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Public Scholars Award

The PSI Network consists of almost 400 doctoral students and PhDs from across the full range of disciplines at UBC.

Below you can navigate their profiles based on year of scholarship, faculty, theme; read about their research; and watch brief videos of their talks. 

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Dharani Persaud

United States of America

Doctor of Philosophy in Library, Archival and Information Studies (PhD)

Tracing Heritage Through Objects in Queer Diasporic Caribbean Descendants of Indenture Communities
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Angela Barrera-Bello

Colombia

Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD)

Agroforestry as ecological restoration? Evidence from Zapotec Indigenous farming systems in Oaxaca’s montane forests
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Mahfida Tahniat

Bangladesh

Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies (PhD)

Connecting Place-rooted Pedagogies to Global Climate Justice
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Hayley Lawrence

Jamaica

Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD)

The Impact of Canada’s “Pharmacare” Policies on Equity-denied Communities
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Letitia Pokiak

Canada

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy (EdD)

Land Based Knowledge Transfer: Inuvialuit Pedagogies to Meaningfully Prepare Inuvialuit Youth to Implement the Inuvialuit Final Agreement
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Brittany Pousett

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD)

Developing and Evaulating Peer-HELP: A Peer Support Resource to Support Psychosocial Adaptation for Canadians with Amputations
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Bronte Johnston

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD)

Contraception supports youths’ wellbeing by facilitating their reproductive health goals such as pregnancy prevention and menstruation management.

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Carol Tatiana Chamorro Vargas

Colombia

Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)

Scaling out silvopastoral systems in Colombia
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Jessica Key

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD)

Circles for Equity, Decolonization, Accountability, and Reconciliation (CEDAR) in Nursing
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Nathalie Lozano Neira

Colombia

Doctor of Philosophy in Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice (PhD)

Weaving Relational Solidarity: Indigenous Women’s Embodied Artistic Praxis, and Transnational Solidarity across Abya Yala and Turtle Island
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Joey Oi Yee Wong

Hong Kong

Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD)

Co-design a culturally sensitive virtual reality (VR) dementia education program with older adults, family partners, nursing students and educators: A participatory action research
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Rishika Selvakumar

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies (PhD)

Investigating the Canadian Mental Health System for Improvement and Efficiency
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Samara Polwatta Lekamlage

Sri Lanka

Doctor of Philosophy in Oceans and Fisheries (PhD)

Advancing Seahorse Conservation: Strategies for Data-Deficient Hippocampus spp. in Sri Lanka
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Haopu (Lily) Ren

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies (PhD)

Shaping Ethical Virtual Reality Use for Older Adults Living With Dementia in Hospitals
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Hok Yau, Tim Pit

Hong Kong

Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies (PhD)

Re-story-ation for animal: Animal hi/stories of Hong Kong, 1945 – 2025
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Francis Kato

Uganda

Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work (PhD)

TDialogue: Reimagining Mental Health Through the Voices of Residential Care Youth in Uganda
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Lucas Barros da Rosa

Brazil

Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)

A Multimodal Framework for Estimating Fire Severity and Emissions in Tropical Savannas and Wetlands.

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Anjana Rajendran

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD)

Synergy through stimulation: optimizing stroke rehabilitation through neurophysiology
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Bing Yan

China

Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology (PhD)

The Political Life of Drugs: Understanding Chinese Experiences in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside
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Trishala Dutta

India

Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD)

Where We Labor, Where We Rest: Mapping an Exhausted Commons
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Karen Davies

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD)

Implementation of a community-based rowing program for adolescents with cerebral palsy
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Diego Gabriel Delic

Argentina

Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD)

For the Good of the Group? Caste Norms and the Nutritional Cost of Conformity in India
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Aaní Perkins

United States of America

Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD)

Sheetʼká Lingít as Attested in Written and Spoken Evidence
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Shiho Ogura

Japan

Doctor of Philosophy in Music, Emphasis Ethnomusicology (PhD)

Music Imaginings of Others: Rethinking Thainess and Otherness through Samniang Phasaa in Thai Classical Music
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Kim Correa

