K* Conference 2012

Steering Committee* and International Advisory Committee Members

Nicole Arbour (Team Lead, Science & Innovation Network, British High Commission, Ottawa)

Nicole is responsible for liaising with Federal science and technology bodies, including science based departments and agencies (such as Industry Canada, Health Canada and Agriculture Canada, among others), funding bodies (such as NSERC and CIHR), as well as other arms-length science based institutions and funding organizations.  She also covers scientific research and development within the geographical area of Eastern Ontario at academic, industry and governmental levels. Within this framework, she is working to establish, foster, and/or strengthen collaboration and partnership in science and innovation between the UK and Canada.

Nicole holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Ottawa, specializing in neuroscience and cell death.  Prior to joining the Science and Innovation team at the British High Commission in Ottawa, she worked as a research scientist for a small biotech company, and led a small team of researchers in developing assays for pathogen identification.

In addition to science and science policy, Nicole enjoys gardening, cooking, writing and adventures in social media.

Alex T. Bielak*, K* Conference Chair

(Senior Fellow and Knowledge Broker, UNU-INWEH)

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Dr. Alex Bielak is a member of the faculty at the United Nations University and also serves as Senior Advisor to the Chair of UN-Water. As Senior Research Fellow and Knowledge Broker in the freshwater programme at the UNU’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH, the U.N. Think Tank on Water) Alex also leads a new Knowledge Management and Mobilization (K*) initiative for the Institute.

Previously Alex was Environment Canada’s first-ever Director, Science and Technology Liaison with a mission of communicating science knowledge to targeted audiences and linking science with policy development. Before that he spent over a year as A/Director General, S&T Strategies Directorate, where he set up the Directorate and led the team developing EC's new Science Plan. A NATO Scholar, he has also held senior positions with Canada’s National Water Research Institute, NGOs, and other federal and provincial government departments.

Alex holds a PhD degree in Freshwater Biology from the University of Waterloo and has served on numerous National and International Boards and Committees. Recently appointed as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Communication Studies and Multi-Media at McMaster University, recognition of his professional and volunteer activities includes a UW Science Faculty “Distinguished Alumni Award” on the occasion of UW’s 50th Anniversary and appointment as the first Honorary Member of the Canadian Rivers Institute in 2011.

Jason J. Blackstock* (Visiting Fellow, INSIS, Associate (Adjunct) Professor, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development at the University of Waterloo) Top of page

With a unique background spanning physics, technology development and international affairs, Jason is emerging as a leading international scholar and policy adviser on the interface between science and global public policy. Since 2008, he has developed and led research and policy engagement programs from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Austria) and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (Canada) that have interactively examined the scientific, political and global governance dimensions of our planetary climate and energy challenges. These programs have included internationally recognized foci on the science and policy of emerging geoengineering technologies, short-lived climate forcers and sustainable energy transitions.

Jason obtained his Master (Edinburgh, 2001) and PhD (Alberta, 2005) in physics, followed by his Graduate Certificate in International Security (Stanford, 2006) and Master of Public Administration (Harvard, 2008), and worked from 2003 to 2007 as a Research Associate of Hewlett Packard Lab’s Quantum Science Research Group. He is an Associate Professor (Adjunct) of the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development at the University of Waterloo, and in 2010 Jason was elected an Associate Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. Jason is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom).

Andrew Campbell (Director, Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods Charles Darwin University) Top of page

Andrew Campbell is the Director of the Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods at Charles Darwin University in Darwin, Australia. He was previously Managing Director of Triple Helix Consulting Pty Ltd, a consultancy working at the interface between science and policy around climate, water, energy and food systems and the interactions between them. Andrew was the Executive Director (CEO) of Land & Water Australia for seven years to 2006, prior to which he was a senior executive in the Australian Government. He was instrumental in the development of Landcare in Australia and has written widely on sustainability issues. He has professional training in forest science and knowledge systems from the University of Melbourne and Wageningen Agricultural University in The Netherlands.

Dave Clements (Director of Corporate Strategy and Education, Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI))

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As Director of Corporate Strategy and Education at CIHI, David Clements is responsible for integrating the strategic, operational and tactical planning of the organization, as well as providing direction for educational and capacity-building initiatives. David has worked in health care since 1998 and has been recognized as an expert in the use of research and knowledge for health care policy and management. Over the years, he has worked for a number of national organizations, including the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment and the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (where he managed policy, planning, communications and knowledge exchange). He has worked as a journalist and as a communications and media relations advisor to senior staff at the British Columbia Ministry of Health. David is currently pursuing a doctorate in innovation studies at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He holds a master of public administration from the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University with a concentration in health policy, and an undergraduate degree from the University of Victoria.

Bernadette Conant (Executive Director, Canadian Water Network) Top of page

Bernadette joined the Canadian Water Network as Executive Director in April 2003, having assisted the network in other capacities on and off since its start-up in the summer of 2001.

Before joining CWN, Bernadette was involved in groundwater issues in both Canada and the US for over 17 years, including experience in research, jobs in the public and private sector, and management of university-based research programs funded by government and industry partners. Much of this experience was focused on the practical application of research findings to decision-making for site assessment and remediation at contaminated sites. Over the past few years, she has devoted increasing time and energy to the topic of improving communication of research findings and implications among the academic and various user communities. She is pleased to be able to continue to contribute to this area through her work with CWN.

Bernadette has a degree in Earth Sciences (BSc, 1986) and Hydrogeology (MSc, 1991) from the University of Waterloo. She has made presentations on groundwater and remediation issues at a variety of venues, including invited talks at conferences in Canada, the US and Japan, as well as presentations to both state and regulatory officials in the US. Bernadette has served as a guest lecturer in graduate courses and short courses. She is author of a number of publications, including refereed journals articles, a book chapter, a US EPA report, and conference abstracts and proceedings.

Amanda Cooper* (KNAER Program Manager, Research & Knowledge Mobilization and RSPE Research & Program Coordinator) Top of page

Amanda Cooper specializes in research-practice-policy relationships.  Her interests professionally and academically revolve around improving research use in public services.  Currently, she is managing the Knowledge Network for Applied Education Research (KNAER), an ambitious effort to improve knowledge mobilization in education across Ontario. 

Amanda has also been the coordinator for the Research Supporting Practice in Education program at OISE, since its inception in 2007.  There is growing awareness that research mediation by intermediary organizations is integral to knowledge mobilization.  Amanda’s doctoral research analyzes efforts made by 44 knowledge mobilization intermediaries (third party, research brokering organizations) that facilitate linkages between research producing contexts and research using contexts to increase research use and its impact in education across Canada.

She provides talks, workshops and consulting on knowledge mobilization for researchers, practitioners, policy makers, intermediaries and other organizations across sectors. 

Catherine Fisher (Capacity Support Coordinator, Institute of Development Studies) Top of page

Catherine works within the Impact and Learning Team at the Institute of Development Studies in the United Kingdom. She is interested in the intersections between research, policy and practice, and the role of K* actors within those processes,with increasing focus on learning and decision making behaviours. She has worked in and alongside the IDS based Knowledge Services for over 10 years where she has worked on a range of information intermediary and knowledge sharing projects including Eldis, GDNet, IFIwatchnet and AfricaAdapt.

More recently, Catherine has been active in convening and supporting learning between K* practioners and connecting theory and practice about the role. In 2006, she founded the IKMediary Network and more recently has played an active the Knowledge Brokers Forum (KBF) including facilitating a recent debate about Monitoring & Evaluation of KB work.

She has organised a range of international events aimed at information and knowledge intermediaries including the Power of In-Between conference in South Africa, and helped design and facilitate a workshop for Climate Change Knowledge Brokers in 2011. Drawing on this experience she has published widely on the theory and practice within K* including:

Knowledge Brokering and Intermediary concepts: summary of KBF e-discussion

Fisher, C. (2010) Five characteristics of effective information intermediary organisations and how to ensure you have them

Fisher, C (2009) Conference report: How research brokers and intermediaries support evidence-based pro-poor policy andpractice

Fisher, C., Vogel, I. (2008) Conference background paper: Locating the power of in-between: how research brokers and intermediaries support evidence-based pro-poor policy and practice

Sherine Ghoneim* (Global Development Network [GDN] – Cairo, Egypt) Top of page

As director of GDN (Cairo office) and the GDNet Program, Dr. Ghoneim has more than 15 years of experience in the field of knowledge networks and research communications capacity building. Within GDNet, a knowledge hub that brings together and communicates policy-relevant research from the Global South, she is leading to position the program as an internationally recognized focal point/knowledge broker for development research to inform policy debate.

Prior to GDN, she was the Information and Communications Manager at the Economic Research Forum from 1996 – 2001.

In 2000, she obtained her Ph.D. in Information Management from the Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine, University of London, U.K.

Elin Gwyn* (Research Analyst, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs) Top of page

Elin is a research analyst in the Research and Innovation Branch at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). The Knowledge Translation and Transfer (KTT) Program is a program focused on accelerating the transformation of knowledge from research into use and was launched in 2008 under the OMAFRA/University of Guelph Agreement. 

