UNews - Blythe Shepard

A voyage of self-discovery

trevor.kenney — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:26:39 +0000

Joanne Peterson was initially disappointed when she learned how many classes she'd have to take before she could pursue her master's of counselling degree. Now, having just graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology (with distinction), she has a true appreciation for the breadth of her educational experience.

"When I learned I needed to complete 20 courses at the U of L before applying for my master's, I felt discouraged," says the 46-year-old Peterson, a mature student who returned to post-secondary school after being in the workforce for years. "But I can truly say that the undergraduate courses I have taken have taught me more about myself than I could ever have realized."

Aspiring to be a registered therapist, Peterson found herself in classes she would never have considered taking beforehand, such as neuroscience.

"I discovered I had a passion for learning about and understanding the brain and behaviour," she says. "Now, I can see it really benefitting my career as a therapist. I've enjoyed the process of learning and in doing so, I realize that the more I learn, the less I know. It is both humbling and exciting at the same time."

Joanne Peterson is learning more about herself than she'd ever imagined when she returned to school as a mature student.

Peterson immersed herself in the university experience, taking full advantage of the opportunities afforded her.

She took an applied study course that placed her as a volunteer at Martha's House, an independent living seniors' community, where she had the opportunity to study quality of life issues for seniors. Through that association, she was introduced to the Lethbridge Seniors' Forum and now is an active committee member.

Her applied study resulted in the creation of a series of four brochures that reflected quality of life topics most important to the residents of Martha's House. Packaged as a Navigation Guide for Seniors, the brochures are now being published and distributed by the City of Lethbridge.

This experience led Dr. Jennifer Mather (psychology) to encourage Peterson to write an honour's thesis (Seniors Views on Quality of Life), and she turned the difficult task into an excellent experience of self-discovery.

"She recognized my lack of confidence, even though I was carrying a very high GPA," says Peterson, who had to present her thesis to an audience of professors, administrators, fellow students and invited guests. "Without her encouragement, I don't believe I would have pushed myself to write a thesis and it turned out to be such a rewarding part of my university experience."

She was later invited to present her thesis findings to the boards of directors at St. Michael's Health Centre and the Green Acres Foundation.

Throughout her educational journey, Peterson saw time and again the supportive nature of U of L faculty and staff, something that was in stark contrast to her first post-secondary experience, years before at a much larger institution.

"In attending a smaller institution, my experience as a student was much more personal and hands-on than what I'd experienced when I attended the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta years back," she says. "The class sizes, particularly in the 3000 and 4000-level courses were often 20 to 40 students, allowing me to engage in discussions with my professors that greatly enhanced my learning. I also found the accessibility of my professors to be remarkable."

It's another reason why she will not hesitate to apply for the master's program.

"I intend to take this next year as a professional development year and seek work experience in the counselling field before applying for the 2014 cohort," she says. "The encouragement and advice I've been given from the Master's of Counselling program, particularly Dr. Blythe Shepard and Dr. Dawn McBride, has really made an impact in my continued pursuit of a career as a therapist."

This story first appeared in the June 2013 edition of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ recognizes faculty excellence

trevor.kenney — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:21:16 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge honoured faculty and postdoctoral fellows across campus who received academic research awards of distinction, secured research funding or published their research findings in the last year at Thursday's Celebrating Research Reception in Markin Hall.

The U of L also recognized those who had books published within the last calendar year.

Below is a list of the awards presented.