United States of America

Doctor of Philosophy in Library, Archival and Information Studies (PhD)

The Anti-Surveillance Practices of Grassroots Activists in the Era of Surveillance Culture
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Ashleigh Janis

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD)

Decolonizing Early Childhood Education Through Participatory Action Research
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Sherryl Sewepagaham

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Music, Emphasis Ethnomusicology (PhD)

kîwîtin wacistona (Northern Nests) Song Project
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Chelsey Perry

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD)

Intersections of Indigenous health, gender equity, and climate justice
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Miah Godek

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD)

Wildfire resilience and Indigenous cultural burning in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Amrit Tiwana

Amrit Tiwana

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Planning (PhD)

Advancing equitable access to essential health services: A high-resolution long-range planning tool for Metro Vancouver
Hermandeep Deo

Hermandeep Deo

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD)

Navigating Pain and Performance: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Racialized Women's Illness Narratives
Jalisa Karim

Jalisa Karim

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Women+ and Children's Health Sciences (PhD)

Navigating Endometriosis Treatments in the Context of Pregnancy Planning
Lucy Binfield

Lucy Binfield

United Kingdom

Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD)

The impact of bamboo industry development interventions: A Global Perspective
Connie Clark

Connie Clark

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD)

Newly graduated nurse transition
Youssef Al Bouchi

Youssef Al Bouchi

Lebanon

Doctor of Philosophy in Geography (PhD)

Critical Minerals and the Climate-Security Nexus: Canada and Mexico in a Shifting Geopolitical Landscape
Kaitlin Berris

Kaitlin Berris

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Women+ and Children's Health Sciences (PhD)

PedsNutriCo: Co-designing pediatric nutrition guidelines in critical care
Naomi Maldonado-Rodriguez

Naomi Maldonado-Rodriguez

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology (PhD)

Access and engagement with comprehensive HIV care: An intersectional examination of the experiences of migrant women living with HIV
Fideline Awasiri Mboringong

Fideline Awasiri Mboringong

Cameroon

Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD)

Understanding and integrating diverse values into decision-making for large-scale projects (mining and related infrastructure) in the Southern and Eastern regions of Cameroon
Ana Polgar

Ana Polgar

Doctor of Philosophy in Planning (PhD)

Seeing through Skies, Streets and Stories: Aligning urban nature and climate risks in a rapidly urbanizing watershed
Ania Landy

Ania Landy

Poland

Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies (PhD)

Older people leading community conversations about a new vision of care and social services in a semi-rural community.
Joachim Stassart

Joachim Stassart

Belgium

Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD)

Addressing land grabbing in Brazil: evaluating the opportunities and risks of digital transformation in land governance to foster accountability and climate justice
Yunfei Li

Yunfei Li

China

Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)

Walking towards Change: Exploring Engagement Effects of Urban Future Walks
Shams Moh'd Fares Khalaf Al-Anzi

Shams Moh'd Fares Khalaf Al-Anzi

Jordan

Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD)

Digital Engagement and Mental Health Among West Asian, Middle Eastern & North African (WAMENA) Young People in British Columbia: A Latent Class Analysis Approach
Dana Dmytro

Dana Dmytro

Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in School and Applied Child Psychology (PhD)

Shifting Substance Use Trajectories: A Pan-Canadian Study of Specialized School Staff Supporting At-Risk Youth
Hayfaa Abou Ibrahim

Hayfaa Abou Ibrahim

Lebanon

Doctor of Philosophy in Planning (PhD)

Disaster Governance in the Age of Polycrisis: A Study of NGO Collaborations in Post-Disaster Response in Lebanon and Türkiye
Jessica Mukiri

Jessica Mukiri

Kenya

Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD)

Navigating Change - A Just Transition for Livestock Farmers in British Columbia
Sean Edgerton

Sean Edgerton

Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD)

Micro To Macro: A One Health Response to H5N1 through Science Communication and Illustration
Jafar Iqbal

Jafar Iqbal

Bangladesh

Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies (PhD)

Social Justice Education for Workers: The Lives Behind the Clothes We Wear