The program reflects the Canadian government’s interest in gathering the full benefits of research knowledge and builds on several decades of shared agriculture extension experience. A key component of this partnership is a $5,000,000 KTT Program.  Elin, in partnership with her colleagues, is tasked with assisting the development and delivery of the KTT program in partnership with the University of Guelph.

Elin enjoys working knowledge translation and transfer as K* is called at OMAFRA to enhance the use of research knowledge for policy, for practice/program and for commercialization. Elin has led the development of the KTT website as a basic tool and information for researchers and others interested in KTT.  She bases much of her work on finding ways, within individual research projects, the KTT program and under the research themes, to encourage the achievement of seven KTT best practices

Mehrdad Hariri (Senior Research Analyst McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health) Top of page

Mehrdad is a Senior Research Analyst at the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship under Dr. Thorsteinsdóttir with a research focus on Canada’s collaborations in health biotechnology with China. In the past few years Dr. Hariri has focused his efforts on the intersection of science and policy. Using the 2008 federal election, he, along with his colleague, founded the weblog “Science Canada", with the goal of presenting and reviewing science related materials published in Canadian media. It was an opportunity to measure the presence, or lack thereof, of scientific issues in Canadian public sphere.

In 2009, he initiated the idea of a national forum on science policy in Canada, and led a group of young and passionate scientists to organize the 2009 Canadian Science Policy Conference (CSPC), where he is currently the Chair. The CSPC brings together many distinguished personalities from academic, government, industry, and non-profit sectors, from Canada and abroad, with common interests in science and policy.

Mehrdad has a D.V.M in veterinary medicine from Tehran University and MSc in cell biology from Universite de Montréal. He is trained in various disciplines: veterinary, cell biology and functional genomics. He has served at the executive boards of several community and cultural organizations with various mandates. He is passionate about interfacing science, policy, and public affairs.

Katrina Hitchman* ( Manager of Knowledge Mobilization and Training, Canadian Water Network)

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Katrina joined the Canadian Water Network in February 2009 to assist in the development and management of CWN’s evolving research consortia program. As CWN expands its capacity for engaging with – and promoting interaction between – the end user and researcher communities, Katrina is focused on involving key players from these communities, developing knowledge translation tools for researchers and end users, and evaluating and sharing the success of CWN’s knowledge mobilization work. Pursuing her interest in knowledge mobilization processes, Katrina has conducted and led several qualitative studies, including a comparative analysis examining the structures and functions of Canadian and international organizations that share CWN’s mandate of using research to inform practice and policy.

Katrina holds a Masters and PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Waterloo, as well as an Honours Bachelor of Arts from Mount Allison University.

John Holmes (Senior Research Fellow University of Oxford) Top of page

John Holmes research is concerned with improving the use of science in environmental policy making and regulation. His work at the University of Oxford (UK) addresses a range of issues associated with science-into-policy processes including the framing of research questions and consequent development of effective research programmes, processes to enhance the interaction of the science and policy communities, mechanisms for translation from research results to useful policy inputs, and issues of transparency and stakeholder engagement.

Jeff Kinder* (Manager, S&T Strategy, Natural Resources Canada) Top of page

Jeff has over twenty years of experience in government science and in Science and Technology (S&T) policy in the United States of America and Canada. His experience in the U.S. includes work at the National Science Foundation, the National Academies' Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy, and research in applied ocean acoustics at the Naval Research Laboratory. In Canada, Jeff has worked as Senior Policy Advisor in Science and Innovation at Industry Canada and in support of the Council of Science and Technology Advisors (CSTA), the external board that advised Cabinet on the management of federal S&T from 1998-2007. He is currently Manager, S&T Strategy, at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). Jeff’s research and teaching focuses on S&T policy, government laboratories, innovation systems, and the integration of science and policy. He is the co-author with Bruce Doern of Strategic Science in the Public Interest: Canada's Government Laboratories and Science-Based Agencies (University of Toronto Press, 2007) and is working on authoring a history of the Science Council of Canada. He holds a PhD in Public Policy, an M.A. in Science, Technology and Public Policy and a B.S. in Physics.

Laurens Klerkx (Assistant Professor, Wageningen University) Top of page

Laurens is assistant professor at the Communication and Innovation Studies Group at Wageningen University (Netherlands). He holds a MSc in Tropical Agriculture, and a PhD in Communication and Innovation Studies. His research takes place in the realm of agriculture and the life sciences and focuses on: demand articulation and multi-stakeholder negotiations for demand-driven research and innovation; newly emerging intermediary structures for matching demand and supply for knowledge and other resources to support innovation (innovation brokers); how such innovation brokers affect the dynamics in innovation networks and how they are perceived by ‘traditional’ knowledge intensive service providers (such as research institutes and consultants) and innovating firms; the structural dynamics of innovation networks over time and corresponding role divisions in innovation networks.

