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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Dr. Barnard studied connections between prisons and culture in contemporary Spain. Her research explored how cultural texts and practices changed understanding of the penitentiary system and suggested alternatives to punishment. Linking prisons, belonging, movement, and borders, she illuminates a central challenge facing today's Spain. | Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Studies (PhD) |
| 2017 | Sun is the energy source of nature. But unlike our high-tech solar cells, the solar devices of nature (leaves!) use flexible materials, wet processes and low temperatures. Dr. Rahmanian has developed flexible leaf-like materials and room-temperature wet deposition for solar cells that are cheap, light weight and can be integrated into our clothing. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Rickbeil assessed how changing environmental conditions are affecting barren ground caribou habitat use and movement in the Canadian Arctic. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Victor examined the causes of negative emotions in people who self-injure, including the contributions of stressful experiences, biased attention, cognitive interpretations, and emotional reactivity. She found that some of these causes were more important than others, which has applications for improving treatments for self-injury. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Pan developed a new method for measuring consumption allocations within households. He applied this method to study household behaviors in situations where members' income fluctuates. His research highlights the importance of taking bargaining between couples into the analysis of how couples insure themselves against income risks. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Molnar's research areas are in family economics, education and health, with a focus on disadvantaged members of our society. Her work helps us understand parents' time allocation behavior at home, how delayed school entry fosters child development, and Medicare's impact on how much private insurers pay physicians in the US healthcare system. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Wener examined her experiences as a facilitator at a creative writing organization for 'at-risk' young women. Using poetic inquiry, her findings reveal a need to get rid of the notions of 'fixing' and 'reforming' and speak to the problematic 'at-risk' label. This work sheds light on how poetry can be used to expand and work to change stigmas, policy, and pedagogy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Language and Literacy Education (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Sharpe used social spider populations to demonstrate that over-sharing of food could result in population extinction. However, using a computer simulation, she showed that rare but random events could increase food available to large colonies, allowing individual spiders to obtain enough food to disperse, thus maintaining the overall population. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Hung studied the impact that the physical and social environment has on people with dementia. She developed a Team Engagement Action Model (TEAM) to bring patients, families, and a team of staff across disciplines together to make positive change in acute care. Her work offers practical strategies for improving dementia care in hospitals. | Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Zhang's dissertation concerns computer graphics. He has developed novel numerical schemes that allow for restoring vorticity in fluid flow. Xinxin's work uses modern particle methods to solve large-scale problems with high speed. The resulting models provide realistic simulations that are rich in detail and are faithful to the physical properties of the fluid. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Cavka studied the digital representation of physical spaces. He developed a framework to characterize alignment between organizational constructs, and designed a methodology to deploy and evaluate building information modeling requirements. His work contributes to the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a variety of public works. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | The human ether-à-go-go gene voltage-gated potassium channel, or hERG, plays a key role in the electrical activity of the heart. Dr. Macdonald investigated the structural bases for its abnormal gating and its propensity to off-target drug block. His work contributes to our understanding of voltage-gated potassium channel structure-function. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Robbins examined attitudes towards contentious animal welfare issues. He also experimentally explored how ordinary people understand the concept of animal welfare. His research highlights the vital role social science and philosophy play in the debate about farm animal welfare. | Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Animal Biology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Wadden studied an individual's ability to re-learn motor skills following a stroke. She discovered the importance of the health of brain connections to determine an individual's capacity for motor learning post-stroke. This knowledge will encourage the delivery of individualized motor rehabilitation interventions to improve the effectiveness of treatments on motor recovery in people with stroke. | Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Lawrence developed a method for creating amorphous iron-carbon films for use in the strengthening of steel sheet and investigated the crystallization of these films. His work provides new insights into the crystallization of amorphous iron-carbon, specifically how this process is affected by carbon content and annealing temperature. | Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Cancer cells use various mechanisms to resist treatment; one of them is called "autophagy", or "self-eating". Dr. Bortnik studied autophagy in breast cancer and showed that targeting this pathway in specific disease subtypes can sensitize cancer cells to therapy. Her research advances our understanding of the biology and treatment of breast cancer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Meng developed new methods for image-based learning for mobile robot localization, achieving state-of-the-art performance. She also developed an integrated software and hardware framework for autonomous navigation of mobile robots in uneven and unstructured environments and demonstrated the system through real-world experiments. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Rahmani investigated and provided a detailed understanding of the various forces and molecular interactions involved in removing natural organic matter from different water sources by ion exchange resins. This study leads to better practices of ion exchange technology in water treatment facilities for an efficient organic matter removal. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Kearney used field trials and remote sensing to evaluate environmental impacts of agriculture in El Salvador. He demonstrated that agroforestry provides multiple benefits at the field scale and stores large amounts of carbon across landscapes. He hopes his work will contribute to programs that reward farmers for their stewardship of the land. | Doctor of Philosophy in Soil Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Bidshahri completed her PhD in Biomedical Engineering. During her PhD, she developed a powerful cancer genetic test that can detect any possible mutation at a cancer hotspot. This test is now being used at the BC Cancer Agency to ensure that colorectal cancer patients are receiving the appropriate treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Zhang evaluated the seismic performance of a novel mass timber-steel hybrid high-rise system. This research serves as a precursor for developing design guidelines for tall wood-hybrid building systems in seismic regions, and providing appropriate information to increase the acceptance and use of this mass-timber steel hybrid high-rise structural concept. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Mohamadi designed and developed a collection of novel algorithms and software tools for the analysis of massive bioinformatics data. Theses algorithms and software tools are publicly available for free to facilitate research at health and life sciences laboratories and other organizations worldwide. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Brown studied how sensory information from the environment can be used to inform movement. Her findings demonstrate that healthy aging and stroke change the neurophysiological processes underpinning this relationship. Her findings also suggest that interventions may be able to target this process to improve motor outcomes in these populations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD) |
| 2017 | Antibiotic use drives the global problem of antibiotic resistance. Dr. McKay studied physician practice patterns related to antibiotic use, and found wide variation in practice. Her research draws attention to the nature of interventions to improve the responsible use of antibiotics, with the goal of preserving their usefulness. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Hutchcroft studied the connection between the geometry of a space and the behavior of random processes on that space. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |