Meet the Research Coordinators

Research Coordinators are faculty members who devote time and expertise to facilitate research opportunities within their respective faculties. Throughout the academic year, research coordinators provide input and support needed to execute a variety of research-related capacity building activities across disciplines alongside ORSIE staff members.
ORSIE is very appreciative of the active engagement these research coordinators have demonstrated, playing a vital role in championing research activities at DC.

JENNIFER BEDFORD - FACULTY OF MEDIA, ART AND DESIGN

Jennifer Bedford is a lens-based artist, educator and cultural advocate with over two decades of experience in her field. Jennifer is part of the full-time faculty at Durham College (DC) specializing in media, art, and design. Jennifer brings seven years of experience working on grant funding applications in the non-profit visual arts sector to her role as Research Coordinator in the Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ORSIE).

Jennifer received her Master of Arts in communication and new media and an honours undergraduate degree in studio art and multimedia from McMaster University. