dr. Yi Cao: "Dr. Cao studied the structual origin of proteins of high mechanical stability and developed methods to rationally tune the mechanical stability of proteins. His research can help to develop protein-based materials with high elasticity and strength."
• Dr. Xiaoji Xu: "Dr. Xu developed two novel spectroscopic methods to study the vibrational motion of molecules. The first method provides an elegant method for performing coherent Raman spectroscopy with a single broadband ultrafast pulse, while the second method is capable of recovering both vibrational phase and amplitude, providing additional structural information."
• Dr. Lauren Emily Scott: "Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, but the exact causes of disease development and progression are poorly understood. A series of small molecule drugs was designed and synthesised to bind metals and quench free radicals in the brain, contributing a number of new compounds to the pool of potential Alzheimer's therapeutics."
• Dr. Simone Gross: "Dr Gross investigated atmospherically relevant reactions of NO3 radicals and other important oxidants with organic substrates. She determined how fast these reactions occur and identified reaction products. Her work is important for understanding the chemistry of atmospheric aerosol properties."
• Dr. Jonathan Hoi-Chin Chong: "Dr. Chong used molecular chemistry to develop completely new porous materials for emerging applications. He demonstrated that these new materialsy can be used for the remediation of contaminated water and for storing hydrogen as an alternative energy source."
• Dr. Pavel Alexander Glaze: "Dr. Glaze identified and mechanistically investigated the enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of a sugar nucleotide in the bacterial strain responsible for causing Legionnaires' disease. The results of these investigations have provided further understanding of the formation of the lipopolysaccharide in bacterial species."
• Dr. Vlad Martin-Diaconescu: "X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the sulfur K-edge coupled with in situ photo-irradiation was used as a novel methodology to investigate the photo-reactivity of biologically relevant low molecular weight sulfur species and to identify and characterize excited state hyperconjugation in organic sulfonyl compounds."
• Dr. Jinhe Pan: "Dr. Pan studied structures of two systems - the fusion peptide from the tick-borne encephalitis virus and nanocrystalline cellulose films. His studies on the fusion peptide assist us in understanding the fusion mechanism of enveloped viruses. He also found parameters which enable one to manipulate the nematic structure and crystallinity of nanocrystalline cellulose films."
• Dr. Sarah Jane Hanna: "Dr. Hanna developed a new instrument for determining the chemical composition of particulate matter in urban air pollution. Her research provided insight into several fundamental processes important in the chemical analysis of atmospheric aerosol particles."
• Dr. Brian Patrick Rempel: "Dr. Rempel worked on the development of fluorosugars that could be used to inhibit enzymes that process sugars. He synthesized and tested these compounds to search for useful molecules with the ultimate goal of finding treatments or diagnostics for the rare genetic diseases Gauchers disease and MPS 1."
• Dr. Hui Wang: "Dr. Wang crystallized and solved the structures of two protein complexes and two proteins by using X-ray crystallography methods. All these structures contribute to our understanding of actin's physiological roles and regulation by the gelsolin protein superfamily as well as new insight into the mechanism of gelsolin activation."
• Dr. Surajith Nalantha Wanasundara: "Using theoretical methods, Dr. Wanasundara studied the dissociation mechanism of protein complexes in the gas phase. Findings from his work will aid in the interpretation and development of methods to study protein structure and function."

Doctor of Philosophy (Civil Engineering)

• Dr. Yashar Khalighi: "Dr. Khalighi developed a new test technique for evaluating the mechanical bond between fiber reinforced polymer coatings and concrete. The bond was then studied under quasi-static and impact conditions. The results are useful for designing rehabilitation and strengthening solutions for concrete structures under different loading conditions including earthquakes."
• Dr. Hamidreza Yaminighaeshi: "Dr.Yaminighaeshi developed a methodology for estimating the probability of failure of cast iron pipes due to internal and external corrosion in water distribution systems. He introduced two pipe condition indices that support decisions regarding pipe replacement planning and can be coupled with economic assessment models in the development of future asset management strategies."
• Dr. Mingen Li: "Dr. Li developed a combined quantitative and experience-based causal modeling diagnostic approach to help explain construction performance deviations. In this approach, data collected in support of ongoing management functions are made use of as supporting evidence, and practitioners' experience-based diagnostic knowledge can be expressed, revised and repeatedly used for current and future projects."
• Dr. Ali Khalili: "Dr. Khalili investigated the static and cyclic response of the mixtures of mine waste. He suggested that mixing tailings and waste rock will create a feasible and more sustainable solution compared to the conventional disposal methods. Through his research, he contributed to the area of sustainable mine waste management."

Doctor of Philosophy (Classics)

• Dr. Christine Sharon Lane: "Dr. Lane examined the cults of founders in the ancient Greek colonies of Italy. Her work reveals that the god Apollo was a symbolic founding-figure, while later re-founders of these cities, especially the tyrants, received cults for political purposes. Her work increases our understanding of ancient Greek colonial religion."
• Dr. Tracy Deline: "Dr. Deline investigated the political and legal roles of women in criminal trials in the Julio-Claudian era of the Roman Empire. She concluded that women were politically threatening and legally active in ways that show they were much more than merely extensions of their husbands and brothers."

Doctor of Philosophy (Computer Science)

• Dr. Peter Salvatore Carbonetto: "Dr. Carbonetto discovered that we can obtain good approximate solutions to inference has dramatically increased the scope of probabilistic models in science, from physics to genetics. Dr. Carbonetto developed algorithms that improve upon existing mathematical techniques for solving a broad range of intractable inference problems."
• Dr. Frank Hutter: "Most computer algorithms have parameters that can be modified to improve performance. Dr. Hutter developed the first general automated approaches for optimizing algorithms with many discrete parameters. His methods have been shown to improve complex algorithms for a very broad range of applications, far beyond manual optimizations by human experts."

Doctor of Philosophy (Counselling Psychology)

• Dr. Alanaise Onischin Goodwill: "Dr. Goodwill examined the processes of entering and leaving gang life among Aboriginal male ex-gang members. Based on the results of her study, she developed a categorical framework to inform mental health interventions and counselling prevention practices for use in Aboriginal communities affected by gangs."
• Dr. Lisa Holli Robinson Kitt: "Dr. Robinson Kitt investigated the impact of being a firefighter on men's mental health. Through in-depth interviews, she found that firefighters' mental health is not only impacted by the job requirements, which often involve responding to and witnessing trauma, but also the occupational culture in which they work."