Research Awards: External

Alberta Science and Technology Leadership Foundation (ASTech) Award: Excellence in Science and Technology Public Awareness
Kristy Burke | Conference & Event Services

American Oil Chemists' Society Timothy L. Mounts Award
Roman Przybylski | Chemistry & Biochemistry

Campus Alberta Innovates Program (CAIP) Chairs
Chris Hopkinson | Geography, Terrestrial Ecosystems Remote Sensing
Greg Pyle | Biological Sciences, Aquatic Health

Canada Research Chairs
Louise Barrett | Psychology, Cognition, Evolution and Behaviour, Tier 1
Stacey Wetmore | Chemistry & Biochemistry, Computational Chemistry, Tier 2

Canadian Insolvency Foundation Lloyd Houlden Research Fellowship
Gordon Hunter | Management

Confederation of Alberta Faculty Association (CAFA) Distinguished Academic Award
Trudy Govier | Philosophy

Pat Clifford Award for Early Career Research in Education
Michelle Hogue | First Nations' Transition Program

Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal
Reginald Bibby | Sociology
Peter McCormick | Political Science
Richard Mrazek | Education

World Council for Curriculum & Instruction Distinguished Leadership Award
Peter Heffernan | Education

Research Awards: Internal

Ingrid Speaker Medal for Distinguished Research, Scholarship, or Performance
Joseph Rasmussen | Biological Sciences

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Board of Governors Research Chair

Igor Kovalchuk | Biological Sciences
Olga Kovalchuk | Biological Sciences
David Naylor | Physics & Astronomy
Sergio Pellis | Neuroscience

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Scholars
Janice Rahn | Education
Peter Visentin | Music
Judith Whitehead | Anthropology

Research Grants: External

Alberta Advisory Committee for Educational Studies Grant
Noella Piquette | Education
Jennifer Thannhauser | Education

Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development
Wei Xu | Geography

Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research Grant
(2) Claudia Malacrida | Sociology

Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Mary Kavanagh | Art
Taras Polataiko | Art
Janice Rahn/Michael Campbell | Education/Art Co-Principal Investigators

Alberta Gaming Research Institute Grant
Yale Belanger | Native American Studies
Cheryl Currie | Public Health
Gabriela Novotna | Addictions Counselling
Claudia Steinke | Nursing

Alberta Inflammatory Bowel Disease Grant
Sameer Despande | Management

Alberta Innovates Health Solutions Grant
Gerlinde Metz | Neuroscience, Co-Director

Alberta Innovates Health Solutions Sustainability Funds
Roy Golsteyn | Biological Sciences
Aaron Gruber | Neuroscience
David Naylor | Physics & Astronomy
Paul Vasey | Psychology
Ute Wieden-Kothe | Chemistry & Biochemistry

Alberta Rural Development Network (ARDN) Grant
Shawn Bubel | Geography
Glenda Bonifacio | Women & Gender Studies
Jon Doan | Kinesiology & Physical Education
Leanne Elias | New Media
Carmen Mombourquette | Education
Monique Sedgwick | Nursing
David Slomp | Education
(2) Carol Williams | Women & Gender Studies

Alzheimer Society of Canada Grant
Shannon Spenceley | Nursing

American Cancer Society Grant
Raphael Lencucha | Public Health

ATB Financial
Gordon Hunter/Dan Kazakoff | Management

Canada Council for the Arts Grant
Mary Kavanagh | Art
Maria Ng | English

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Grant
Olga Kovalchuk | Biological Sciences
Olga Kovalchuk | Biological Sciences, Co-applicant

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing
Nadia Rochdi/Karl Staenz | Alberta Terrestrial Imaging Centre/Geography

Canada Foundation for Innovation Leaders Opportunity Fund Grant
Aaron Gruber | Neuroscience
Paul Hazendonk | Chemistry & Biochemistry
Andrew Iwaniuk | Neuroscience
Hans-Joachim Wieden | Chemistry & Biochemistry

CIHR Emerging Team Grant
Gabriela Novotna | Health Sciences

CIHR Café Scientifique Grant
Penny D'Agnone | Office of Research & Innovation Services

CIHR Operating Grant
Sameer Deshpande | Management, Co-applicant
Judith Kulig | Nursing

CIHR Research Planning Grant
Sameer Desphande | Management, Co-applicant

Canadian Space Agency Contract
Karl Staenz | Geography
(2) David Naylor | Physics & Astronomy

