Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Lethbridge
Academic Consultant, Chinook Health Region
Adjunct Lecturer, University of Queensland, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Brisbane, Australia
Judith is a nursing professor who teaches undergraduate and graduate nursing students. Her research program focuses on rural health issues specifically addressing unique groups who live in rural areas, nursing practice in rural and remote Canada and community resiliency in rural communities. Her research emphasizes community and decision maker involvement to ensure that the findings are useful at the local level. Judith was one of the founding members of the Canadian Rural Health Research Society and is Past Chair of this organization.
Bill Reimer is a Professor of Sociology at Concordia University in Montréal. For the past 10 years he has directed a national research project on the New Rural Economy (http://nre.concordia.ca). It includes 15 researchers and 32 rural communities in a research and education network from all parts of Canada (plus 2 in Japan). His publications deal with the impact of technology on rural communities, the economy and the household, Aboriginal communities, the informal economy, social support networks, social capital, social cohesion, municipal finances, community capacity-building, and rural immigration.
Dr. Ivan Townshend is an urban/social geographer with wide-ranging research interests in the social geography of cities, urban systems, and rural communities. These include the geography of aging; residential segregation, geography of deprivation and disadvantage, Aboriginal communities; voluntary sector housing provision; privatization of space and gated communities, community health; the experiential structure of place-community, and the geography of well-being. He is currently working on a number of rural community studies, including the economic and social impact of BSE throughout the Rural and Small Town (RST) system in Alberta.
Appointed in August 2007 to Queen’s University, School of Nursing, Dana previously taught nursing at the University of Calgary, the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) and Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN). She practiced nursing in Minnesota, Colorado, Alaska and North Carolina before moving to Newfoundland in 1986. In Canada, she has practiced in nursing stations in Labrador and a rural northern British Columbia hospital. Dana received her BSN from University of Iowa, her MSN from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her doctorate in epidemiology from University of Toronto. Dana grew up on a grain/cattle farm in north central Iowa where her family continues to be involved in agriculture. Her interests include, rural and remote nursing, population health, occupational epidemiology, primary care, and Aboriginal health.
Nancy Lightfoot, Ph.D. is currently the Director of the School of Rural and Northern Health at Laurentian University. Dr. Lightfoot has over 20 years of research experience in epidemiology. She holds a Ph.D. in Epidemiology, and an M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Microbiology, from the University of Toronto. She has research experience in questionnaire design, quantitative research methods and analysis, program evaluation, and client satisfaction. Her research interests include: cancer surveillance, aetiology, and survival; evaluation of health services; Aboriginal health; and occupational health. Her current research projects include: mortality and cancer incidence among workers in nickel and copper/zinc mining; risk factors for prostate cancer development, progression, and survival; cancer research priorities for Aboriginal communities; personal and economic impact of long distance travels for cancer care; and predictors of workplace absenteeism and duration of employment among cancer centre workers. On another note, we are also looking for scales to assess mental health for those who have experienced disasters.
Andrew was appointed National Manager, Emergency Services in February 2006. His pivotal role is to oversee the national Emergency Services function, and developing Australian Red Cross' ability to promote resilience and build community capacity, both in preparation for and response to disasters throughout Australia. Amongst his achievements and contributions to date, Andrew has developed a strategic blueprint for emergency services within ARC, elevated the organization’s profile within the emergency services sector and established relationships with key Australian Government agencies. Prior to joining ARC, Andrew was the National Recovery Consultant with Emergency Management Australia where he coordinated the Australian approach to disaster recovery. Major achievements in this role included a national review of community recovery arrangements, development of the Australian Recovery Manual and representation of the community sector on a range of national and international emergency management forums. Andrew is Vice-President of the International Research Committee on Disasters, a member of the National Emergency Services Advisory Committee and represents ARC at key external forums and consultations including the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Committee.
