Early in Career Award: Dr. Kate Hennessy, Simon Fraser University

Dr. Kate Hennessy is Assistant Professor specializing in Media at Simon Fraser University’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology. Kate also serves as the Director of the Making Culture Lab. Her research explores the role of digital technology in the documentation and safeguarding of cultural heritage, and the mediation of culture, history, objects, and subjects in new forms. Her video and multimedia works investigate documentary methodologies to address Indigenous and settler histories of place and space. As Assistant Editor of the journal Visual Anthropology Review, Kate designed its first multimedia volume (2003). She serves on the the board of directors of the American Anthropological Association’s Society for Visual Anthropology, and recently served on boards of directors for the Museum of Vancouver, and the Access to Media Education Society (AMES). Kate is also a co-founder of the Ethnographic Terminalia curatorial collective, which explores the border-zones between ethnography and artistic practice.

Ehor Boyanowsky Academic of the Year Award: Dr. Kelli Stajduhar, University of Victoria

Kelli Stajduhar is Professor in the School of Nursing and Centre on Aging. She has worked in oncology, palliative care, and gerontology for over 25 years as a practicing nurse, educator, and researcher. Her clinical work and research has focused on health service needs for those at the end-of-life and their families and on the needs of marginalized and vulnerable populations. She is currently the academic lead investigator on the iPANEL research project in British Columbia, which brings together nursing researchers, practitioners and administrators to integrate a palliative approach into the health care system. She also currently leads an international research collaborative on family care giving and a Victoria-based study on access to end-of-life care for structurally vulnerable populations. Kelli also received the 2016 Award for Excellence in Nursing Research from the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing.

In addition to her internationally recognized work as a researcher, practitioner, and teacher, Kelli is a fierce and effective advocate for palliative care for the most marginalized and vulnerable populations in Canada. She has fused her scholarly work with a passion to change how we think about the ways in which those facing chronic poverty, substance abuse, and mental health challenges are marginalized by the heath care system. Her academic and advocacy work were  also instrumental in expanding the definition of family in the Compassionate Care  provision under Employment Insurance.

Paz Buttedahl Career Achievement Award: Dr. Darwyn Coxson, University of Northern British Columbia

Dr. Darwyn Coxson is a professor in the Ecosystem Science and Management program at the University of Northern British Columbia. Darwyn has been actively involved at UNBC since its inception, previously holding positions on the UNBC Senate, Board of Governors, and Faculty Association Executive. His research program examines the role of non-vascular plants, such as lichens and mosses, in the ecosystem function of wet-temperate rainforests.

Darwyn’s scholarship has also been fused with a sense of activism and the need to conduct science in the public interest. His tireless advocacy and internationally renowned research was instrumental in the 2015 establishment in of the Ancient Forest/Chun t’oh Whudujut Provincial Park, a 12,000 hectare area protecting the core cedar rain forest in northern British Columbia. He played a pivotal role in bringing together stakeholders to determine protected areas and ensure enduring ownership and participation by the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation. Darwyn was also instrumental in a recent submission for designation of the Ancient Forest as a World Heritage Site under UNESCO.