Phil Bradshaw

I chose SFU because of the interdisciplinary focus of REM. A lot of what I learned during my Masters I use at BC Hydro daily. As soon as I decided to take an Education Leave and pursue my PhD, it was an easy choice for me to come back to REM.

I’m a former biochemist turned professional planner. I completed my biochemistry degree and worked around the world in environmental and pharmaceutical labs. However, I found myself more interested in the interaction between humans and the natural world than chemistry and decided to return to school to get my Masters in Resource and Environmental Management (REM) from SFU. From there, I’ve been working for the past decade at BC Hydro looking at how a large Crown corporation can minimize their environmental impact in their day-to-day operations for existing facilities.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO COME TO SFU?

I chose SFU because of the interdisciplinary focus of REM. A lot of what I learned during my Masters I use at BC Hydro daily. As soon as I decided to take an Education Leave and pursue my PhD, it was an easy choice for me to come back to REM.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR RESEARCH AND/OR PROGRAM.

I’m researching ways to improve decision making for water management in BC. Managing water is a thorny pursuit. We use water in a lot of different ways and those uses are not always complementary. For the past decade, I have been working on water use planning at BC Hydro which balances water used for power generation with other values such as the water needed for fish, wildlife, vegetation, culture and heritage. Through my work I became aware of gaps in our knowledge that could benefit from a deeper academic dive. SFU has the knowledge and tools to help us examine and understand the long-term effectiveness of water use planning by a large organization like BC Hydro.

WHAT ARE YOU PARTICULARLY ENJOYING ABOUT YOUR STUDIES/RESEARCH AT SFU?

I love being able to work with my mentors and peers to absorb, understand, and examine the work I’ve been doing for the past decade from different and novel perspectives. A lot has been written, researched, and debated about water management. The challenge for me has always been trying to find the time to truly understand how we can leverage all that work to our collective benefit here in BC.

HAVE YOU BEEN THE RECIPIENT OF ANY MAJOR OR DONOR FUNDED AWARDS?

I’ve been fortunate to receive the BC Graduate Scholarship and Graduate Fellowship. All of this has allowed me to focus on my research.

DESCRIBE YOUR PROGRAM TO THOSE WHO ARE SEARCHING.

REM is a great program for learning how to apply natural and social science methods to resource and environmental management issues around the world. This multi-disciplinary approach is very effective at stretching someone’s understanding, perspective, and research capabilities on almost any natural resource management question. 

Contact Phil: philip_bradshaw@sfu.ca
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/phil-bradshaw