A new University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) ambassadors program will help celebrate innovative research and enhance research culture at the post-secondary institution.
Three undergraduate and three graduate students in different disciplines will interact with university and high school students through workshops, orientation style activities, and public talks.
Ambassadors will work with fellow students from sciences, humanities, and social sciences degree programs to showcase the work students contribute to UNBC's reputation as a research-intensive university.
“Collaborating closely with our faculty, our student researchers are engaged in creating innovative, local solutions that have a global impact,” UNBC President Dr. Daniel Weeks says in a release. “These Research Ambassadors will create new and exciting connections across our research community, developing new pathways for experiential learning opportunities.”
Students will also work alongside UNBC's Office of Research and Graduate Programs which will help improve the research experience for students and encourage more students to be involved in the research field.
#ThisIsResearch #ThisIsUNBC https://t.co/NSNxxrEndX
— University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) (@UNBC) February 12, 2019
Another goal of the program is to dispel a myth that says research is an area reserved for faculty.
“One of the things that students fail to understand is that through the course of their degree, the original research they produce in their classes often qualifies them as excellent researchers,” fifth-year UNBC undergraduate student and Research Ambassador Emilio Caputo adds in the release. “The ability to do research at the undergraduate level prepares you for a future in academia, but really wherever you choose. For me, it allowed me to sharpen my analytical skills as a historian and forced me to hold myself to a higher standard.”
Another ambassador focusing on her community is Kristen Kieta, a Ph.D. student in the Natural Resources and Environmental Studies program.
Her research is focusing on tracing fine-grained sediment in the Nechako River watershed. She belongs to a team that is investigating what primary sources of sediment are to the river because sediments can be detrimental to the overall health of a river.
“UNBC has an immense wealth of knowledge across numerous disciplines and a vast amount of opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students to do research that often has immediate application to the communities in the region,” she says.