Doctor of Philosophy (Craniofacial Science)

• Dr. Salem Saleh Ghrebi: "Dr. Ghrebi investigated the effect of surface roughness on the activation of an inflammatory pathway mediated by macrophage cells. These studies will allow the design of dental implants with specific surfaces that lead to more bone formation around the implant, which is crucial for long term implant survival."

Doctor of Philosophy (Curriculum Studies)

• Dr. Tammy Iftody: "Dr. Iftody explored the conditions of reading popular cultural texts and discourses around childhood closely and collectively in the context of an online fan community. This work contributes to the development of counter-normative reading practices and strategies, or reading for ethics, in the context of teacher education."
• Dr. Margo Lainne Greenwood: "Dr. Greenwood did research on "Places for the Good Care of Children" which is about Indigenous early childhood and the potential of understanding children's care and education as a site for cultural rejuvenation and efforts to rebuild colonized peoples. Her research answers questions about linkages between early childhood, government policies, community visions, and the identity and rebuilding of Indigenous peoples and communities."
• Dr. Rachel Francesca Moll: "Dr. Moll investigated how emotions influenced student learning in the context of participation in physics competitions. Dr Moll employed complexity thinking to understand how evoked emotions shaped the students? personal construction of science identity, attitudes, motivations and decision making about physics."
• Dr. Daniel Theron Barney: "Dr. Barney investigated a teaching and learning strategy based on a/r/tography, a method of inquiry derived from art related theories and practices. Dr. Barney?s research suggests an approach to teaching and learning that offers new ways to perceive of artist, researcher, teacher, and student identities."
• Dr. Donald James Burgess: "Dr. Burgess examined how nature experiences arouse biophilia (love of living things). His research contributes to our understanding of the relationship between people and the natural world and illustrates the importance of including the larger biotic community in our discussions of educational reform."
• Dr. Oksana V Bartosh: "Dr. Bartosh explored the impact of environmental education programs on high school students' learning and performance. She found that students in environmental programs demonstrated better achievement on state standardized tests, higher GPA, and better attitudes towards school and the environment than students in traditional programs."
• Dr. Carla Lee Peck: "Dr. Peck researched the relationship between students' ethnic identities and their understanding of significance in Canadian history. She found that students'identities strongly influenced the narratives of Canadian history that they constructed. Her findings reveal the complex influences that identities have on understanding of history."

Doctor of Philosophy (Economics)

• Dr. Chi Leung Wong: "Dr. Wong theoretically studied decentralized markets with search frictions and incomplete information, like the labor and the housing markets. His studies help us understand how search frictions and incomplete information interact in shaping the market outcomes, and how the market outcomes converge when search frictions become small."
• Dr. Jean-Francois Nadeau: "Dr. Nadeau explores empirically a class of macroeconomic models where expectation revisions can generate boom and bust cycles in economic activity. His work shows that this class of models finds considerable support in the data."
• Dr. Hideyuki Mizobuchi: "Dr. Mizobuchi used two approaches to problems in capturing the general tendency of changes in commodity prices and quantities over time. This included analyzing factors leading to improvement in the living standard in Japan over 50 years. His research contributes to improved accuracy in the description and prediction of economic states and trends."
• Dr. Heng Ju: "Dr. Ju examined how government policy can affect the optimal pricing behaviours of international telephone carriers. He found that unilateral effort in this market aggravates the market efficiency, and the social optimum can best be achieved through bilateral competition. His research enriches the understanding of bilateral oligopoly markets."
• Dr. Horatiu Alin Rus: "Dr. Rus studied the `commons' problem in renewable resource exploitation in conjunction with several types of additional externalities. These include cross-sectoral domestic spillover effects in a diversified economy, transboundary effects, as well as the distributional implications and local scarcity induced by inefficient management regimes."
• Dr. Doris Sum Yee Poon: "Dr. Poon examined business cycle asymmetries and optimal international monetary policy. She showed that firms? pricing decisions lead the economy to respond asymmetrically to monetary policies. She also found that fundamental analysis and external shocks affect an open economy's optimal monetary policy, which explain the policy in some emerging markets."
• Dr. Ning Huang: "Dr. Huang examined how to capitalize research and development expenditures in the system of national accounts. She developed new methodologies to estimate the R&D depreciation rates and the net benefits of a R&D project. She also proposed a new way to incorporate R&D capital in a growth accounting framework."
• Dr. Ben MacLean Sand: "Dr. Sand studied different aspects of local wage determination in United States cities. His work shows the empirical importance of general equilibrium implications of wage setting, and demonstrated an important role for industrial composition in determining both the level of wages in localities as well as wage differences between groups."

Doctor of Philosophy (Educational Studies)

• Dr. Martha Elizabeth Alkenbrack: "In this case study of an adult literacy research project, Dr Alkenbrack explores the merits and debates of the Research in Practice tradition. The study challenges assumptions about what research is and who has the right to create knowledge, and promotes adult literacy practitioners as researchers and authoritative voices at the research table."
• Dr. Brigitte Gemme: "Dr Gemme studied the training of graduate students in UBC's Faculty of Forestry. She showed how academic forest researchers are connected to both the scientific field and the forest sector. Those ties shape the educational experience of graduate students, and contribute to maintain the relevance of university research in society."
• Dr. Tina Ngaroimata Fraser: "Dr. Fraser exploreds how knowledge and understanding of Maori culture and traditions are transmitted through a specific Maori performing arts festival. This festival creates a Maori knowledge legacy by shaping both individual and collective Maori identities, and it is this community educational process which this her dissertation communicates describes."
• Dr. Tasha Anastasia Riley: "Dr. Riley examined how teachers' expectations and stereotypes influenced the learning opportunities afforded Aboriginal students. She found that, despite their best intentions, some teachers provided poor, confused or arbitrary reasons for denying students opportunities for educational remediation or advancement."