Besides being active in academic research and teaching, Laurens’ work informs policy makers, through contributions in policy and practice oriented publications and oral presentations for organizations like the World Bank, the European Commission and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

David Phipps* (Director, Research Services & Knowledge Exchange, York University and Leader, ResearchImpact)

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Dr. Phipps received his Ph.D. in Immunology from Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario) and undertook post-doctoral studies in HIV research at the University Health Network (Toronto).  After leaving the lab he built a career managing academic research holding successively senior positions at the University of Toronto Innovations Foundation (Manager of Biotechnology and Life Sciences), Canadian Arthritis Network (Director of Business Development) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Director of Partnerships).  In 2001 Dr. Phipps completed his MBA from the Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto). 

Dr. Phipps is the Director, Research Services & Knowledge Exchange at York University where he manages all research grants and contracts including knowledge and technology transfer. Dr. Phipps is leading York’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit (ResearchImpact) that provides services to researchers, community organizations and government agencies who wish to use policy and practice related research to inform public policy and social programming. 

Gerd Schönwälder (Director, Policy and Planning Group at the International Development Research Centre) Top of page

Gerd Schönwälder is the Director of the Policy and Planning Group at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). He oversees IDRC’s strategic planning and management functions, including policy analysis, knowledge gathering and brokering, and networking on corporate issues. He formerly led IDRC’s Peace, Conflict, and Development (PCD) program, which supports research on peace building and conflict prevention in the developing world.

Before joining IDRC, Gerd Schönwälder was the Deputy Director of the Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL), an Ottawa-based think tank on western hemispheric issues. He previously spent several years in Brussels as a European Union official, covering such aspects of the EU’s external relations as development and economic co-operation, trade issues, and the enlargement of the European Union to the east.

Louise Shaxson*, K* Conference Vice-Chair

(Senior Research fellow at RAPID, Overseas Development Institute (UK); and associate of Delta Partnership)

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Louise is a senior research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute, UK’s leading think tank on international development; and an associate of Delta Partnership, an international management consultancy company based in London. Her particular area of interest is evidence-based policymaking and the links between knowledge and policy.

She has authored and provided guidance on the provision of expert scientific advice to senior policy officials, what constitutes robust evidence for policy making, advised on horizon scanning projects and has published several journal articles and book chapters relating to evidence-based policy making.  She has co-authored a forthcoming book on Knowledge, policy and power in international development: a practical guide which will be published by The Policy Press/University of Chicago Press in 2012. 

Over the past few years, Louise became acquainted with a group of Canadians who shared her interested in evidence-based policy and, in particular, knowledge translation and brokering. Most recently, she was involved with CSPC where she gave a presentation on the distribution of responsibility in policy delivery and related issues at the Canadian Science Policy Conference in Montreal, October 2010.

Nik Soni (Senior Advisor, Ministry of Finance (Vanuatu) Chairman, Pacific Institute for Public Policy) Top of page

Nikunj Soni is the Board Chair of the Pacific Institute of Public Policy, which he founded in 2007. He has worked extensively on economic and public financial management issues across the Pacific since 1996, and has authored papers on a wide variety of topics ranging from revenue reforms, expenditure management, macroeconomic modelling to more general development papers on issues like drivers of change and governance reform. Nik has held a wide variety of senior advisory and in line positions in the region including as the Director General of the Ministry of Finance in Timor-Leste. He has an MPhil from Oxford, and outside of public policy is also the chair of the largest renewable energy NGO in Vanuatu. He is currently a senior treasury advisor to the Vanuatu Government.

Eliya Zulu (Director, African Institute for Development Policy) Top of page

Eliya Msiyaphazi Zulu is the Executive Director of the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) whose mission is to inform public policy and planning with research evidence. Before co-founding AFIDEP, he was the Deputy Director and Director of Research at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) where he headed the Policy Engagement and Communications Unit and the Urbanization and Wellbeing Research Program. Zulu is the elected president of UAPS, the Union for African Population Studies and the Director of Development Policy in the California-based non-profit organization Venture Strategies for Health and Development. He has over 20 years experience in developing, managing, conducting research and capacity building programs, and engaging with policy makers in issues regarding international development, population change, urbanization, health systems and policy analysis. He has been a Principal Investigator and participated in a number of international research programs; published over 50 peer-reviewed papers, pro-actively promoted evidence-based policies and served in many international panels on population change issues. Zulu earned his PhD in Demography at the University of Pennsylvania, a Masters in Population and Development at the Australian National University, and a Bachelor of Social Science in Economics and Applied Statistics at the University of Malawi.