A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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 in Physics (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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 in Political Science (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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 in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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 in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy (EdD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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 in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Classics (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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 in Philosophy (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2009 | 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 in Oceanography (PhD) |