Doctor of Philosophy (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

• Dr. Marcelo Aroca Tomim: "Dr. Tomim was able to considerably speed up the numerical simulations of large electric systems, by means of parallel computers. His contributions, in turn, may help electric utilities all over the globe improve their service quality and, ultimately, prevent blackouts."
• Dr. Qiang Wei: "Dr. Wei studied the access control infrastructures in distributed enterprise systems. He developed three techniques to improve the availability and performance of authorization processes. The results will help an enterprise to build cost-effective and reliable access control solutions."
• Dr. Anand Oka: "Dr. Oka developed novel techniques to prolong battery life in wireless sensor networks, by reducing the power spent on data communication. His work involved filtering and compression of sensor data via distributed algorithms, and communication based on low-power ultra-wideband impulse radio with a robust and inexpensive receiver."
• Dr. Amir Masoud Nasri Nasrabadi: "Dr. Nasri analyzed the effects of ultra-wideband interference on wireless communication systems and provided guidelines for peaceful co-existence of ultra-wideband systems and narrow-band devices. He also developed a general framework for analyzing the performance of communication systems in general types of non-Gaussian noise and interference"
• Dr. Hafiz Md Abdur Rahman: "Dr. Rahman has developed techniques to model and simulate interdependencies between the information and communication technologies infrastructure and other critical infrastructures, such as electricity, water supply, transportation, healthcare, etc. Dr. Rahman's methods will enable critical infrastructure operators to foresee the impact of information and communication technologies failures and will help them to design more reliable and secure networks."
• Dr. Fazel Farahmand: "Dr Farahmand developed an automatic control system to coordinate computerized measurements with the location of actuators across the sheet of modern paper-making machines. His scheme gives good results even in noisy or uncertain situations, and its effectiveness has been confirmed in different industrial trials."
• Dr. Maryam Najafian Razavi: "Dr. Najafian investigated the problem of privacy management in social software systems. She proposed a theoretical framework for building privacy-management mechanisms in this domain that provide more control over information privacy and yet, are intuitive and easy to use for the average, non-technical user."
• Dr. Farhad Ghassemi: "Dr. Ghassemi studied the efficient utilization of surveillance or tracking systems. Given a network of sensors which monitor the parameters of an environment, his research shows us how to identify the most informative sensor or how to control the movement of the sensors to obtain the maximum amount of information about the environment."
• Dr. Junning Li: "Dr. Li investigated the employment of graphical models for modeling and discovering neural connectivity networks. He developed novel and effective methods to control error rates, extract network features, and handle inter-subject diversity."
• Dr. Xiongfei Meng: "Dr. Meng invented a novel active decoupling capacitor that significantly reduces on-chip power supply noise levels. Dr Meng's research provides a quick fix to the problem of localized supply noise violations that the industry has recently encountered. The solution targets complex digital chips at a 90-nanometer process and beyond."
• Dr. Ehsan Dehghan Marvast: "Dr. Dehghan developed new methods to study needle insertion into soft tissue and proposed new methods that will make needle insertion more accurate. He tested his methods using tissue mimicking materials. Accurate needle targeting has immediate benefit for many medical procedures such as prostate brachytherapy, biopsy and anesthesia."
• Dr. Hassan Bader Mansour: "Dr. Mansour studied video transmission over wireless networks. He developed methods that efficiently utilize shared resources to deliver high-quality video streams to multiple users. He successfully demonstrated that his algorithms improve the received video quality in applications such as mobile TV and internet video streaming."
• Dr. Alex Sheng Yuan Wang: "Dr. Wang merged traditional state-space estimation with linguistic syntactic pattern recognition. This allowed declarative representation of a dynamic process for intent inference. The developed algorithms were applied to target tracking for situation awareness, and electronic support measure against multifunction radars."

Doctor of Philosophy (English)

• Dr. Elizabeth Jonquil Covello: "Dr. Covello's work concerns the literature of the Northwest Territories. She examined two early explorer narratives and two indigenous narratives and showed how recent indigenous work writes back to early Eurocentric narrative constructions of North to reveal new and important perceptions of the NWT."
• Dr. Tyson Michael Stolte: "Dr. Stolte examined Charles Dickens's engagement with psychological discourse in his first-person fictions, revealing both what was at stake in Victorian psychological debate--the possibility of immortality--and the discursive means by which a physical model of mind was able to rise to dominance in the period."

Doctor of Philosophy (Experimental Medicine)

• Dr. Ren Yuan: "Dr. Yuan validated a CT method to analyze lung structures in a cohort of smokers. These cross sectional and longitudinal studies provide important insights regarding the onset and progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A novel finding is that CT analysis could serve as a useful biomarker to identify the "susceptible" smokers who will develop the disease."
• Dr. Bernhard Lehnertz: "Dr. Lehnertz investigated the biological relevance of histone lysine methylation in the development of blood cells. His findings have shown specific functions of two enzymes that catalyze the methylation of histones which have important implications for the pharmacological inhibition of these enzymes in regenerative medicine."
• Dr. Benjamin John Patchell: "Dr. Patchell identified and characterized the role of annexin II in airway epithelial cell biology. His results expand our understanding of how the airway epithelium repairs itself and may lead to new approaches for treatment of conditions, such as asthma, where damage to the airway epithelium is present."
• Dr. Michael Bernard Ryan: "Dr. Ryan studied elements of both causative factors and treatment alternatives for overuse tendon injuries. He showed that movement differences at the ankle may contribute to the onset of Achilles tendinopathy in runners. He subsequently helped demonstrate the effectiveness of a novel new treatment approach for unresponsive tendon injury: ultrasound-guided dextrose injections."
• Dr. Johnny Hui-Chiang Chen: "Dr. Chen investigated the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of heart disease, in particular the interaction of cholesterol-carrying proteins and the macrophage cells of the immune system, a process which contributes to the formation of plaques in the walls of arteries. These studies lead to a greater understanding of the disease and aid in the future development of novel therapies."
• Dr. Reza Baradar Jalili: "Dr. Reza Jalili successfully developed and applied a novel non-rejectable pancreatic islet graft to treat diabetes in an animal model. To make the graft resistant to rejection, a natural mechanism, used in the protection of a fetus against the mother's immune system during pregnancy, was exploited. This research opens new avenues to treat diabetes with fewer complications."
• Dr. Farshad Forouzandeh: "Dr. Forouzandeh has developed a naturally driven non-rejectable skin substitute. This novel engineered skin whas shown to successfully promote wound healing in experimental models. this innovation has therefore opened new horizons in the assistanceof patientssuffering from wounds that are difficult to heal, especially burn victims."
• Dr. Abelardo Medina: "Dr. Medina examined how circulating bone marrow-derived cells are recruited to injured areas and transformed into anti-fibrogenic profile cells, which in turn control the tissue remodeling capacity of dermal fibroblasts. This research provides new insights into the role of local environments in the wound-healing outcome."
• Dr. Jennifer Ann Locke: "Dr. Locke demonstrated that resistant prostate cancer tumour cells are capable of making their own androgens. Androgens are responsible for the survival, growth and progression of prostate cancer and therefore this research provides a mechanistic basis for the development of novel therapeutics targeting this disease."
• Dr. Frann Lillis Antignano: "Dr. Antignano studied immune cell biology at the Terry Fox Laboratory where she identified new molecular mechanisms controlling the development and function of the immune system's dendritic cells. This work has important applications in the understanding of human infectious disease, autoimmune disorders, cancer and clinical treatments such as organ transplantation."

Doctor of Philosophy (Fine Arts)

• Dr. Michael Joseph Windover: "Dr. Windover examined socio-political consequences of Art Deco architecture and design. He showed how this interwar style, while appearing fashionably new, ultimately reinscribed pre-existing social hierarchies. Situating Art Deco within networks of international economic and cultural exchange, his work provides new ways to approach the subject."

Doctor of Philosophy (Forestry)

• Dr. Yihai Zhao: "Dr. Zhao developed a high-level integration indicator of forest soil compaction and related it to height growth of lodgepole pine, spruce, and Douglas-fir in BC forests. Findings from his thesis have applications in predicting soil and tree growth responsesto timber harvesting and site rehabilitation."
• Dr. Mariano Martin Amoroso: "Dr. Amoroso studied the stand dynamics of cypress forests experiencing growth decline and tree mortality in Northern Patagonia, Argentina. His research examined mortality patterns and their consequences for establishment of new trees, growth of the surviving trees, and future development of these forests."
• Dr. Pedro Alejandro Dimitriu: "Dr. Dimitriu studied how microbes respond to the restoration of surface-mined boreal forest soil. His research highlighted that, in drastically-disturbed land, key biological components may take decades until they resemble those of natural forests. Information on microbial attributes in degraded soil will be useful for guiding future restoration strategies."
• Dr. Andrew Raymond Robinson: "Dr. Robinson studied the relationships between wood-forming metabolism and genetic and phenotypic traits in hardwood and softwood tree species. Variation in industrially relevant wood traits correlated strongly with that in metabolic trait subsets. The results support development of metabolism-based selection technology for tree breeding programs."
• Dr. Bogdan Mihai Strimbu: "Dr. Strimbu developed an analytical framework for cumulative environmental impact studies that considers the long-term activities occurring in an area. He applied his method to the effects of forest harvesting and petroleum drilling on moose and American marten and found that the two activities induce patterns of effects that require significant decisions to be made at predictable times in the future."
• Dr. Julia Dordel: "Dr. Dordel investigated the influence of larger trees on underplanted T. ciliata by examining different environmental factors, and employed a computer model to explore the relationship between T. ciliata growth and soil water availability. Her research gives Argentinean locals valuable insights into successful growing of this highly valuable species and is an important step towards more diverse plantations."
• Dr. Ciprian Nicolae Lazarescu: "Dr. Lazarescu studied the tensile stresses, developed during the convective drying of western hemlock, by observing the restrained deformation of small wood strips. The results, correlated with experiments made on short pieces of timber, underlined the importance of drying parameters on the quality of dried wood products."
• Dr. Guangyu Wang: "Dr. Wang examined aspects of watershed sustainability by using remote sensing technology integrated with social science and systematic model. This holistic watershed assessment approach opened a new door for watershed managers to assess human activities in a watershed, especially the interrelationships of stakeholders competing for the use of watershed resources."

Doctor of Philosophy (Genetics)

• Dr. Monica Celia Sleumer: "Dr. Sleumer investigated gene regulation in the nematode C. elegans by developing novel computational approaches to compare its genome with that of other species. She discovered a large number of conserved upstream elements and determined several regulatory sequences associated with the important ribosomal protein gene family."
• Dr. Ying-Chen Hou: "Dr. Hou developed innovative experimental systems to address a fundamental question of cell biology: the relationship between cell death and a cell degradation pathway known as autophagy. Dr. Hou discovered a surprising link between these two processes which has implications for human diseases including cancer and its treatment."
• Dr. Marcia Leigh MacDonald: "Dr. MacDonald studied SCD, an enzyme of lipid metabolism. She found that a reduction of SCD activity improved metabolic characteristics, while increasing cardiovascular disease. Her research provided insight into the role of chronic inflammation in promoting cardiovascular disease and has implications for the development of drugs inhibiting SCD."
• Dr. Mark Romanish: "Dr. Romanish investigated the transcriptional regulation of the mammalian Neuronal Apoptosis Inhibitory Protein gene. This research uncovered previously unknown mechanisms of transcriptional innovation by human and mouse genes, and identified corresponding novel protein isoforms of the NAIP gene that may serve a role in cellular defense strategies."
• Dr. Samantha Beck: "Dr. Beck studied how genetic inheritance is coordinated with the means by which genes are interpreted by the cell. She identified certain genes previously thought to have one role that actually have dual roles. These genes function both in maintaining the integrity of genetic inheritance, and in the interpretation of that genetic information."

Doctor of Philosophy (Geography)

• Dr. Kevin Andrew Gould: "Economic markets are commonly imagined as disembodied and removed from daily life. Set against this view, Dr. Gould's dissertation explores the political struggles, bureaucratic machinations, and historical and contemporary violences that are the conditions of a rural Guatemalan land market."
• Dr. John Robert Thistle: "Dr. Thistle examined the environmental histories of ranching and pest eradication in British Columbia's grasslands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and recognized the mobilization of people and state institutions against animals and pests as another dimension of militarism and modern warfare."
• Dr. Simon Daniel Springer: "Dr. Springer developed a postanarchist analysis of the intersections between free-market neoliberalism and the geographies of violence in Cambodia. Through a series of theoretical dialogues, Dr Springer sought to open geographical imaginations to the possibility of remaking space in ways that make possible a transformative and emancipatory politics."
• Dr. Nira Liat Salant: "Dr. Salant studied how physical and biological factors influence the movement of fine particles suspended in flowing water. She demonstrated how interactions between small-scale plants, streambed structures, and flow conditions can alter particle deposition and local hydraulics - important factors that affect stream habitat and aquatic organisms."

