Being a public scholar means actively engaging with and serving the broader community. It is a commitment to not only conduct influential research projects but also striving to maximize the benefits for the public. Being a public scholar also means fostering connections with peers to catalyze productive collaborations towards a maximized impact.
Research Description
Extreme heat is a threat to human health and can lead to illness and injury. Substantial evidence suggests that the health impacts of heat will increase as the duration, frequency and intensity of extreme heat increase due to climate change. Workers are at higher risk to heat due to their limited ability to control heat exposure in occupational settings, and some worker groups are more susceptible to heat than others. Yet, evidence is sparse in regions with temperate climates. In British Columbia, where most of the population reside in a geographic area with warm climate, extreme heat reveals major gaps in understanding how heat affects workers, and limits our abilities to prompt further refinement of prevention strategies against occupational heat exposure. The overarching goal of my PhD is to identify at-risk workers for heat exposure and quantify factors that affect health outcomes of workers during hot weather in BC. Ultimately, the study findings will help bridge an evidence-practice gap for tailoring prevention strategies to protect workers most in need and will give insight into comparable studies in other jurisdictions to promote occupational health and safety and mitigate health disparities in the warming climate.
What does being a Public Scholar mean to you?
To me, being a public scholar means actively engaging with and serving the broader community. It is a commitment to not only conduct influential research projects but also striving to maximize the benefits for the public. Being a public scholar also means fostering connections with peers to catalyze productive collaborations towards a maximized impact.
In what ways do you think the PhD experience can be re-imagined with the Public Scholars Initiative?
Doing a PhD is more than just synthesizing knowledge; it also encompasses the camaraderie among researchers, as the most innovative ideas often emerge from conversations with our peers which provide valuable new perspectives to our work. Equally important is engaging with the broader community to develop context-appropriate frameworks for translating knowledge to maximize its impact. The PSI re-imagines the PhD experience by bridging the academic journey with the needs of communities, stakeholders and policy makers.
How do you envision connecting your PhD work with broader career possibilities?
Engaging active communications with worker communities, stakeholders and policy makers is crucial for improving policies and practices that protect workers most in need in the changing climate. The PSI provides me with a valuable opportunity to connect with a broader community and learn from other public scholars, which will enhance my ability to translate synthesized knowledge into practical decision-making for a meaningful impact on occupational health and safety. Such skills are essential for applied settings beyond academia.
How does your research engage with the larger community and social partners?
I plan to engage with non-academic stakeholders including WorkSafeBC, worker advocacy and labour groups, employers, workers, health and safety associations, and health authorities to design an interactive online platform as a powerful data-driven tool, which will enable rapid assessment and communication of heat risks. By fostering dialogue with the broader community, I aim to make my findings more accessible, reaching groups that traditional academic dissemination methods might not effectively reach.
Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree?
I worked for several years after completing my undergraduate degree. During this time, I realized how much I enjoyed conducting research. There is a strong sense of satisfaction in being able to synthesize new knowledge and use it to benefit health. I saw graduate school as a way for me to acquire the skills necessary to conceptualize, design and complete influential research projects and disseminate knowledge to maximize the benefit I can bring to society as a whole.
Why did you choose to come to British Columbia and study at UBC?
UBC is a top-tier university in Canada and across the world. I can leverage the exemplary training environment and its culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Choosing to study at UBC was easily the best decision I could have made for graduate school.
