Back to school season – SFU experts available

As students begin their classes this fall, experts at Simon Fraser University are available to discuss various topics such as housing, well-being, the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and innovative approaches to education. 

HEALTH: WELLNESS AT SCHOOL

LARA AKNIN, associate professor, psychology
laknin@sfu.ca
Expertise: happiness, generosity, kindness, the importance of social relationships for well-being, including making new friends at school

LUC BEAUDOIN, adjunct professor, education
lpb@sfu.ca
Expertise: senior high school and university students’ use of technology to improve focus while studying, tips for better sleep, understanding and regulating perturbant emotions

TANYA BROESCH, associate professor, psychology 
tmacgill@sfu.ca
Expertise: child development and how parents can support their kids in starting/returning to school

NEHA SHIVHARE, visiting professor, education
nshivhar@sfu.ca
Expertise: using mindfulness techniques as a tool to deal with pandemic-related back-to-school anxiety

TAMMARA SOMA, assistant professor, School of Resource and Environmental Management (Planning Program) and research director, Food Systems Lab 
tammara_soma@sfu.ca
Expertise: food system planning, healthy food in schools including a project with partners at Farm to School BC and the Coalition for Healthy School Food

HOUSING 

KIM HOCKEY, associate director, alumni & community engagement
kha36@sfu.ca
Expertise: the Metro Vancouver HomeShare Program, which matches students in a housing arrangement with an older adult who has a bedroom or suite available to rent. 

ANDREY PAVLOV, professor, finance
apavlov@sfu.ca
Expertise: housing shortages and affordability challenges in the rental housing market for students, B.C. and the Canadian economy, interest rates and inflation

PANDEMIC-RELATED IMPACTS 

CAROLINE COLIJN, Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematics for Evolution, Infection and Public Health
ccolijn@sfu.ca
Expertise: role of data modeling in predicting disease spread, effectiveness of public health measures, COVID-19 variants, vaccines & vaccinations 

TERENCE DAY, adjunct professor, geography 
terence_day@sfu.ca
Expertise: the legacy of the pandemic and its impacts on postsecondary education (see his recent article on the topic)

LEARNING

YUMIKO MURAI, assistant professor, education
ymurai@sfu.ca
Expertise:  computing and maker education in school environments, digital technologies and media in young people’s lives, teacher learning for technology integration and curriculum change

DAVID ZANDVLIET, professor, education; director, Institute for Environmental Learning; SFU's inaugural UNESCO Chair in BioCultural Diversity and Education
david_zandvliet@sfu.ca
Expertise: creating an ecological framework for education; teaching how preserving/adapting to bio-cultural diversity contributes to sustainable living (has run field schools in Haida Gwaii, Indonesia and other sites connecting cultures and the environment)

STUDENT SUCCESS

SERENA CANAAN, assistant professor, economics
scanaan@sfu.ca
Expertise: the labor market and academic benefits of school tracking (grouping students by ability), the impact of diversity on college student outcomes, the implications of parental leave policies on households and firms

PIERRE MOUGANIE, assistant professor, economics
pierre_mouganie@sfu.ca
Expertise: how role models and peers affect high school and college students’ success; the impact of university quality on labor market outcomes, determinants of the STEM gender gap in education with a specific focus on what can be done to narrow this gap

CONTACT 

MELISSA SHAW, SFU  Communications & Marketing 
236.880.3297 | melissa_shaw@sfu.ca

Simon Fraser University
Communications & Marketing |  SFU Media Experts Directory
778.782.3210

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As Canada’s engaged university, SFU works with communities, organizations and partners to create, share and embrace knowledge that improves life and generates real change. We deliver a world-class education with lifelong value that shapes change-makers, visionaries and problem-solvers. We connect research and innovation to entrepreneurship and industry to deliver sustainable, relevant solutions to today’s problems. With campuses in British Columbia’s three largest cities—Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey—SFU has eight faculties that deliver 193 undergraduate degree programs and 144 graduate degree programs to more than 37,000 students. The university now boasts more than 170,000 alumni residing in 145+ countries.