Doctor of Philosophy (Geological Sciences)

• Dr. Yaming Chen: "Dr. Chen examined the design of pollution monitoring systems for the detection of contaminants in surface water and groundwater. He identified key factors affecting the probabilities of detecting contaminants, and was the first to use comprehensive modeling approaches to evaluate monitoring networks in a highly complex watershed system. His research provides important guidelines for practice in the design of contaminant monitoring networks."
• Dr. Stephen William Moss: "Dr Moss studied the explosive eruptions of kimberlite magma. He successfully linked evidence left in volcanic deposits of kimberlite with the eruption processes responsible for their formation. Dr Moss suggests that these processes have direct implications for the distribution of diamonds within kimberlite pipes."
• Dr. Thomas Henderson: "Dr. Henderson investigated the application of potassium permanganate for the treatment of groundwater contaminated by industrial solvents. A computer program was developed and employed to assess contaminant treatment, and to identify the processes most important to the effectiveness of this technology."

Doctor of Philosophy (Hispanic Studies)

• Dr. Frederick John-Maria Fajardo: "Dr. Fajardo examined the existential and phenomenological writing of the highly distinguished, albeit controversial, contemporary gay Spanish novelist and philosopher, Álvaro Pombo. In his research Dr. Fajardo showed that Pombo is above all, and despite what his critics say, a writer of great optimism and hope about the human condition."

Doctor of Philosophy (Human Kinetics)

• Dr. Ben Thomas Alexander Esch: "Dr. Esch used advanced cardiac imaging techniques to investigate the importance of rotation in the human heart during contraction and relaxation. This series of investigations has advanced our understanding of the aging heart and the transplanted heart, as well as the heart's responsiveness to exercise."
• Dr. Shannon Leigh Jette: "Dr. Jette examined how knowledge about exercise during pregnancy has been produced over the past century, and how messages put forth by the medical profession functioned to regulate the activities of pregnant women. Her research challenges taken-for-granted ideas about the active pregnant body and demonstrates the politics of knowledge production."
• Dr. Jessica Margaret Scott: "Dr. Scott examined the relationship between acute exercise and cardiovascular function in three groups: elite athletes, normally active individuals and heart transplant recipients. These investigations provided important information showing how extremely prolonged and high intensity exercise affect left and right heart function."

Doctor of Philosophy (Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems)

• Dr. Elaine Susan Anderson: "Dr. Anderson examined the role of policy in collaborative community based resource management using the Delta Farmland Wildlife Trust as her case study. She demonstrated that communities in conflict can work together to manage agricultural and wildlife habitat resources. This research shows how collaboration and policy can impact resource management."

Doctor of Philosophy (Interdisciplinary Studies)

• Dr. Bruce Bailey: "Dr. Bailey's study was an attempt to discover the therapeutic influence members have on each other in a therapeutic enactment group. Very little research exists on this topic and this study sought to discover the contributions members make to each others' learning. He found that members in a group improve each other in a therapeutically positive way."
• Dr. Sarah Jennifer Fielden: "Dr. Fielden examined the needs of adolescents born with HIV in BC using collaborative community-based approaches. This is a 'hidden population' in the Canadian HIV epidemic and her work has enhanced knowledge about how best to provide these young people with health-related services."
• Dr. Holly Ann Longstaff: "The objective of Dr. Longstaff's dissertation as a collective work, was to contribute to the interdisciplinary body of research that seeks to integrate the fields of bioethics and risk analysis. The research successfully moved the practice of risk communication beyond procedural ethics to focus on the substantive values that guide such strategies in order to cope with the complexity associated with systemic health hazards."

Doctor of Philosophy (Language and Literacy Education)

• Dr. Diane Jean Potts: "Theorizing knowledge mobilization as semiotic practice, Dr. Potts examined the relevance of multimodality and linguistic register to a) students' recontextualization of quotidian (particularly multilingual) knowledge, and b) recontextualization of pedagogic texts for purposes of public accountability. Relations between predominant registers and hypermodality's affordances impacted attempts to reverse dominant knowledge flows."
• Dr. Isabelle Arlette Genevičve Denizot: "Dr. Denizot examined the predictors of reading comprehension in French immersion. She found that when students are not familiar with the culture of the text they compensate for the unknown vocabulary and part of the missing cultural knowledge with grammatical knowledge to understand what they are reading."

Doctor of Philosophy (Law)

• Dr. Emma Cunliffe: "Dr. Cunliffe developed a methodology to study how law, medicine, and social values work together in contested murder trials. In light of recent legal and medical developments, she suggests that one mother may have been wrongly convicted of murdering her children, and demonstrates how this error occurred."

Doctor of Philosophy (Library, Archival and Information Studies)

• Dr. Fiorella Foscarini: "Dr. Foscarini investigated the design and use of function-based records classification systems in four central banks in Europe and North America. By applying methods derived from other disciplines, her research contributes rich insights into the relationship existing between recordkeeping practices and organizational cultures. Dr Foscarini's study also clarifies fundamental archival concepts like the one of function."

Doctor of Philosophy (Materials Engineering)

• Dr. Kodjo Isaac Afewu: "Dr. Afewu modeled water flow and solute transport during heap leaching. Coupled with a reaction model, he predicted the distribution of water, lixiviant concentrations and reaction products from heaps. The study affirms solute transport as the rate limiting step and recommends some process rate enhancement strategies."
• Dr. Reza Roumina: "Dr. Roumina studied mechanical properties of an Aluminum-Magnisium-Scandium alloy. He developed models predicting yield strength and work hardening of the Aluminum-Magnisium-Scandium alloy during thermo-mechanical treatments. Dr. Roumina demonstrated that processing recovered microstructures containing precipitates is a novel approach to improve mechanical properties of aluminum alloys."

Doctor of Philosophy (Mathematics)

• Dr. Sandra Martina Kliem: "Dr. Kliem researched stochastic equations that arise in biological models of interacting multi-type populations. She answered questions on weak uniqueness of solutions as well as survival, extinction and coexistence of types. She also obtained scaling limits of ecological models for two types of populations competing for resources."
• Dr. Jose Maria Cantarero-Lopez: "Dr. Cantarero-Lopez developed a new tool to study generalized symmetries that come from abstract objects called groupoids. This is a generalization of a classical theory called K-theory, and can also be used to study classical symmetries."
• Dr. Ryan James Lukeman: "Dr. Lukeman studied how individuals interact within large animal aggregates. By gathering dynamic trajectory data from large flocks of surf scoters, Dr. Lukeman was able to connect mathematical modeling with empirical observations to infer interaction rules governing the motion of individuals."
• Dr. Meijiao Guan: "Dr.Guan examined the Landau-Lifshitz and Dirac equations arising in quantum physics - both of which which relate to the motion of charged particles. She refined the current understanding of these two equations, proved global existence and blow up results for Landau-Lifshitz flow, and showed the Dirac standing wave solutions are unstable."

