2021 Annual Conference

The Path Ahead

Virtual Conference | November 1- 5, 2021

Mark your calendar!

CAPA is pleased to announce that it will be hosting its 2021 Conference from 1-5 November.

 

This year the Conference theme will be The Path Ahead, and under this banner we aim to bring together educators, administrators, and thought-leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities that confront postdoctoral administrators in these changing times. The virtual conference will include a series of interactive panel sessions, keynote address and networking opportunities.

Thank you to our conference organizers: Mihaela Harmos (Western University), Nathaniel Knoop (Guelph University), Clara Spadafora (McGill University), and Chelsea Smith (University of Saskatchewan).

Register NowConference Program

Keynote Speaker

As a long-time stand up comedian, Judy Croon is used to being in the spotlight. Judy Croon is the creator and host of “Laughlines” and “Stand Up for The Girls” which have raised over $650,000 for breast cancer research. Croon is a also a Second City stand-up coach, radio host and co-author of the book ‘From the Stage to the Page: Life Lessons from Four Funny Ladies!’

 She is passionate to help individuals and organizations use humour to their advantage.Croon’s presentations focus on dealing with difficult people and relieving stress through humour. “Laughter is a powerful tool for managing conflict and reducing tension when emotions are running high,” Croon says. Her presentations show the scientific proof on how when we laugh our bodies release endorphins and dopamine, our brain’s feel-good chemicals. The result? We can better cope with stress, have stronger mental health, boost our immune systems. and lighten our moods. The Toronto- based comedian, motivational speaker and humour coach says being able to laugh at yourself is instrumental to surviving difficult times.

On the stage, she draws from her performance experience, wit, and insight to entertain, inform and inspire in her dynamic keynotes and half day workshops. Judy Croon uses the powerful tool of comedy to get her message across but she also helps others get their message across by improving their pitch and presentation skills. Croon can be heard everyday at 5pm on LTD Radio – The Power of Positive. Judy Croon has been the opening act for many celebrities including; Joan Rivers, John Stewart,Lewis Black and Robert Klein. Her specials have appeared on NBC, CBS, CTV and The Comedy Network.

When she’s off stage, she devotes most of her time to shining the light on people and causes that often get overlooked. Croon gives hours of charity work to many organizations which ranges from weekly deliveries of basic supplies to families living in need, to hosting comedy benefit gala shows that raise money for aid organizations around the city. Judy Croon is passionate to help others with their health, relationships and their lives. Her presentations are high energy, full of humour, and offer audiences practical insights that they can use right after the presentation.

 

Conference Speakers

Session 1: Dr. Lorelli Nowell

Dr. Lorelli Nowell is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary where she holds a Teaching and Learning Research Professorship. After finishing her PhD, she completed an Eyes High Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning. Using an integrated knowledge translation approach, Dr. Nowell led the creation of a framework for postdoctoral scholars professional learning and development that was informed by the literature, surveys, semi-structured interviews, and consultation with key stakeholders. The framework can be used to support leaders across higher education institutions in developing high quality, evidence-informed professional learning and development opportunities to meet the diverse career needs of postdoctoral scholars.

Session 2: Anneke ten Doeschate

Anneke ten Doeschate

A postdoc researcher in physical oceanography at Dalhousie University whose research focuses primarily on the dynamics of mixing in especially the upper layer of seas and oceans, using both observations and model simulations.

Anneke was born in the Netherlands, where she lived and studied until 2012. Although she grew up in a rural area, she has always had a great appreciation for the marine environment. After earning a BSc degree in Earth Sciences and an MSc in Meteorology & Oceanography, she moved to Ireland, to pursue a PhD in Physical Oceanography.

Collaborations that started during the period when she was writing her PhD thesis intrigued Anneke to come to the Atlantic Canada for a postdoc at Dalhousie University. In 2019 she started a 2-year international postdoc fellowship funded by the Ocean Frontier Institute, for which she worked at Dalhousie and a partner institute overseas. She later received an extension of this fellowship, which enabled her to complete the work that had been delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Close collaboration with other PI’s at Dalhousie resulted in additional funding and an additional short-term postdoc contract, which she is currently working on.

Session 2: Clément Arsenault

Clément Arsenault – Université de Montréal – Holder of a PhD in Information Science from the University of Toronto (2000), Clément Arsenault has been a Professor in the École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information (EBSI), Université de Montréal since 2001. He teaches document description, indexing and classification as well as information retrieval in the master’s program in information science. He was Director of EBSI from 2010 until 2018.

