2020 Research Award Recipients

VIU launched the annual Provost’s Awards for Outstanding Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity in 2018 to publicly recognize the efforts by VIU faculty to support the University’s core commitment to excellence and community engagement.

Shea has been teaching in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program since 1997. She is passionate about creating learning spaces that promote self-knowing, curiosity and critical inquiry as foundations for excellence in clinical practice and scholarship. Shea believes that a strong foundation in critical inquiry will equip students to engage their curiosity, follow their passions and creatively respond to emerging trends in health care through scholarship and practice.

Mary O'Neill | Faculty of Education O’Neill has been a member of VIU's Faculty of Education since 1991. She currently serves as Program Coordinator for the department’s Online Learning & Teaching Graduate Diploma and acts as the liaison for program graduates laddering into the Master’s of Education – Leadership Degree. She has supervised numerous graduate student major projects and has been a key innovator in online teaching both at the post-secondary level, as well as at the K-12 level through her mentorship.

Dr. Lindsay McCunn | Faculty of Social Sciences McCunn is a Professor of Psychology and the Director of VIU’s Environmental Psychology Research Lab. She chairs the environmental psychology section of the Canadian Psychological Association and is an Associate Editor of the premier journal in her field — the Journal of Environmental Psychology. She is also the Commissioning Editor of the journal Cities and Health. Her research in applied psychology has been published in a number of interdisciplinary journals.

Dr. Jasmine Janes | Faculty of Science and Technology

Janes, a Biology Professor, is a recipient of collaborative research grants from the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Genome BC to study novel tools to prevent diseases in oysters. Her research combines ecological, molecular and genomic approaches, to answer fundamental questions in evolutionary ecology. Most recently, Janes was awarded a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant to study the co-evolutionary interactions between fungi, orchids and insect pollinators.

Dr. Shannon Dames | Faculty of Health and Human Services Dames, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Professor, has experience in emergency medicine, forensic nursing and multiple public health programs from front-line through management. In 2020-21, she was awarded a Canadian Institutes of Health Research grant and other funding and is working with six agencies in BC, multiple practitioners and policy makers to develop and study the combination of resilience development and psychedelic-assisted therapies, delivered within a novel and innovative outpatient mental health model.

Bitterberg, an Early Childhood Education and Care Program Professor, is committed to creating respectful and democratic practices and has extended her role to include working as a pedagogist in early years settings. As a pedagogist, she works alongside children, educators, students and families by contributing to ongoing projects and bringing the BC Early Learning Framework to life. This role is funded by the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

Cheryl Cameron | Faculty of Health and Human Services Cameron brings a deep appreciation for the arts and thoughtful eye to her work as practicum coordinator with the Early Childhood Education and Care Program, as Atelierista at Lexie's Little Bears Child Care and a faculty pedagogist in early years settings in the Cowichan Valley. Inspired by the BC Early Learning Framework, she connects with communities of practice through reflective thinking, active dialogue and grappling with the complexities of pedagogical choice.

Soth is an experienced researcher, curriculum consultant, administrator and educator. Soth joined the VIU Dental Hygiene program in 2007 and has served as an educator, clinic lead and program chair. She gives back to the profession through service on many provincial, national, and international committees and regulatory organizations and has presented at provincial and international conferences.

Dr. Mark Williams | Faculty of Social Sciences Williams, a Political Studies Professor, is an accomplished scholar and educator. His academic book on the subject of foreign economic policy of Indonesia was short-listed for the Weller Prize with the British Columbia Political Science Association. He is faculty advisor to VIU’s Model United Nations club and an award-winning teacher who was featured in Shaw TV’s Teachers Above and Beyond Series.