Doctor of Philosophy (Measurement and Evaluation)

• Dr. Barry Allan Forer: "Dr. Forer expanded upon and applied the multilevel view of validation to a widely used measure of school readiness called the Early Development Instrument. Along the way, he developed a new method for assessing the fit of categorical models. His work helps establish the boundaries of interpretation for this measure."

Doctor of Philosophy (Mechanical Engineering)

• Dr. Serge Gosselin: "Dr. Gosselin studied ways to streamline scientific and engineering simulations. He developed techniques for efficient, robust and automatic treatment of complex geometric models, reducing the time needed to prepare these simulations. This work is key to decreasing unnecessary human interaction in computer-aided analysis and design workflows."
• Dr. Chinedum Emmanuel Okwudire: "Dr. Okwudire worked on improving the productivity and quality of metal-cutting based manufacturing. Machine tools, which are used for metal cutting, vibrate when they travel at high speeds. Such vibrations reduce the quality of manufactured products. He modeled the vibratory behavior of high-speed machine tools and designed controllers which suppress the vibrations thereby improving the speed and quality of metal cutting."
• Dr. Sean Matthew Delfel: "Dr. Delfel investigated the hydrodynamics of pressure screen rotors. Pressure screens are used to remove contaminants from a pulp stream, a process particularly important in recycling. A new, high performance rotor was designed which yielded a 40% reduction in power consumption."
• Dr. Burak Sencer: "Dr. Sencer designed a new error prediction and control system for five axis computer controlled machine tools. He experimentally demonstrated the effectiveness of the system on a five axis machine tool at UBC. His work has a wide application in five axis machining of dies, moulds and aircrafts parts in industry."

Doctor of Philosophy (Medical Genetics)

• Dr. Chia-Yu Samuel Chang: "Dr. Chang studied the silencing of genes on the human X chromosome. He identified DNA sequences with potential regulatory roles in gene silencing and argued that the established mouse model system does not reflect the human scenario. This research provides novel directions to future studies of human X-chromosome inactivation."

Doctor of Philosophy (Microbiology and Immunology)

• Dr. Kelly Lynn MacDonald: "Dr. MacDonald explored the role of infection and inflammation in the human diseases, cystic fibrosis and chronic granulomatous disease. She explored how certain bacteria interfere with immunologic defenses and why the bacteria are so virulent. Her thesis contributes to our understanding of human vs. bacterial interactions, particularly in compromised hosts."
• Dr. Bin Liang Kevin Lin: "Dr. Lin studied the role of the Rap GTPases in the function of B cells, the cells that produce antibodies. He showed that these proteins control multiple processes involved in B cell trafficking and activation, and also in the spread of B cell lymphomas, which are common cancers."
• Dr. Caylib Durand: "Dr. Durand studied how the immune system contributes to host defence and autoimmunity. He showed that by manipulating immune cell function it might be possible to control autoimmunity and inflammation."
• Dr. Mei Mei Tian: "Dr. Tian described a new iron transport pathway that promotes the growth of skin cancer cells. These studies aid in the understanding of the development of cancers and in identifying therapies for overcoming this disease."

Doctor of Philosophy (Mining Engineering)

• Dr. Judy Andrina: "Dr. Andrina conducted field and meso- scale experiments to improve our understanding of geochemical and flow behaviors within a mine rock pile in high a rainfall environment. She showed that limestone blending and limestone cover are suitable methods to minimize acid drainage from waste rock dumps in high rainfall environments."
• Dr. Karoly-Charles Adalbert Kocsis: "Dr. Kocsis developed a new method that can be used to evaluate the efficiency of large and complex underground ventilation systems. He also developed a new ventilation design concept for underground metal mines by integrating discrete-event mining process simulation with ventilation simulation. This new design concept would assist mines to reduce their energy consumption and consequently their carbon footprints."

Doctor of Philosophy (Neuroscience)

• Dr. Daminda Sesath Hewapathirane: "Dr. Hewapathirane created a novel experimental model to study the effects of seizures on brain development. Using this system, he found that early-life seizures inhibit the structural maturation of neuronal cells within the brain. His findings uncovered a potential mechanism through which childhood seizures may induce neurological deficits."
• Dr. Robyn Lynn Mwuese Lett: "Dr. Lett used a mouse model system to demonstrate how a previously unknown guidance cue is critical for the proper formation of specific tracts during neurodevelopment. This research provides novel insight toward a better understanding of neural network formation and neurological dysfunction resulting from erroneous neurodevelopment."
• Dr. Chao Tai: "Dr. Tai studied the cholinergic modulation of three Ca2+-permable ion channels (R-type VGCCs, TRPC5 channels and NMDA receptors) in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons and the potential functional roles of these modulations in both physiological and pathophysiological conditions. His finding helps to develop treatments for epilepsy and ischemia."
• Dr. Marie-France Lisé: "Dr Lisé examined the role of a specific class of motor proteins in the intracellular transport of molecules important for proper neuronal function. Her work provided a better understanding of how synaptic connections are formed during brain development, learning, and memory formation."

Doctor of Philosophy (Nursing)

• Dr. Angela Wolff: "Dr. Wolff examined the effects of diversity within the nursing workforce. She found that when people think that their work values are different from those of their colleagues, they are inclined to report more conflict and job stress within their workgroups. Managers need to recognize that work values dissimilarity can affect team functioning."

Doctor of Philosophy (Oceanography)

• Dr. Mark Halverson: "Dr. Halverson's work, based on a unique 5-year dataset obtained from specialized instrumentation installed on ferries in the Strait of Georgia, has made an important contribution to our understanding of the processes governing mixing in estuaries and buoyant river plumes, and of the way in which river plumes affect phytoplankton biomass."

