Speakers
Guest Speakers
Dr. Candy Khan
Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
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Dr. Candy Khan
Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Dr. Candy Khan is the Associate Vice-President of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) at Athabasca University. Candy has over 25 years of experience in promoting EDI across workplaces, including post-secondary institutions and government roles. Her main focus at AU is on integrating inclusive practices across teaching, research, and community initiatives.
Bailey Sousa
Athabasca University Deputy Provost
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Bailey Sousa
Athabasca University Deputy Provost
Bailey Sousa, MA(HEAL) PMP is a higher education administrator, change agent, and advocate for excellence and inclusion in academic work and workplaces. Following thirteen years at the University of Alberta she took a secondment to the Government of Alberta’s Ministry of Advanced Education to set up the new Minister’s Advisory Council on Higher Education and Skills and Premier’s Council on Skills and their Secretariats, before coming to Athabasca University where she is now the Deputy Provost.
Bailey’s career has focused on leading complex projects, teams, change, strategy, and operations in a variety of entrepreneurial ventures, and roles in corporate, social enterprise, and academic settings. Co-founder of The Effective, Successful, Happy Academic, and co-author of "How to Be a Happy Academic" (Sage: London, 2018), Bailey’s research and contributions relate to aspects of academic work including: workplace and academic effectiveness, incorporating values, successful failure, growth mindset, leadership, strategic planning, qualitative methods, and teamwork in complex settings. She writes, speaks, and facilitates workshops in these areas. Bailey was recognized with the ‘Excellence in Leadership’ Award from the University of Alberta and previously as one of Edmonton’s Avenue Magazine’s ‘Top 40 Under 40’ for her contributions in her work and to her city.
Heather Purchase
Strategic Initiatives & Awards Transition Manager
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Heather Purchase
Strategic Initiatives & Awards Transition Manager
Heather Purchase, MA, CIAPP-C, (she/her) is FGS' strategic initiatives manager and designated tri-agency master scholarship liaison officer at Athabasca University. Heather manages FGS’ awards portfolio, supporting both internal and external funding opportunities. She has worked in higher education since 2012, focusing on research and program coordination with expertise in grant and award administration.
Kelly DeCoste
2023 GSRC Abstract Winner
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Kelly DeCoste
2023 GSRC Abstract Winner
Kelly DeCoste graduated with a Master of Nursing degree from Athabasca University in 2024. Kelly is a Registered Nurse and Nurse Educator at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia and a PhD in Nursing Student at Dalhousie University. She is also the Manager of Governance and Administration at AUGSA. Kelly is committed to engaging in research to improve the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Her research interests include perinatal mental health, breastfeeding, access to healthcare services and implementation science.
Navigating Complexity and Opportunity in the Research Landscape
Panel discussion contributing to building your research toolkit.
Dr. Andy Perrin
Associate Vice President, Research (Panel Chair)
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Dr. Andy Perrin
Associate Vice President, Research (Panel Chair)
Dr. Andy Perrin (he/him)
Our culture, society, and communities need discoveries that matter, ideas designed for impact, creations that inspire, and innovations that go beyond the imaginable. As Associate Vice President Research, Dr. Andrew Perrin is committed to cultivating a thriving research community at AU, leads research strategy and opportunity development, and oversees the Research Office team. Andrew is an internationally recognized scholar of cultural studies, a past Canada Research Chair, and fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He lives and works in Treaty 7 territory.
To connect about current and upcoming research opportunities at AU, please connect with Dr. Perrin by email at aperrin@athabascau.caor 587-225-6229.
Dr. Robyn Stobbs
Research Data Management Librarian
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Dr. Robyn Stobbs
Research Data Management Librarian
Dr. Robyn Stobbs is the Research Data Management Librarian at Athabasca University. In that role, she assists researchers with data management planning and with questions about data deposit and sharing. She also collaborates with other units to implement AU's Institutional Research Data Management Strategy through developing additional support for researchers. Robyn is a member of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada's Data Management Plan Expert Group and co-chairs the Preservation Expert Group. Robyn is always happy to talk about research data, so please don't hesitate to reach out.
MacKinley Darlington
Knowledge Mobilization Specialist
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MacKinley Darlington
Knowledge Mobilization Specialist
MacKinley Darlington is an award-winning research administrator with over 12 years of experience helping researchers and their partners navigate ever changing and increasing complex research and innovation ecosystems. As Athabasca University’s Knowledge Mobilization Specialist, MacKinley helps researcher be deliberate and strategic when planning for and facilitating research impact. MacKinley has been at AU, supporting our unique mission as Canada’s open university, since the Fall of 2021 and previously worked as the Manager, Knowledge Engagement at the University of Calgary.