Canadian Wildlife Federation
Richard Mrazek | Education

Department of Defense Contract
Albert Cross | Neuroscience

European Union FP7 Grant
David Naylor | Physics & Astronomy, Co-applicant

Grand Challenges in Global Health Grant
Gerlinde Metz | Neuroscience, Co-applicant

Health Canada Grant
Judith Kulig | Health Sciences, Co-applicant

Heritage Canada Grant for Aid to Scholarly Publication
Peter Heffernan | Education

Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction Grant
Judith Kulig | Health Sciences

Max Bell Foundation Award
Noella Piquette | Education, Co-applicant

Monieson Centre, Queen's Business School
Gordon Hunter | Management

National Science Foundation
Jennifer Mather | Psychology, Collaborating Consultant

NSERC Collaborative Research & Training Experience (CREATE) Grant
Robert Sutherland | Neuroscience

NSERC Discovery Grant
Louise Barrett | Psychology
Sarah Boon | Geography
Howard Cheng | Mathematics & Computer Science
Saurya Das | Physics & Astronomy
Jon Doan | Kinesiology & Physical Education
Cam Goater | Biological Sciences
Bruce McNaughton | Neuroscience
Jackie Rice | Mathematics & Computer Science
Elizabeth Schultz | Biological Sciences
Robert Sutherland | Neuroscience
Soroosh Yazdani | Mathematics & Computer Science

NSERC Research Tools and Instruments Grant
Amir Akbary | Mathematics & Computer Science
Paul Hazendonk | Chemistry & Biochemistry

Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences
Shahadat Hossain | Mathematics & Computer Science

SSHRC Aid to Scholarly Journals Grant
Peter Heffernan | Education
Edward Jurkowski | Music

SSHRC Insight Development Grant
Abdie Kazemipur | Sociology, Co-applicant

SSHRC Insight Grant
Harold Jansen | Political Science
Heidi MacDonald | History
Noella Piquette | Education, Co-applicant
Paul Vasey | Psychology

SSHRC Partnership Grant
Yale Belanger | Native American Studies, Co-applicant
Henning Bjornlund | Economics, Co-applicant
Glenda Bonifacio | Women & Gender Studies, Co-applicant
Abdie Kazemipur | Sociology, Co-applicant
Richard Mueller | Economics, Co-applicant
Ivan Townshend | Geography, Co-applicant
Wei Xu | Geography, Co-applicant

SSHRC Public Outreach Grant
Debra Basil | Management

TECTERRA
Wei Xu/Karl Staenz | Geography

Research Grants: Internal

Emmy Droog Research Awards in Health Sciences Grant
Cheryl Currie | Public Health
Ruth Grant Kalischuk | Nursing

Interdisciplinary Research Development Fund Grant
Leanne Elias | New Media
Team: John Usher (Management), Janice Rahn (Education), Michael Campbell (Art) and Cheryl Meheden (Management)
Roy Golsteyn | Biological Sciences
Team: Olga Kovalchuk (Biological Sciences) and David Naylor (Physics & Astronomy)
Josephine Mills | Art
Team: Louise Barrett (Psychology), Lisa Doolittle (Theatre & Drama), Emily Luce (New Media), Bruce MacKay (Liberal Education Program) and Tiffany Muller Myrdahl (Women & Gender Studies)
Nicole Rosen | Modern Languages
Team: Inge Genee (Modern Languages), Robbin Gibb (Neuroscience), Claudia Gonzalez (Kinesiology & Physical Education), Fangfang Li (Psychology) and Noella Piquette (Education)
Carol Williams | Women & Gender Studies
Team: Glenda Bonifacio (Women & Gender Studies), Bonnie Lee (Health Sciences), Linda ManyGuns (Native American Studies) and Patrick Wilson (Anthropology)