Doctor of Philosophy (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)

• Dr. Jill Marie Williamson: "Dr. Williamson piloted an international study into the molecular epidemiology of emerging infectious diseases of great socio-economic circumstance. Her efforts had a groundbreaking impact on the field of communicable parasitic diseases. Results have set a precedent for bridging the gap between diagnostic medicine and the pathogenomics of diseases of significant concern to public health."
• Dr. William Wallace Lockwood: "Dr. Lockwood developed novel genome scanning approaches to discover genes disrupted in cancer. He applied this method to identify the mechanisms involved in the initiation and progression of different subtypes of lung cancer. His findings highlight the need for developing targeted therapies tailored to tumor biology."
• Dr. Troy Clavell Sutton: "Dr. Sutton evaluated the inhibitory effect of grafting inert polymers to the surface of respiratory syncytial virus or its host cell. He found that both strategies were highly effective at preventing viral infection. This work provides the foundation for novel prophylactic therapies that may prevent severe respiratory infections in children."
• Dr. Ming Yang: "Dr. Yang investigated the possible mechanistic roles of the enzyme lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 in regard to its association with cardiovascular disease. Specifically, the results of his work describe the influence of this enzyme on lipid and lipoprotein metabolism in human cell culture systems."
• Dr. Cleo Yi-Fang Lee: "Dr. Lee developed viral-based therapies to specifically target and kill prostate cancer cells. She demonstrated that genetically modified viruses can be utilized to eliminate tumour cells without causing collateral damage to normal tissues. This research provides a new promising approach for the treatment of advanced cancers."
• Dr. Tyler Bruce Malcolm Hickey: "Dr. Hickey's research in the field of Tuberculosis provided new information regarding the localization and function of a type of bacterial protein termed a molecular chaperone. Dr. Hickey demonstrated for the first time that molecular chaperones can be found on the surface of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, and that these proteins play an important role in facilitating adherence between the bacteria and a host macrophages."
• Dr. Leah Marie Prentice: "Dr. Prentice characterized two anti-metastatic proteins, kisspeptin and its receptor GPR54 in various model systems and clinical cases. She discovered these proteins are associated with a more favourable outcome in several cancers, most specifically ovarian. Her research could lead to a much-needed tool for earlier detection and decreased mortality"
• Dr. Timon Paul Hermus Buys: "Dr. Buys identified DNA alterations contributing to the poor prognosis of lung cancer, Canada's leading cause of cancer death. He successfully associated specific gene changes to clinical features of this disease, including tumour resistance to chemotherapy. This work brings us closer to personalized cancer treatment strategies and improved survival rates."
• Dr. Ronald John deLeeuw: "Dr. deLeeuw studied the impact of DNA copy-number changes on the survival of mantle cell lymphoma patients. His findings point to new mechanisms involved in mantle cell lymphoma pathogenesis that hold promise for future therapies."

Doctor of Philosophy (Pharmaceutical Sciences)

• Dr. Girish Ramesh Kewalramani: "Dr. Kewalramani identified three new roles of cardiac AMPK, a protein at center stage in studies of diabetes. His research unfolds complex functions of this protein in a diabetic heart and contributes to our understanding of this emerging drug target for diabetes."
• Dr. Prabhakara Reddy Nagareddy: "Dr. Nagareddy showed how activation of protein kinase C and matrix metalloproteinases affects the regulation of blood pressure in diabetes. His research provides novel insights into our understanding of the etiology of diabetic vascular disease and offers potential therapeutic strategies in the management of hypertension associated with diabetes."

Doctor of Philosophy (Pharmacology and Therapeutics)

• Dr. Haroutioun Krikor Tossonian: "Dr. Tossonian evaluated the treatment of HIV infection in injection drug users on the Downtown East side of Vancouver showing that treatment of HIV infection in this vulnerable population can be remarkably successful if implemented within a directly observed therapy program."

Doctor of Philosophy (Philosophy)

• Dr. Eric Cyr Desjardins: "Dr. Cyr found that embracing historicity is asserting the existence of a long-lasting link between past and present, and the fact that things could have been otherwise. It entails that we should look in the past in order to understand the present, and that current choices can take us along irreversible paths, impossible to erase, only to modify."

Doctor of Philosophy (Physics)

• Dr. Hsien-Hang Shieh: "Dr Shieh used gauge/gravity duality correspondence to study strongly coupled systems in high-energy and condensed-matter physics."
• Dr. Joel Pel: "Dr. Pel developed a new method and instrument for extracting and purifying DNA, based on its physical properties, in contrast to existing methods which rely on its chemical properties. This method enables very selective DNA purification, and was applied to a wide range of samples that were previously very difficult to analyze due to high contamination."
• Dr. Glen Lyman Goodvin: "Dr. Goodvin co-developed a highly accurate approximation applicable to models describing an electron coupled to its environment. After obtaining results for standard models, this powerful approach was generalized to a much broader class of problems relevant for describing surface spectroscopies and aspects of high-temperature superconductivity."

Doctor of Philosophy (Planning)

• Dr. Laura Ellen Tate: "Dr. Tate examined how communicative planning theory affected growth management in Greater Vancouver, applying both communicative planning criteria and a critical actor network theory lens. Her results will help future theorists make major changes to this theory or develop a new post-communicative theory which will improve growth management practice."

Doctor of Philosophy (Plant Science)

• Dr. Elizabeth Lai-Wun Hui: "Dr. Hui showed that specific regions of a plant virus coat protein are essential for virus transmission to its host. The protein was also found to be localized at specific sites within plant cells, suggesting a possible role in virus particle disassembly. These findings will aid in the development of new strategies for plant virus disease control."
• Dr. Saber Miresmailli: "Dr. Miresmailli demonstrated that the detection of volatile compounds emitted by plants under attack by pests can be used as an alternative source of information to help monitor insect pests in greenhouses. This research will assist in the development of new tools for pest monitoring and management."

Doctor of Philosophy (Political Science)

• Dr. Karla Stephanie Fallon: "Dr. Fallon examined the politics of diasporas and their effect on the 'homeland' during and after armed conflict. She found that a diaspora's ability to influence is not primarily dependent on material resources but rather on ideational factors and relationships with transnational advocacy networks."

Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology)

• Dr. Lesley Alexandra Duncan: "Dr. Duncan investigated the influence of psychological disease-avoidance mechanisms on the way that people perceive and respond to other individuals in their social environment. The results have implications for understanding the psychological origins of prejudices, and for reducing those prejudices."
• Dr. Eli Puterman: "Dr. Puterman's work examines risky sexual behaviours in men who have sex with men. His findings indicate that people's motives for having sex are important to understanding whether they engage in or avoid condom use across time."
• Dr. Christopher Scott Newitt: "as per Nov 5 email"
• Dr. Lindsey Anne Thomas: "Dr. Thomas found that heterosexual university men at low risk for sexual aggression were just as likely as high-risk men to behave in a sexually aggressive manner, following exposure to sexually coercive material. This research suggests that even fleeting exposure to such material can increase risk for sexual aggression."
• Dr. Emma Ellen Kathrina Buchtel: "Dr. Buchtel examined cultural and individual differences in the experience of being motivated by duty. She found that people who endorsed Confucian values were more likely to enjoy doing their duty, suggesting that one?s culture can encourage external and internal motivation to work together?helping us ?want? to do what we ?ought? to do."
• Dr. Catherine Dianne Rawn: "Dr. Rawn investigated whether self-control, a process normally considered virtuous, always leads to positive outcomes for the self. Her work suggests that some people force themselves to risk self-harm and discomfort when they expect to be liked by valued others as a result of taking that risk."
• Dr. Mandy Yao-Min Chen: "Dr. Chen found that across a range of parents with good and poor parenting skills, parenting disagreements between mothers and fathers are uniquely associated with greater behavior problems in preschool children. Her research helps us understand yet another important link between family functioning and child problems."
• Dr. Lisa Nicole Jefferies: "Attention is essential to everyday life. Without brain mechanisms to guide the selection of information, our sensory systems become rapidly overwhelmed. Dr. Jefferies's dissertation develops and tests a new way to measure how attention is guided across space and over time, during the perception of rapidly changing visual displays. This measure was shown to be effective for both younger and older healthy adults."

Doctor of Philosophy (Rehabilitation Sciences)

• Dr. William Bennett Mortenson: "Dr. Mortenson explored the impact of wheelchairs on those in residential care. His research revealed the pivotal role that wheelchairs play in their lives and uncovered facility practices that may curtail their mobility and social activity. These findings have the potential to inform practice and policy changes to improve their quality of life."
• Dr. Sharon Smith: "Dr. Smith explored the meaning of spirituality and religion for individuals living with a diagnosis of schiozphrenia. She identified the spiritual language that her participants used and found it to be both hope-inspiring and empowering. Her work is useful for both health care professionals and spiritual communities."

Doctor of Philosophy (Resource Management and Environmental Studies)

• Dr. Sarah Lynn Burch: "Dr. Burch explored the creation of climate change policies at the local level. She found that institutional and behavioural barriers to action may be more significant than financial or technical issues. Her research identified levers that can trigger shifts toward more sustainable development paths, and transform barriers into enablers of action."
• Dr. Patricia Lynn Keen: "Dr. Keen measured some veterinary antibiotics and four antibiotic resistance genes in a British Columbia agricultural stream network. Her research demonstrates that rainfall and hydrologic conditions affect transport and that the presence of peripheral biofilms and light and the quality of receiving water influence the fate of these contaminants in aquatic ecosystems."
• Dr. Sharon Chang: "Dr. Chang compared two distinctive theoretical frameworks for explaining policy change using two case studies from forest policy in British Columbia. Her research findings suggest a synthesis between theories emphasizing learning and actor-centered theories emphasizing power."
• Dr. Jonathan Anticamara: "Dr. Anticamara examined how fishes that live on coral reefs respond to protection in marine reserves. He identified which species benefit most and demonstrated that reserves farther from shore had more fish and more species of fish. This work will directly help improve the health of our oceans."
• Dr. Jennifer Linn Jacquet: "Dr. Jacquet's research on fish as food deals with luxury seafood markets in the developed world and food security issues in the developing world. It contributes to our understanding of our relationship to marine wildlife, conservation efforts directed at the human appetite, policies related to seafood labeling, agreements that grant foreign countries access to fishing grounds, and global fisheries subsidies."
• Dr. Shannon Marie Hagerman: "Dr. Hagerman examined the challenge of designing and implementing new goals and management strategies for biodiversity policy tailored to the impacts of climate change. By using an interdisciplinary approach, her research provides new insights into the ecological and social dimensions of adapting environmental policy to a rapidly changing world."
• Dr. Cecilia Roa-Garcia: "Dr. Cecilia Roa-García studied wetlands and soils under different land uses in headwater catchments of the Andes in order to determine the factors that contribute to the regulation of water flows and availability for downstream communities. Her research documented the importance of soils and land use in regulating stream flow."

Doctor of Philosophy (Sociology)

• Dr. Anisha Datta: "Dr. Datta examined the discourse of the largest women's mass organization affiliated with the communist party in India. She found that while the organization fights for women's rights, its ultimate aim to support the post-colonial nation-state's drive for capital accumulation curtails the scope of women's emancipation."

Doctor of Philosophy (Statistics)

• Dr. Michael David Regier: "Dr. Regier examined how missing information and measurement error affects the statistical analysis of complex data sets and proposed an adjustment which reduces the bias associated with estimated model parameters. He applied his methodology to investigate the role of culture in the use of end-of-life health services."

Doctor of Philosophy (Zoology)

• Dr. Spencer Alan Wood: "Dr. Wood studied how interactions among species in a marine ecosystem can be used to explain species diversity and the responses of ecosystems to environmental change. His research demonstrated the potential to predict ecological dynamics using simple organismal traits, such as body size, without the need for detailed information on communities."
• Dr. Chitchai Chantangsi: "Dr. Chantangsi used advanced microscopy and comparative genetic approaches to explore and characterize the biodiversity of a diverse group of marine microbial predators -- called cercozoan flagellates -- that thrive within the spaces between grains of sand. This research demonstrated the novel features and evolutionary interrelationships of several new species and significantly improved our understanding of microbial biodiversity in marine ecosystems."
• Dr. Jessica Lee Purcell: "Dr. Purcell investigated why social spiders are generally restricted to the tropical rainforest, while their non-social relatives occur in a broader range of environments but are absent from the rainforest. Her findings suggest that social behaviours may evolve in part to enable groups to overcome environmental disturbances and predation in some environments."
• Dr. Graham Scott: "Dr. Scott studied how some birds can fly over the highest mountains in the world, where oxygen is so scarce that people can barely survive. His research discovered the basis for the impressive feat of these animals, advancing our knowledge of how physiological systems evolve in nature and of the limitations of our own physiology at high altitudes."
• Dr. Angela Lee Scott: "Dr. Scott examined the cellular and molecular consequences of trauma to the spinal cord. Her thesis work aimed to improve recovery following spinal cord injury and to shed light on new therapeutic strategies that promote the repair of nerves and enhance the plasticity of the central nervous system."
• Dr. Kerry Brian Marchinko: "Dr. Marchinko examined the ecological and genetic mechanisms resulting in the evolution of threespine stickleback fish. His work revealed that although the factors contributing to evolutionary change are often complex, modifications at a single gene can play a major role in biological diversification."