Beyond Question
It always starts with a question. At Thompson Rivers University, researchers take their search for answers to a new level. They go beyond.
They are driven to challenge conventional thinking in their search for innovative answers that can influence the world. They are explorers, pushing boundaries and seeking insights that spread knowledge and make a difference. They are collaborators, working with communities, industry, government and non-profits to solve problems that affect people’s daily lives.
And they are mentors, motivating undergraduate and graduate students to take on tough challenges, provoke debate, think sideways and become the leaders of the future.
Meet the researchers who go beyond to discover tomorrow's answers.
Dr. Richard Frimpong Oppong
Dr. Richard Oppong questions what happens when non-traditional families move to countries that don't recognize their legal status as couples or parent/child.
Working with a team of research students, he is exploring resolutions
to private international legal conflicts involving same-sex marriages,
international adoptions and surrogacy agreements. These conflicts affect people who face deeply personal consequences due to differences
in family law.
Dr. Richard Frimpong Oppong
Associate Professor
Dr. Lisa Bourque Bearskin
Indigenous patients who need health care face barriers of misunderstanding in a system that doesn’t recognize the legacy of colonialism.
By integrating Indigenous perspectives in the classroom, Dr. Lisa Bourque Bearskin builds awareness around the impact colonization has had on Indigenous knowledge systems and wellness practices to nurture a deeper understanding among future health practitioners. She addresses structural determinants of health as a means to improving Indigenous health, particularly in rural and remote areas.
Dr. Lisa Bourque Bearskin
Associate Professor
Dr. Joel Wood
Environmental policies that allow industries to trade their air-emission permits can result in pollution hot spots where air quality worsens.
Dr. Joel Wood works with research students to identify when this problem occurs and how to design policy to fix it. As an environmental economist, he examines the fine balance between achieving environmental goals and maintaining a strong economy.
Dr. Joel Wood
Assistant Professor
Dr. Lauchlan Fraser
Mining, logging and ranching disturb the land’s natural ecosystems.
Dr. Lauchlan Fraser digs deep to find ways of rejuvenating biodiversity after industry has left the land. He works with a team of researchers, mining companies, rancher, communities and Indigenous partners to lead exploration to restore disrupted soil and plants.
Dr. Lauchlan Fraser
Professor
Dr. Ulrich Scheck, Dr. Dawn Farough, Dr. Wilson Bell
Globally and locally, students are confronted with pressing human rights and social justice issues that require creative solutions. University student interest in activism is surging due to social movements around issues of inequality and global intolerance.
These three TRU Arts faculty members are spearheading the development of a master’s program in human rights and social justice to engage our future leaders in tackling global challenges.
Dr. Ulrich Scheck
Dr. Dawn Farough
Dr. Wilson Bell
Dr. Ulrich Scheck, Professor
Dr. Dawn Farough, Department Chair
Dr. Wilson Bell, Assistant Professor
Dr. Carol Rees
A love of discovery and a questioning mind propelled associate professor of education Dr. Carol Rees into the sciences. Now she teaches future teachers that science is like a sport – to learn it, you have to do it, even if you have to get messy.
Dr. Courtney Mason
Access to affordable, good-quality food is an issue in many Indigenous communities across Canada and some of them are making their own solutions. Canada Research Chair Dr. Mason sees a role for research in the health challenges these communities face.
Dr. Wilson Bell
Assistant professor of Russian history Dr. Wilson Bell goes back in time to the Soviet Union's Gulag years. He has discovered informal networks developed in these oppressive prisons that allowed for flexibility despite the state’s rigid regulations.
Dr. Nelaine Mora-Diez
Armed with chalk and theories, chemistry professor Dr. Mora-Diez and her students study the isotope effects on chemical system thermodynamics. What they find could extend the life of nuclear reactors.