The Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) stands at the centre of a national strategy to make Canada one of the world's top countries in research and development. CRCP attracts and retains some of the world's most accomplished and promising minds. Chairholders aim to achieve research excellence in engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities, and social sciences.
An award winning researcher and creative writer whose work focuses broadly on marginalized peoples and geographies, Sarah de Leeuw grew up and has spent most of her life in Northern British Columbia, including Haida Gwaii and Terrace. She is the Research Director of the Health Arts Research Centre and teaches in the areas of Indigenous peoples well-being and health humanities.
Greg Halseth is a Professor in the Geography Program at the University of Northern British Columbia, where he is also the Canada Research Chair in Rural and Small Town Studies, and the founder and Co-Director of the UNBC Community Development Institute. His research examines regional development processes, rural and small town community development, and community strategies for coping with social and economic change.
Tristan Pearce is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of Northern British Columbia, where he is also the Canada Research Chair in the Cumulative Impacts of Environmental Change. His research examines the cumulative impacts of environmental change for communities, using this understanding to identify and evaluate pathways for adaptation with a focus on the Arctic, Pacific Islands Region and BC.
Thomas Tannert joined the University of Northern British Columbia in 2016 as BC Leadership Chair in Tall Wood and Hybrid Structures Engineering. Thomas received his PhD from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, a Master’s degree in Wood Science and Technology from the University of Bio-Bio in Chile, and a Civil Engineering degree from the Bauhaus-University Weimar in Germany. Before coming to UNBC, he worked in multi-disciplinary teams in Germany, Chile, and Switzerland and was Associate Chair in Wood Building Design and Construction at UBC.
