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Doctoral student Stephenie Hendricks’ journey to UBC Okanagan has been anything but conventional.
With a lengthy background in public and commercial broadcast journalism, Hendricks soon realized she loved teaching after instructing several classes in journalism and social justice communications at Dominican University of California.
“I didn’t know I was going to fall in love with this age group and that I wanted to teach,” she explains.
“When I was researching interdisciplinary doctoral degrees, UBC Okanagan was the only university in all of North America offering such a program.”
Hendricks applied to Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies in the Sustainability theme and was supervised by Dr. Greg Garrard, a literary eco-critic who explores environmental literature. His passion for using literary storytelling to deliver and mobilize knowledge on environmental issues guided Hendricks’ unique essays. She wanted to tell these stories in an accessible fashion for those without a background in science and health realms, since these hazards impact everyone.
With a focus on environmental health and justice, Hendricks’ research presents stories of those working on critical health issues related to environmental toxic exposures.
“I didn’t want my story in it at all, but I soon realized that blending personal experience with academic data was an effective way to communicate this research.”
Hendricks remembers initially feeling a bit lost and frustrated with the process of taking a conventional literary approach to documenting her research. A pivotal moment came when she was encouraged by Dr. Garrard to use Scholarly Personal Narrative methodology, which integrates the researcher’s own story alongside academic research.
“I didn’t want my story in it at all, but I soon realized that blending personal experience with academic data was an effective way to communicate this research.”
She adds: “In a digital methodology course with Dr. Miles Thorogood, I discovered there are many ways to mobilize knowledge.”
In that class, a lightbulb went off for Hendricks; why not develop a podcast to present her dissertation?
“With my experience in radio, a podcast seemed like the perfect way to move forward.”
“I wanted to present my research participants’ own voices. It’s a way to make invisible hazards in our environment more visible and to connect these issues to rising health concerns.”
Many of the people interviewed are those who Hendricks worked with before beginning her teaching career. After leaving broadcast journalism, Hendricks found herself working as a communications professional for a non-governmental organization tackling pesticide issues—without a single chemistry class under her belt, she recalls, as she applied her journalistic experience to assist health advocates and scientists.
This included helping various physicians and scientists from several African countries in 2007 to stop a major agrochemical company from using American tax dollars to spray DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) in their countries. DDT is a potent insecticide used between the 1940s and the 1970s.
“I was sent to Washington, DC, where we held a congressional briefing to block the funding. Scientists presented the health impacts of DDT on affected communities, including children with learning difficulties and deformed genitals. While we succeeded in stopping the funding, we couldn’t stop the spraying.”
The podcast uses a Radiolab-style soundscape, bringing to life the voices of environmental health and justice advocates, along with music and sound effects.
“I wanted to present my research participants’ own voices,” she emphasizes. “It’s a way to make invisible hazards in our environment more visible and to connect these issues to rising health concerns like cancer, neurodevelopmental disabilities and infertility.”
“If there’s a common thread in everything I’ve ever done, it’s to grow audiences to receive information that helps them with their lives.”
Hendricks adds that these are critical issues that need to be discussed more widely. “I’ve had success in previous work, and through my research, I want to share these stories and raise awareness of these potential negative health effects that also happen to be linked to climate change.”
One of Hendricks’ main goals was to be able to reach a wider audience, and while a podcast will do that, Dr. Garrard also suggested the idea of creating an Open Education Resource (OER) curriculum—making it accessible to everyone across the globe, not just students or professors in British Columbia.
The OER includes the stand-alone podcasts as well as a written curriculum, so it can be used in a variety of ways, including in classes within a variety of disciplines like history, chemistry and sustainable business.
Reflecting on her work, Hendricks says, “If there’s a common thread in everything I’ve ever done, it’s to grow audiences to receive information that helps them with their lives. The hope with the curriculum is that it will demystify these topics in a way that helps students understand these complex issues, and feel empowered to create a healthier future for themselves and their families.”
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Geraldine Manossa’s academic journey is a testament to the belief that life is not always a straight line but rather a series of twists, turns and detours.
After embarking on various career paths, Manossa made the decision to pursue her doctorate, almost two decades after completing her master’s degree. She’s now a doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies program at UBC Okanagan.
Manossa’s educational journey first began amidst challenges within the public school system, where she says the portrayal of Indigenous culture was often negative and prejudicial.
“As a young person, I really struggled with it. I was pushing against the curriculum I was learning. I was challenging it. It was just so opposite of what I knew in my own family, how we see ourselves and how we talk about ourselves,” Manossa explains.
Motivated to redefine the narrative, she enrolled in the Native Communications Program at Grant MacEwan College after high school, where she was exposed for the first time to Indigenous academics who were addressing issues like colonization and intergenerational trauma.
Spurred by this new learning path, she registered for courses at the En’owkin International School of Writing and Fine Arts. There, she learned more about Indigenous history and connected with mentors such as Dr. Jeannette Armstrong, now an Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at UBC Okanagan.
“It’s taking that step back to build relationships so health partners can understand what a health framework looks like driven from, for example, a Cree worldview of health and wellness, and to utilize that framework to develop a specific cultural health model in primary health care settings. That’s my goal.”
These early experiences ignited Manossa’s passion for understanding and leveraging Indigenous knowledge systems to address contemporary issues.
“I was learning that as Indigenous peoples, we have these rich cultures and traditions and I wondered why we couldn’t use those knowledge systems to inform things like educational programs or health programs,” Manossa explains.
“That’s when I started connecting the dots in terms of the strengths of where I come from, and all the different Indigenous knowledge systems and ways of seeing and understanding the world.”
She went on to pursue her undergraduate and master’s degrees in Indigenous Studies at the University of Lethbridge. Her studies prepared her for roles as the Director of Education at the En’owkin Centre and a leadership position in primary care at the First Nations Health Authority, where she played a pivotal role in advocating for culturally informed health practices.
After two decades in the field, Manossa embarked on her doctoral journey, driven by the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Witnessing the gap between intentions and actions in health reconciliation efforts, she felt compelled to try and bridge this divide. Her academic research focuses on developing a land-informed health framework in collaboration with First Nations communities and health partners to integrate Indigenous cultural practices into mainstream health systems.
“Hopefully my findings will be useful and a good starting point within Indigenous primary healthcare centres, and beyond that as well, such as in mainstream healthcare systems.”
“It’s taking that step back to build relationships so health partners can understand what a health framework looks like driven from, for example, a Cree worldview of health and wellness, and to utilize that framework to develop a specific cultural health model in primary health care settings. That’s my goal,” explains Manossa.
Mentor and doctorate advisor Shawn Wilson says it’s Manossa’s approach to research that is so impressive.
“Geraldine has the fantastic ability to use her vast cultural knowledge to look at and pick apart Western health or education systems to see how they work. She then uses what she finds there to rewrite how those systems work into something that better reflects Indigenous cultures.”
In recognition of her academic achievements, Manossa was recently selected as an exceptional scholar by the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and will take part in the foundation’s esteemed three-year leadership program. As a scholar, Manossa not only receives financial support for her research, but will also benefit from the contribution of mentors.
“I have access to mentors who have tremendous experience, not only life experience, but also within academia, and I think that’s just such an amazing layer. It’s an incredible opportunity to learn from them.”
Manossa has another three years before she completes her doctorate, but is hopeful that her completed research will contribute significantly to a new health model that incorporates Indigenous worldviews and practices.
“Hopefully my findings will be useful and a good starting point within Indigenous primary healthcare centres, and beyond that as well, such as in mainstream healthcare systems.”
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