Dean's office directory

Name Position Area Contact
Lilia Espenido Faculty Affairs and Project Administrator

Manages the Faculty’s promotion and tenure processes, academic projects such as Head searches and external Departmental reviews for the Dean, Dean’s advisory committees activities; supports faculty-wide projects and initiatives.

Administration + IT
604-822-9971
Teresa Louie Admin Assistant to Associate Deans Academic and Students

Part time admin assistant, supporting Associate Dean Academic, Jackie Stewart and Associate Dean Students, James Charbonneau. Handles inquiries for their time and manages their calendars.

Administration + IT, Curriculum, Education + Programs
604-822-8546
Mark MacLachlan Dean

Administration + IT
Svetlana Minchenko Senior Manager, Academic Initiatives and Administration

Responsible for leading the development, planning, and implementation of academic projects and initiatives for the Dean. Oversees key activities to ensure the academic advancement of faculty members through the formal promotion and tenure review process and award recognition.

Administration + IT
604-822-3518
Krishna Patel Administrative Assistant to the Dean

Coordinates the Dean’s schedule, travel, requests for appointments and events.

Administration + IT
604-827-2406
Amber Schroeder Skylight Administrative and Communications Coordinator

Generates all administration and communication materials for the extended Skylight (Science Centre for Learning and Teaching) team across the Faculty.

Administration + IT, Curriculum, Education + Programs
604-822-2749
Ritisha Sharma Data Analyst, Strategic Initiatives

Provides data analytics and decision support for the implementation and ongoing operationalization of the Faculty’s strategic priorities as outlined in “Improving our World through Science.”

Administration + IT
Deborah Watt Director, Strategic Initiatives

Leads and oversees the design, implementation, reporting and operationalization of the Faculty’s strategic priorities as outlined in the our Strategic Plan.

Administration + IT
Karen Clare Administrative Assistant & Office Coordinator (Associate Deans for Faculty, Research & Graduate Studies, and Equity and Diversity)

Serves as initial contact for general inquiries to the Dean’s Office.

Administration + IT, Faculty + Equity, Research + Innovation
604-822-3336
Devin Lyons Research Grant Officer

Provides leadership and advice on identification and preparation of major collaborative grant proposals; establishes and manages the development of Faculty-level initiatives requiring grant funding from federal, provincial and international funding agencies including NSERC, CIHR, CFI, BC Knowledge Development Fund and others, including industry.

Research + Innovation
604-822-3668
Curtis Suttle Interim Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies

Responsible for issues related to research and graduate student matters, including faculty and graduate student awards, Canada Research Chairs, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, conflict of interest, intellectual property, and ethics review.

Research + Innovation
Susan Allen Associate Dean, Faculty

Responsible for the Faculty’s promotion and tenure reviews, faculty retention efforts, facilitating dual career positions and peer evaluation of teaching initiatives.

Faculty + Equity
604-822-4213
Karen Clare Administrative Assistant & Office Coordinator (Associate Deans for Faculty, Research & Graduate Studies, and Equity and Diversity)

Serves as initial contact for general inquiries to the Dean’s Office.

Administration + IT, Faculty + Equity, Research + Innovation
604-822-3336
Stephanie Van Willigenburg Associate Dean, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Responsible for a broad range of issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion, including leading faculty diversity initiatives related to women, racialized minorities, LGBTQ+ people, Indigenous people and people with disability.

Faculty + Equity
604-822-4213
Aven Bendickson Senior Manager, HR Services

This position focuses on improving the experiences for Departments in navigating UBC's HR processes and HR systems such as Workday.

Human Resources
604-822-0105
Michelle Chiang Assistant HR Manager, Faculty of Science

Coordinates Human Resources activities for all employees in the Dean’s Office units and supports Faculty-wide Human Resources and Faculty Relations processes.

Human Resources
604-827-1990
Laura Lockyer-Cotter Assistant Dean, Human Resources

Responsible for providing leadership and direction on human resources issues for faculty, staff and students appointees within the Faculty of Science, and for providing leadership to the Dean’s office administrative staff. Manages HR-related annual processes for Science including faculty search processes and salary increase processes.

Human Resources
604-822-0220
Chris Balma Director, Communications

Responsible for the development and execution of the Faculty's strategic communication program, the delivery of targeted messaging across electronic, print and social media.

Communications
604-822-5082
Sarah Chen Web and Digital Communications Specialist

Responsible for content development, information architecture, and UI structure across UBC Science digital media assets, particularly websites, but also including email marketing and social channels.

Communications
Geoff Gilliard Communications Manager

Manages and creates content for UBC Science communications channels, alumni engagement and our research magazine FOCUS.   

Communications
604-827-2001

Musqueam First Nation land acknowledegement

We honour xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam) on whose ancestral, unceded territory UBC Vancouver is situated. UBC Science is committed to building meaningful relationships with Indigenous peoples so we can advance Reconciliation and ensure traditional ways of knowing enrich our teaching and research.

Learn more: Musqueam First Nation

Faculty of Science

Office of the Dean, Earth Sciences Building
2178–2207 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC Canada
V6T 1Z4
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