Parkland Institute Faculty Research Grant
Claudia Malacrida | Sociology

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Community of Research Excellence Development Opportunities (CREDO) Grant
Jerimy Cunningham | Anthropology
Claudia Malacrida | Sociology
Janay Nugent | History
Amy Shaw | History

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Internal
Artistic/Creative Grant
Michael Campbell | Art
Dagmar Dahl | Art
Mary Kavanagh | Art

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Internal SSHRC Grant
Michelle Hogue | First Nations' Transition Program
Janay Nugent | History
Kent Peacock | Philosophy
Amy Shaw | History

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Research Dissemination Grant
Glenda Bonifacio | Women & Gender Studies
Inge Genee | Modern Languages
Catherine Kingfisher | Anthropology
Janice Newberry | Anthropology
Hillary Rodrigues/John Harding | Religious Studies
Arlan Schultz | Music
Amy Shaw | History

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Research Fund Grant
Vishaal Baulkaran/Ebenezer Asem | Finance
Sarah Boon | Geography
Shawn Bubel | Geography
Michael Campbell | Art
Arundhati Dasgupta | Physics & Astronomy
Larry Flanagan | Biological Sciences
Claudia Gonzales/Fangfang Li | Kinesiology & Physical Education/Psychology
Ute Wieden-Kothe | Chemistry & Biochemistry
Jason Laurendeau | Sociology
Raphael Lencucha | Public Health
Hua Li | Mathematics & Computer Science
Heidi MacDonald | History
Kimberly Mair | Sociology
Steve Patitsas/Saurya Das | Physics & Astronomy
Adriana Predoi-Cross | Physics & Astronomy
Drew Rendall | Psychology
Shelley Scott | Theatre & Drama
David Siminovitch/Tony Montina | Physics & Astronomy
D. Andrew Stewart | Music
Mark Walton | Physics & Astronomy
John Zhang | Mathematics & Computer Science

Post-Doctoral Fellow Awards Alberta Innovates Health Solutions Postgraduate Fellowship
Ben Clark | Neuroscience
Corinne Montes-Rodriquez | Neuroscience
Jake Ormond | Neuroscience
Ivan Skelin | Neuroscience
Aaron Wilber | Neuroscience

Canadian Space Agency Space Science Enhancement Award Postdoctoral Fellowship
Matthijs Van Der Wiel | Physics & Astronomy

CIHR Fellowship
Hendrik Steenland | Neuroscience

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship (Short-Term) for North American and European Researchers
Noelle Gunst | Psychology

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Research Support Allowance (Short-Term) for North American and European Researchers
Noelle Gunst | Psychology

Book Awards 2013 recipients

M. Gordon Hunter & Dan Kazakoff (authors): Small Business: Journey to Success

Shawn Bubel, James McMurchy & Duncan Lloyd (authors): Record In Stone: Familiar Projectile Points From Alberta

Jean-Baptiste Leca, Michael A. Huffman & Paul Vasey (editors): The Monkeys of Smokey Mountain

Sarah Glassford & Amy Shaw (editors): A Sisterhood of Suffering and Service: Women and Girls of Canada and Newfoundland during the First World War

Geoffrey Hale (author): So Near Yet So Far: The Public and Hidden Worlds of Canada-U.S. Relations

Aaron Taylor (editor): Theorizing Film Acting

Marc R. Roussel (author): A Life Scientist's Guide to Physical Chemistry

Glena Tibe Bonifacio (editor): Feminism and Migration: Cross-cultural Engagements

Robert J. Williams, Robert T. Wood & Jonathan Parke (editors): The Routledge International Handbook of Internet Gambling

Arundhati Dasgupta (editor): Recent Research in Quantum Gravity

John S. Harding (editor): Studying Buddhism in Practice

Yale D. Belanger (editor): First Nations Gaming in Canada

Yongjian Bao & Wenlong Yuan (authors): The Contrarian Way of Crisis Management

Keith Roscoe & Rick Mrazek (authors): Developing Scientific Literacy: Ideas and Strategies for Planning, Assessment, and Instruction

