Awards & Honours
UBCO Researcher of the Year AWARDS
Each year, we recognize the outstanding achievements of researchers who have made significant contributions to research and/or creative scholarly activity at UBC Okanagan through the Researcher of the Year awards. Three prizes are awarded in the areas of Health, Natural Sciences and Engineering, and Social Sciences and Humanities, in addition to three awards through the College of Graduate Studies. The recipients of this award epitomize excellence and are leaders in their respective fields and disciplines, working across traditional boundaries to help make the world a better place.
2023 Faculty Researchers of the Year
Heather Gainforth | School of Health and Exercise Sciences
HEALTH AWARD
Dr. Heather Gainforth’s research in the area of spinal cord injury (SCI) is focused on helping people with SCI live better lives. She engages directly with people living with SCI and invites the SCI community to help direct her work, in order to focus on the community’s high-priority needs that have historically received little research attention. Dr. Gainforth is dedicated to getting her results into practice without delay to those who need it most.
Greg Garrard | Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES AWARD
Dr. Greg Garrard researches how humans’ activities and their perceptions of their environments shape the physical landscapes they inhabit. As a professor of environmental humanities, he’s a globally respected voice in sustainability who’s now focusing on the Okanagan region. His work asks people to interrogate their own perspectives on issues such as climate change or wildfires and helps individuals to understand other perspectives to combat cultural polarization.
Isaac Li | Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science
NATURAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING AWARD
Dr. Isaac Li is an emerging leader in his field studying the physical interactions between cells, as opposed to well-studied chemical cell interactions. His interdisciplinary lab builds specialized, DNA-based molecular tools to visualize these interactions at the scale of single molecules and opens endless opportunities for controlling these interactions, which can lead to a variety of future impacts, including potential disease treatments.
2023 College of Graduate Studies Researchers of the Year
graduate studies (phd)
Rhyann Mckay
PhD, Philosophy
master’s student
connor howe
MSc, Health & Exercise Sciences
Social Sciences & Humanities
Jonathan Corbett
Associate Professor, Community, Culture & Global Studies
phd student
katrina plamondon
PhD, Nursing
ubc faculty research Awards
UBCO recipients of the university’s system-wide faculty research awards are below:
UBC Killam Research Prize
Recognizing outstanding research and scholarly contributions.
2019 – Junior Category
ALLISON HARGREAVES
Associate Professor, English & Cultural Studies
UBC Killam Research Fellowship
Enabling faculty to pursue full-time research during a recognized study leave.
2020
CHRISTINE SCHREYER
Associate Professor, Anthropology
2018
Kyle Larson
Associate Professor, Earth, Environmental & Geographic Sciences
Nelly Oelke
Associate Professor, Nursing
2017
Jonathan little
Associate Professor, Health & Exercise Sciences
2016
MIRANDA HART
Associate Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
ABBAS MILANI
Professor, Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering
2015
JENNIFER JAKOBI
Professor, Health & Exercise Sciences
UBC Killam Accelerator Research Fellowship
Recognizing exceptional early-career researchers who have demonstrated outstanding research achievement and the potential for significant impact in their fields of scholarship.
2021
MEGAN SMITH
Associate Professor, Creative Studies, Media Studies
2020
Jonathan little
Associate Professor, Health & Exercise Sciences
Dorothy Somerset Award for Performance Development in the Visual and Performing Arts
Recognizing faculty who have made outstanding contributions to (and performances in) art, music, creative writing, theatre or film
2020
NEIL CADGER
Associate Professor, Creative Studies (Theatre)