A specialist in questions relating to the description and location of documentary resources, he has been called upon over the past twenty years to sit on numerous committees of experts in the field. He has been a member of the Canadian Cataloging Committee since 2013 through which he has actively contributed to the development and adaptation of national and international standards relating to the description and access of information resources. His scientific publications and communications also address issues surrounding the development of descriptive standards, retrieval of information, and the description of library resources. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Information Science and Library Science from 2013 to 2017.

Since the summer of 2018, Clément Arsenault is Associate Vice-Rector, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, where he is mainly responsible of student curriculum, creation and modification of graduate programs and courses, postdoctoral internships, research trainees and joint supervision doctorates (Cotutelles).

Session 2: Edel Pérez López

Edel Pérez López is an Assistant Professor at Université Laval, since April 2020. He holds a B.Sc in Biochemistry from the University of Havana, Cuba (2011), and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Biotechnology from the University Veracruzana, Mexico (2016). In the last five years, he has published 40-refereed scientific papers, 4 book chapters, has edited 1 book, and contributed to 1 patent. He has broad experience working in multidisciplinary groups around the world. His work has had a great impact in the taxonomy of the plant pathogenic phytoplasmas. Since 2018 he has been working on the characterization of effector proteins used by the clubroot pathogen to infect susceptible hosts, and also in diseases associated with phytoplasmas in berries.

Session 2: Maxime Grenier-Labrecque

Maxime Grenier-Labrecque With nearly 6 years of experience in the immigration field, Maxime Grenier-Labrecque provides advice and counsel to Deans, Chairs and faculty members, as well as service and advice to the Faculty of Science and Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences’ Administrative staff on hiring foreign nationals – with a particular focus on postdoc and visiting scholars.

Prior to joining McGill University, Maxime worked for one of the world’s leading corporate immigration firms where she was quickly assigned complex cases and a managerial role. While in private practice, Maxime provided immigration services to multinational corporations in the financial, engineering, information technology, aerospace, and manufacturing industries.

Maxime holds a joint JD LL.L from the University of Ottawa as well as a BA in Political Sciences from UQÀM. She is a member of CBA and CILA.

Session 2: Nenagh Hathaway

Nenagh Hathaway works in the School of Graduate Studies at Queen’s University, focusing on supporting postdocs. She returned to Kingston following a two-year Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Physical History of Art at Yale University and three years as a fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Nenagh received her Ph.D. in Art History from Queen’s in 2016 and her MLitt from the University of Glasgow in 2011. She co-curated The Unvarnished Truth: Exploring the Material History of Paintings, an exhibition held from 2015 to 2017, which travelled to venues across Canada.

Session 2: Pınar Dokumacı

Pınar Dokumacı is the Peacock Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Political Studies, Queen’s University, specializing in Political Theory, with an emphasis on Gender and Politics. She previously held another postdoctoral position as a part of a Leverhulme Trust funded project, Rethinking Civil Society: History, Theory, Critique, at the Department of Politics, University of York (UK). She has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto, a M.A. in European Studies from Boğaziçi University (Turkey), and B.A. degrees in Economics and International Relations from Koç University (Turkey).

 

Session 3: Nancy Dumais

Nancy Dumais is Vice-dean of teaching at the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Sherbrooke. Since 2018, she has been appointed director of the Centre Compétences recherche+ (CR+), a center whose mission is to offer training courses allowing graduate and postdoctoral students to develop transversal skills for their professional careers. Nancy Dumais graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Laval University before doing a postdoctoral fellowship at McMaster University. Her research interests are diversified. In sciences, she is interested in comprehending the molecular mechanism leading to the migration of monocytes infected by viruses through the blood-brain barrier.  In education, she participates in several research projects related to science teaching.

Session 3: Svetlana Farkas-Cubra

Svetlana Farkas-Cubra oversees operational aspects of the Postdoctoral program at the University of Calgary. Following a number of years working in medical research at the University of Calgary, she joined the Postdoctoral office in 2013.

She is committed to serving as a primary contact for all postdoc inquiries and to promote resources that are available to postdocs at the University of Calgary. Svetlana works closely with the Postdoctoral program director and the Postdoc office team on developing workshops and offering support to prepare postdocs for a successful career transition. She is also responsible for managing several internally and externally funded postdoctoral fellowships.