Blythe Shepard & Lorna Martin (authors): Supervision of Counselling and Psychotherapy: A Handbook for Canadian Certified Supervisors and Applicants

Margaret A. Winzer & Kas Mazurek (editors): International Practices in Special Education: Debates and Challenges

Judith C. Kulig & Allison M. Williams (editors): Health in Rural Canada

Olga Kovalchuk & Igor Kovalchuk (authors) Epigenetics in Health and Disease

5 Questions with Dr. Blythe Shepard

trevor.kenney — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 23:07:10 +0000

Blythe Shepard joined the Faculty of Education at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in July 2008. She received her doctorate in educational psychology with a specialty in counselling psychology from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria in 2002 where she was a faculty member (2002-2008) and graduate advisor (2005-2008) in the Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies. Shepard is completing the first Canadian textbook for Career Practitioners and recently co-authored a national handbook for the supervision of counsellors/psychotherapists. She is the 2011 recipient of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association's (CCPA) Professional Contribution Award in recognition of outstanding promotion of the counselling profession in Canada and is President-Elect of CCPA.

What first piqued your interest in your research discipline?

In many rural areas in Canada, jobs in traditional employment sectors are disappearing while few new jobs in expanding, knowledge-based manufacturing and service industries are being developed. Rural Canadians have expressed concern about the loss of young people through urban migration. When rural communities lose their youth, they lose the creative and innovative ability of young people to find possible solutions to community problems. As a long-time rural resident, I was curious about how rural young women perceived themselves within the context of a rural community, now and in the future. I also wondered how active these young women were in the construction of future plans. A doctoral SSHRC fellowship allowed me to pursue this study. Four years later, I followed up the study with a Standard SSHRC grant that focused on rural youth in three communities in BC.

Dr. Blythe Shepard researches the factors that influence rural youth.

How is your research applicable in "the real world"?

Based on the themes that were identified in interviews with rural youth, a community workshop was designed in collaboration with rural youth. Future Bound: A Lifeworks Expedition Workshop for Rural Youth is an activity-based workshop designed to help youth examine their past, current and projected future life paths. The workshop activities are readily adapted for use by counsellors and teachers. The Possible Selves Mapping Interview is used by practitioners in Wellington, New Zealand (Geoff Plimmer, PhD of FutureSelves Ltd.) while Campus d'Alfred de l'Université de Guelph translated sections of the Future Bound Workshop for use with their rural students.

What is the greatest honour you have received in your career?

From 2000 to 2005, I was involved in a unique experiment in genuinely interdisciplinary research funded by SSHRC and NSERC. A set of carefully constructed complementary case studies on the east and west coasts of Canada were developed to achieve an integrated analysis of the long- and short-term impacts of socio-environmental restructuring on the health of people, their small communities and the environment. A total of 70 natural and social scientists and 167 trainees worked together with local communities to produce leading-edge research. Upon completion of the project, the Coasts Under Stress Research Team was awarded the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria Craigdarroch Team Award for Societal Contribution.

How important are students to your research endeavours?

I believe in maintaining an active role in supporting and collaborating with graduate students. A mentoring relationship that acknowledges our different worldviews, epistemological understandings, learning styles, etc. is a powerful form of social learning. I encourage and support students to take an active role in all parts of my research program in order for students to develop as researchers and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. My vision for our work together is that of a facilitator who guides students over their shoulders.

If you had unlimited funds, which areas of research would you invest?

My research interests would continue to focus on rural women across the lifespan but would expand to include various types of rural communities in several provinces (e.g., remote, near urban centres, resource based, etc). The following questions would guide my research: (1) How do rural women weave work into the tapestry of their lives in communities experiencing social and economic change? (2) What are the work-life issues, supports and challenges for rural women? (3) What are the differences in socio-economic structures in each rural community and how do they affect women?