John J. Clague is Shrum Professor of Science at Simon Fraser University and Emeritus Scientist, Geological Survey of Canada. He has published over 200 papers in 34 journals on a range of earth science disciplines, including glacial geology, geomorphology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, and natural hazards. John and his graduate students are currently conducting research on natural hazards and late Holocene climate change in western Canada. His other principle professional interest is improving public awareness of earth science by making relevant geoscience information available to students, teachers, and the general public. John is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, former President of the Geological Association of Canada, and President of the International Union for Quaternary Research. He is a recipient of the Geological Society of America Burwell Award, the Royal Society of Canada Bancroft Award, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia’s 2001 and 2005 Innovation Editorial Board Awards, the Geological Association of Canada’s (GAC) 2006 E.R.W Neale Medal, and GAC’s 2007 Logan Medal.
Ainslee Kimmel is a Graduate Assistant for Dr. Kulig and received the SSHRC Graduate Student Stipend award for the research project. She is presently completing her M.Ed in Counselling Psychology and plans to do her thesis on the positive and negative psychological effects on Barriere community members following the wildfire. She is currently assisting with the analysis and dissemination of the project results. She and Dr. Kulig will be presenting the preliminary results of the research study at the Human Dimensions of Rural Wildland Fire conference in San Antonio, Texas this April.
Doris Halkett-Morin bio coming soon...
I moved to Barriere in July of 2003, relocating from Calgary, just weeks before the wildfires devastated the Valley. We were planning to get married in Barriere on August 24, 2003, but relocated our wedding to Barnhartvale in Kamloops due to the fires. We quickly settled into Barriere life and my husband opened Insight Tire and Auto, a local retailer now located in the Barriere Industrial Park. My husband, Scott, and I have a daughter, Hannah, and thoroughly enjoy the Barriere lifestyle. I am currently working in Kamloops with an engineering and planning consulting firm, and have extensive experience in both municipal planning and land development throughout BC and Alberta.
Jill Hayward is the editor of the North Thompson Star/Journal newspaper (a division of Black Press) in Barriere, BC. She is the recipient of the Black Press Jerry Mac Award for outstanding community journalism.
Currently she is the president of the North Thompson Fall Fair and Rodeo Association, and the president of the McLure Wildfire Monument Society, and serves on the board of directors for Barriere Rural Crime Watch.
Carolyn McTighe is a freelance writer who has written for CBC Radio, as well as the Los Angeles Times newspaper.
She currently resides in Kamloops, British Columbia with her
husband and four small children.
Barriere, BC Community Team Bio coming soon...
Michael Barnett bio coming soon...
Ambra was the Project Coordinator (2007-2009). She received a CIHR Health Professional Student Research Award (2007) and the AHFMR Summer Studentship Award (2008). Ambra was the first nursing student from the University of Lethbridge to receive this prestigious award and one of only 3 nursing students in the province to receive the award for 2008. Ambra has completed her Bachelor of Nursing with great distinction and received the Gold Medal in the Spring 2009 University of Lethbridge convocation ceremonies. Ambra, her husband Jeff and their two children, Rylan and Adrianne have moved to the Lower Mainland in British Columbia where she works as a Registered Nurse.
Phillip is a fourth year nursing student at the University of Lethbridge. He is currently an Undergraduate Nurse at Cardston Hospital and serves as a research assistant for Dr. Kulig. In 2008 he received the CIHR Health Professional Student Research Award and in 2009 was the recipient of the U of L Chinook Research Summer Award.
Jennifer Hounjet was a previous Advisory Board Member for La Ronge.
Carmen Pauls Orthner has lived in La Ronge for nearly 10 years, starting with an internship at the local paper, the La Ronge Northerner, in 1997. After completing her journalism degree, Carmen worked at the Northerner from 1998 to 2002 as a reporter/photographer. Together with her colleagues from The Northerner, she received the Canadian Community Newspapers Association's award for "Best News Story - circulation under 10,000" in 2000 for a series of articles related to the Mallard fire and its financial and emotional impact on La Ronge residents. She is currently self-employed, working under the business name Pen for Hire. In 2006, she served as communications officer for the Lac La Ronge Indian Band during a 10-day forest fire crisis, which included a week-long evacuation of several reserve communities and resort areas along the Hwy. 2 corridor. In that capacity, she saw how the area’s fire response approach had evolved since the Mallard fire.