After blowing up a fume hood in the UBC chemistry building, Eric was happy to complete his chemistry graduate work with a master’s degree and pursue further graduate work in journalism. His master of journalism explored the skill sets of science journalists and proposed a syllabus for a graduate-level science journalism course. Eric has worked as a freelance journalist, science writer, and grant writer. At Springer in Heidelberg, Germany, he managed the editing of English-language scientific manuscripts. As a strategist for teaching and learning initiatives, Eric currently leads and supports teaching and learning projects within the Faculty of Science. Working with faculty, educational technologists, and students he is involved with the design, implementation, revision, and evaluation of new courses, such as Communicating Science (SCIE 300). Eric also frequently consults with faculty on implementing communication skills instruction into science courses and holds training workshops on this topic. In addition, Eric contributes to chemistry and math textbooks used in both Canadian and American schools.

Jackie has taught general and organic chemistry at UBC since 2005. In 2011, she began teaching communicating science (SCIE 300) and recently helped plan the curriculum for an upcoming communicating chemistry course, which will pilot in 2015-2016. She has a B.Sc. degree in chemistry, a M.Sc. in wood science, and a Ph.D. in educational psychology. Jackie’s research interests span the areas of self-regulated learning, problem solving, and assessment of learning. She is passionate about helping students learn through innovative instructional methods and by motivating them to use research-tested study techniques. Jackie received the UBC Killam Prize for Excellent in Teaching in 2006 and 2010, as well as the UBC Science Undergraduate Society Teaching Excellence Award in 2010.

Thomas is interested in teaching science communication and associated writing skills because he believes there is a growing interest in – and need for – open scientific discourse in the public domain. He gained a M.Sc. in Zoology at UBC, having researched the ecology of invasive species and related conservation policies in North America. As a former journalist and sub-editor, and as a current press officer responsible for ensuring scientific research news appears in our newspapers and on our TV sets every day, Thomas hopes to instill that same passion for telling simple, clear, engaging science stories in students and instructors alike.
 

Shannon Obradovich

Coordinator, Writing Across the Curriculum+

Shannon is committed to improving the delivery and accessibility of science education curricula. She has been involved in science literacy outreach since 2003, as a volunteer and former site coordinator for the Let’s Talk Science Partnership Program. As a teaching assistant at UBC, she has designed and implemented her own hands-on classroom activities. Shannon has a BSc and MSc focused on marine ecology and is currently completing her PhD in fisheries.

Rebecca Shaw

Program Manager, Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication

Rebecca joined the WAC+ team in June 2017 when she began her role as Program Manager for the Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication (CWSC). Rebecca has a background in Adult Learning, Experiential Learning and co-curricular program development. In her current role, Rebecca oversees the operation of the CWSC including the design, development and delivery of peer-based writing support services and other educational programming relating to writing and literacy for undergraduate and graduate students. Rebecca and the CWSC also collaborate with faculty and campus partners to provide campus-wide support and engagement around all aspects of academic writing, in and across disciplines.

Dr. Joanne Fox is the Academic Director of UBC Vantage College, where she provides academic leadership and support for students, staff and faculty. Her exceptional teaching has been recognized with a Killam Teaching Award. She is also a highly regarded leader in interdisciplinary collaboration and initiatives that enrich student engagement. She enjoys writing and, in her teaching, she helps students add their voices to the conversation that is science.

Gülnur, originally from Turkey, received her BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from Bogazici University. During her major career transition from engineering to education research, one thing stood out for her was the power of transferable skills – communication skill is being one of them. Gülnur taught courses in biotechnology and collaboratively investigated the effectiveness of an how-people-learn framework used in a laboratory-based, tissue-engineering module designed in part to improve students’ written communication skills, and developed school-wide standards for engineering writing at Northwestern University. In her current role as Director of SCLT at UBC, she enjoys working with students, faculty, staff and administrators to improve Science education through evidence-based practices.

Katelyn received a B.Sc. in Integrated Sciences at UBC. As an undergrad, she was involved in research on harbour seal sensory systems and zebra finch social behaviour, and is currently studying how testosterone regulates cognitive changes in aging. In addition to research, she enjoys writing about science and thinks that the ability to communicate scientific concepts in a clear, accurate, and engaging way is important for students, researchers, and society. She is thrilled to have been part of the ScWRL team, and plans to pursue graduate studies in the future.