Each month, the Legend will present 5 Questions With . . . one of our researchers. For a look at the entire catalog of 5 Questions With . . . features, check out the Office of Innovation and Research Services website at www.uleth.ca/research/research_profiles. If you'd like to be profiled, contact Penny Pickles at pickpj@uleth.ca

This story first appeared in the January 2013 edition of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Shepard settling into new role

trevor.kenney — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:17:20 +0000

She comes with a big-time resumé and reputation and yet it's the small-town, small-school setting in which she thrives. Dr. Blythe Shepard seems a perfect fit for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge – and vice versa.

Just wrapping up her first year at the U of L, Shepard, an associate professor in the Faculty of Education, came to Lethbridge from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria. It was there she finished her master's and doctorate degrees (educational psychology) and had settled into a faculty position. Ironically, as Shepard helped grow UVic's research reputation and graduate programming, she found herself part of an institution that took her away from her teaching roots.

"Victoria used to be where Lethbridge is now, but it's moved into a much more research focused institution, more of a business model, and I found I was doing a little less teaching than I wanted," Shepard says.

"Being at a small school, working with smaller numbers, that seems to fit more with my style."

Invigorated with a new challenge, Shepard has been quick to contribute to the U of L's MEd (Counselling Psychology) program and the Master of Counselling program. Specifically, she's helping to overhaul the Campus Alberta Applied Psychology (CAAP) program.

"It needs to be revamped, so we're looking at all the courses," she says. "My colleagues and I are making revisions to them and making them more Lethbridge oriented and something that is unique for our students.

"Many of our students are mature students who are already out there practicing but they lack the credentials. They've probably been out of school for a while, so making that transition back into university is a pretty big step for them."

Shepard knows of what she speaks, because she was that student, coming back to school to pursue her master's degree as a single working mother in her mid-40s.

"I understand that aspect and having to juggle family responsibilities and a job you don't want to give up, all while going to school," she says.

It's no surprise many of Shepard's research initiatives revolve around this same theme. A native of small-town Ontario (she grew up in a rural setting near North Bay), Shepard offers a unique perspective. She did the majority of her undergraduate psychology degree through distance learning from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Waterloo. Her education and career path were moulded around the challenges of raising and providing for a young family in a rural setting.

Upon arriving on campus, Shepard applied for and received a Community of Research Excellence Development Opportunities (CREDO) grant to research the career paths of women and even more specifically, those in a rural setting.

"Most of the career theory out there is around men's career paths and women's are quite different," Shepard says. "Their paths are quite disrupted, at times, around family considerations. And for most women I've researched with, relationships are very important and they want work that is relationship-based.

"There's a lot more complexity to women's career paths."

Shepard has also collaborated with Dr. Priya Mani of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba as they embark on a three-part project to develop a Canadian career-counselling textbook. For that, she's also enlisted the U of L's Allison Roest of the Counselling Services Office.

"We're trying to find out what career educators across Canada would like in a textbook and then who would be interested in contributing to it," she says. "Allison has an expertise in that area so it's great we're able to work with her. What I'm really liking about the U of L is that it's small enough here that I'm starting to make connections very quickly."

It's the kind of fit that is already proving beneficial to both.

GET THE FACTS

• Shepard is one of 12 directors to the National Board of the Canadian Counselling Association, taking over the Alberta/NWT position from Dr. Kris Magnusson

• She is also co-chair of the Inter-Provincial Mobility for the Counselling Profession: Phase 1. Its mandate is the further establishment of regulatory colleges for Canadian counsellors to create more uniformity throughout the country

• An avid hiker, she has enjoyed exploring the coulees around Lethbridge and making day trips to Waterton

• Before going back to pursue her master's degree in 1995, she was teaching and performing administrative duties at an alternative school in British Columbia

• She has three children, all living in Victoria, with two attending the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria

UNews - Blythe Shepard

A voyage of self-discovery

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