I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia. I have a PhD in Sociology. My research expertise is in sustainability and the related areas of social movements and capacity building.

Background

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My research is rooted in an abiding interest in human action and social change. My work has been especially influenced by the social movement theories of resource mobilization, new social movement, and frame alignment as well as efforts in social psychology to link attitudes, beliefs, and context to behaviour change. Most recently, the social philosophies of pragmatism and practice theory are beginning to inform important pedagogical gaps, which I try to address in designing socially conscious classrooms. I conduct research on the substantive use of the above ideas in understanding sustainability as a global social movement. This conceptualization assumes meaningful partnerships among classrooms, communities, and citizens. I am convinced that such collaborations will succeed if new thoughts, new situations, new ways of acting, and new rewards can coalesce into individual and collective action for a better society.

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Education

1997: PhD, Sociology, Bowling Green State University 1989: MA, Kinesiology, University of Western Ontario 1987: BA, Kinesiology, University of Western Ontario



Professional Employment

2015 – present
Associate Professor, University of British Columbia (UBC), Department of Educational Studies 2010 – 2014
Assistant Professor, UBC Department of Educational Studies 2006 – 2009
Lecturer, UBC School of Human Kinetics & Department of Educational Studies 2005 – 2006
Assistant Professor, Royal Roads University 2002 – 2005
Assistant Professor, UBC Institute of Health Promotion Research 2001 – 2002
Research Associate, UBC Sustainable Development Research Institute 2000 – 2001
Post-Doctoral Fellow, UBC Sustainable Development Research Institute 1997 – 2000
Sessional Instructor, UBC & Simon Fraser University, Departments of Sociology



Awards & Distinctions

2020 Award of Excellence for Post Secondary Educators, awarded by the Canadian Network of Environmental Education and Communication 2010
Exchange, awarded by Department of Canadian Heritage, Canada-China Bilateral Agreement in Sport, July 3-9, 2010, Beijing, China 2010
Teaching and Learning Fellow, awarded by UBC Sustainability Initiative 2001
Research Assistantship on Community Engagement, awarded by Sustainable Development Research Institute 2000
Post-Doctoral Fellowship on Community Engagement, awarded by Department of the Environment, Canada and Sustainable Development Research Institute 1991 – 1994
Graduate Fellowship, awarded by Bowling Green State University



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“Indeed the future has already broken into the present. We each live in many times. The present of one is the past of another, and the future of yet another. We are called to live, knowing and showing that the future exists and that each one of us can call it in, when we are willing, to redress the balance of the past.”

– Ivan Illich, Celebration of awareness (1970)