Dr. Paul Daniels
Manager, Research Development
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Dr. Paul Daniels
Manager, Research Development
Dr. Paul Daniels leads the Research Development team in Athabasca University's Research Office. He's spearheaded the implementation of Pure, AU’s comprehensive research information management system, and has been driving initiatives to improve research security across the university. He was also a key contributor to the award-winning IDEA Lab, which included unique work-integrated-learning RA opportunities for AU students.
Dr. Daniels holds a PhD from Monash University and has partnered on research grants, presented at academic conferences, and published several peer-reviewed articles. He contributed a chapter in Stephen King and Philosophy and his paper "Back to the Present: Defending Presentist Time Travel" has been used in South Korea's Legal Education Eligibility Test (LEET), an examination intended to provide law schools in Korea with an evaluation metric to measure reading and reasoning skills.
Dr. Daniels has also taught undergraduate courses in Business Ethics and Military Ethics and, during his undergraduate studies, he served as the President of his Students’ Union.
Alyse Pearce
Research Partnerships Broker
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Alyse Pearce
Research Partnerships Broker
Alyse Pearce is the Research Partnerships Broker on the Research Development Team. Her work is all about bringing people together to create impactful collaborations. She joined AU from the University of Calgary where she was a Community Engagement Specialist. Prior to working in the higher education sector, Alyse worked for several public and non-profit organizations including the Calgary Public Library and Immigrant Services Calgary.
Research with Impact
Panel discussion on research with impact, sharing research projects and experiences.
Dr. Simon Sigue
Vice-Dean and Professor, Faculty of Graduate Studies (Panel Chair)
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Dr. Simon Sigue
Vice-Dean and Professor, Faculty of Graduate Studies (Panel Chair)
Dr. Simon P. Sigué is Vice Dean for Operations in the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Professor of Marketing in the Faculty of Business at Athabasca University, Canada, President of the Academy of African Business and Development (AABD) and former Editor-in-Chief of Journal of African Business. He has over twenty-five years experience in research, training, and education in marketing and sits on various boards in Africa and North America. His research covers such topics as entrepreneurial marketing, franchising, marketing channels, marketing strategies, game theory, and international marketing and is published in leading journals in marketing, management science, and economics. Dr. Sigué has received several academic distinctions, including the Best PhD Thesis Award at HEC Montréal, Canada, the Best Conference Paper Award of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Service Research Best Article Award Finalist, and the Outstanding Service Award of the AABD.
Dr. Anshuman Khare
Professor, Operations Management
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Dr. Anshuman Khare
Professor, Operations Management
Anshuman Khare is a professor in operations management at Athabasca University, Canada. He is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow and a former Monbusho Scholar. His research focuses on environmental regulation impacts on industry, just-in-time manufacturing, supply chain management, sustainability, cities and climate change, online business education, etc. His current research focuses on digital technologies' impact on business and education. Anshuman has co-edited a series of books on the digital transformation of industry. He has an interest in automobiles, aviation (airports and airlines), energy (alternative and renewable), manufacturing, services, sustainable cities, and smart cities (public policy).
Anshuman is passionate about online teaching and has been recognised with the Craig Cunningham Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence (2003) and the Athabasca University Graduate Students’ Association (AUGSA) Outstanding Distinction Award (2015). He has also earned research awards for publications.
Anshuman is connected with the community of St. Alberta helping develop public policies and practices. He served as Vice-Chair & Member of the City of St. Albert’s SMART City Master Plan Steering Committee and chaired the City of St. Albert Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC). In 2021, Anshuman received the Long Service Recognition Award from the City of St. Albert.
He has also served as a Member of the Board and Chaired the Northern Alberta Business Incubator (NABI) for several years.
Dr. Nisha Nath
Associate Professor of Equity Studies
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Dr. Nisha Nath
Associate Professor of Equity Studies
Nisha Nath (she/they) is Associate Professor of Equity Studies in the MAIS Program (FHSS). A political scientist by training, she is currently working on several key research projects, including an interrogation of the role of discretion in provincial public sector work (Dr. Willow Allen) and her ongoing work on relational securitization and racial domination in white settler colonial contexts. Here, her research has moved towards interrogating the presence of police (school resource officers) within public schools. She has collaborated with Dr. Rita Dhamoon, Dr. Anita Girvan and Dr. Davina Bhandar, on a manuscript for Fernwood Press [The Letters: Writing Lives Through and Against the University], as well as on the Insurgent Resurgent Knowledges (IRK) Lab. She is an associate editor for the Canadian Journal of Political Science, section editor for Studies in Social Justice and is part of the producing team for the podcast Academic Aunties.