Session 3: Ruth Martin

Ruth Martin

Professor Ruth Martin is Associate Vice-Provost, School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Physiology and Pharmacology, Otolaryngology, Neuroscience, and Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The University of Western Ontario in Canada. She was previously the Associate Dean of Graduate and Post-doctoral Programs in the Faculty of Health Sciences where she led the development of an online graduate diploma in health sciences. Professor Martin’s research is directed towards understanding the neural basis of swallowing through brain imaging and behavioural studies. Her laboratory has developed new approaches for the rehabilitation of swallowing and other upper airway health problems, with special interest in the use of oral sensory stimulation. Professor Martin was awarded the 2018 Vanguard Innovator of the Year Award by Western University for her innovations in swallowing rehabilitation. Professor Martin is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Session 4: Dr. Lynne Mitchell

Dr. Lynne Mitchell has been working in international education for over 25 years. She is Director of the Centre for International Programs (CIP) and International Liaison Officer for the University of Guelph and is well known across Canada for her contributions to the international education profession. Lynne is a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory, and she regularly facilitates workshops aimed at enhancing intercultural competency for higher education staff, faculty and students. Her publications include, When Difference Creates Dissonance: Understanding the “Engine” of Intercultural Learning in Study Abroad (Intercultural Education, 2018) and Assessing Intercultural Competence in Experiential Learning Abroad: Lessons for Educators (Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education, 2017).

Annual General Meeting and Tri-Council Update: François Zegers

2019 CAPA Speaker - François ZegersFrançois Zegers is the Lead for the Vanier-Banting Secretariat in the Research, Knowledge Translation and Ethics Portfolio at CIHR. During his 11 years at CIHR, he has provided advisory services in analytics, project management, peer review, business transformation and strategy integration, and has coordinated several governance bodies for CIHR and the Tri-Agencies. François’s current responsibilities involve overseeing the program design and delivery for the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships and Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships programs. He also contributes to multiple harmonization projects across the three agencies to increase efficiency and standardization for our stakeholder communities.

 

Annual General Meeting and Tri-Council Update: Matthew Vincelli

CAPA Speaker - Matthew Vincelli Matthew Vincelli is a Team Leader in the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s Scholarships and Fellowships division in Ottawa. With more than a decade of experience at NSERC across a multitude of divisions, Matthew is presently responsible for NSERC’s USRA, CGS and PDF programs. Educated as a chemical engineer, Matthew also serves as a panellist for the Engineers Canada’s Awards Committee and recently as an invited external expert for TRIUMF’s review of their undergraduate training program. Prior to his time at NSERC Matthew worked overseas for a number of years as an engineer for a major multi-national oilfield services company.

Annual General Meeting and Tri-Council Update: Melissa Dubreuil

CAPA Speaker - Melissa DubreuilMelissa Dubreuil is a manager within the Research Training Portfolio at SSHRC where she is responsible for the Postdoctoral Fellowships funding opportunity, SSHRC’s Impact Awards prizes, and various collaborative initiatives with partner organizations supporting graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Melissa has over 16 years of experience working with scholarships and fellowships funding opportunities and managed the administration of a wide range of award funding opportunities.

 

Annual General Meeting and Tri-Council Update: Victoria McGovern

Victoria McGovern, Ph.D. is a Senior Program Officer at the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. She runs the Fund’s program in Infectious Diseases, the institutional programs in Population and Laboratory Based Sciences and in Quantitative Thinking, and the workforce development-focused Career Guidance for Trainees program. For more than 20 years she has been involved in national science policy efforts related to strengthening the scientific workforce, an interest she continues at BWF. Victoria earned bachelor’s degrees in Biology and in English Literature at Washington University and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, followed by an NSF-funded postdoctoral fellowship in marine biotechnology at the Cameron Applied Research Center in Charlotte, NC. Her scientific work centered on chromosome structure and she maintains a continuing interest in the functional analysis and structure of whole genomes, including by managing the Fund’s investments in pathogen genomics and post-genomics. Before coming to BWF she was a science writer. She has chaired Sigma Xi’s Committee on Public Understanding of Science and was one of the first correspondents for Science’s Next Wave, now called Science Careers, Science magazine’s online careers magazine. She is currently one of the contributors of the Carpe Careers column at Inside Higher Education. She serves on the National Postdoctoral Association’s advisory board, the Committee on Postdoctoral and Graduate Education of the American Society for Microbiology, and the Early Career Scientist Steering Committee of the Genetics Society of America. She joined the Fund in 1997.