For his doctoral dissertation, Dr. Sibo Chen examined stakeholder communications and media coverage concerning British Columbia's pursuit of liquefied natural gas exports. This research revealed polarizing public debates on British Columbia's resource-driven economic development and innovative strategies adopted by activists to challenge the status quo of Canadian climate politics.

In addition to completing his doctoral studies, Chen was awarded the prestigious Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Vanier graduate fellowship (worth $50,000 per year) in 2016, and in 2017 he received the China Scholarship Council's award for non-government funded PhD students.  

Chen has a remarkable record of conference presentations and publications. He has presented his research at dozens of leading conferences in China, the United States and Canada and published multiple high quality academic journal articles.

Along with Dr. Chen's many academic achievements, he helped organize annual SFU School of Communication graduate student conferences, serving as an editor for Stream (School of Communication’s graduate student journal), serving as a graduate student representative on a variety of committees, and serving as a co-chair of the Emerging Scholars Network within International Association for Media and Communication Research.

Dr. Chen's supervisor, Dr. Shane Gunster, shares his support for Chen. "Let me be frank: without question, Sibo is the most diligent, enthusiastic and hardest working graduate student (at both the MA and the PhD level) that I have ever encountered in our program at SFU."

Says Chen, “It's my great honour to receive the Dean's convocation medal, which I view as a remarkable milestone symbolizing all the hard work, friendship, and happiness I had over the years at SFU. I spent most of my SFU years on the Burnaby mountain. While Vancouver's vibrant downtown may attract some, I enjoyed the quietness brought by the mountain. I also enjoyed the diversity of critical scholarship at the School of Communication. I learnt so much from professors and classmates, and I will try my best to inspire the spirit of critical thinking among students I teach at Ryerson.”

Dr. Sibo Chen is an Assistant Professor at the School of Professional Communication, Ryerson University, where he leads a project examining how media coverage influences public understandings of risk and crisis.