Dr. Maiga Chang
Associate Dean, Research & Innovation
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Dr. Maiga Chang
Associate Dean, Research & Innovation
Dr. Maiga Chang is Associate Dean, Research & Innovation, and Full Professor at Faculty of Science and Technology, Athabasca University, Canada and the Honorary Chair Professor at Multidisciplinary Academic Research Center, National Dong Hwa University, Taiwan. Dr. Chang is IEEE Senior Member and has been appointed as an IEEE Computer Society Distinguished Visitor on AI and Chatbot research areas for 2023 to 2025. He is also received Distinguished Researcher Award from Asia Pacific Society on Computers in Education (APSCE) in 2022.Dr. Chang is now Vice President (2022~) of International Association of Smart Learning Environments (IASLE) and editors-in-chief (2019~) of Journal of Educational Technology & Society (Open Access SSCI in Quartile Q1 with rank 22/756 in Education & Educational Research category by Journal Impact Factor 4.595), editor-in-chief (2014~) of International Journal of Distance Education Technologies (Open Access ESCI in Quartile Q1 with rank 64/756 in Education & Educational Research category by Journal Impact Factor 3.3, SCOPUS, EI), and editor-in-chief (2020~) of Bulletin of Technical Committee on Learning Technology (Open Access ESCI). He is also an Executive Committee member of Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education (2017~2024, APSCE) and Global Chinese Society for Computing in Education (2016~2025, GCSCE), and Chair (2021~) of Educational Activities Committee, IEEE Northern Canada Section. Dr. Chang is helping as a Steering Committee member (2020~) for International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS). Dr. Chang has given more than 160 talks and lectures in different events; He also has (co-)authored more than 260 book chapters, journal and international conference papers. He is an IEEE member since 1996 and also a member of ACM (2001-2017), AAAI (since 2001-2017), INNS (2004-2018), and Phi Tau Phi Scholastic Honor Society.
Kelly DeCoste
2023 GSRC Abstract Winner
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Kelly DeCoste
2023 GSRC Abstract Winner
Kelly DeCoste graduated with a Master of Nursing degree from Athabasca University in 2024. Kelly is a Registered Nurse and Nurse Educator at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia and a PhD in Nursing Student at Dalhousie University. She is also the Manager of Governance and Administration at AUGSA. Kelly is committed to engaging in research to improve the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Her research interests include perinatal mental health, breastfeeding, access to healthcare services and implementation science.
Master of Ceremonies
Shawn Fraser
Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies
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Shawn Fraser
Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies
Dr. Shawn Fraser (he/him) is Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and a Professor of Health Studies at Athabasca University. He has taught online graduate courses as a faculty member at Athabasca University since 2006 and has served as the Program Director for the Master of Health Studies and Master of Nursing program, and as Associate Dean in the Faculty of Health Disciplines. His main area of research involves understanding the health behaviors of cardiac rehabilitation patients. He is also involved with research in teaching and learning for health professionals and belongs to the learning analytics research group at Athabasca University. In his spare time, he maintains a statistics blog which aims to make statistics accessible. He resides in Edmonton, Alberta.
Meaghan Sullivan
AUGSA Executive Director
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Meaghan Sullivan
AUGSA Executive Director
Meaghan Sullivan (she/her) manages the GSA office and provides guidance and support to the graduate student leaders of Athabasca University. She is the co-chair of the annual Athabasca University Graduate Student Research Conference. Meaghan joined AUGSA in 2018. Prior to AUGSA, Meaghan’s career path progressed through the private, municipal government, and education sectors. As a former graduate student, Meaghan holds an MBA and post-baccalaureate diploma in management from Athabasca University.
Corinne Bosse
Learning Designer & GSRC Co-Chair
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Corinne Bosse
Learning Designer & GSRC Co-Chair
Corinne Bossé is a Learning Designer at the Faculty of Graduate Studies. As part of her current portfolio, she focuses on leading and coordinating professional development projects and partnership initiatives relevant to an online learning graduate environment. Overall, Corinne has more than 20 years’ experience in teaching, designing, developing, managing, researching and evaluating curriculum development projects to facilitate and improve learning outcomes.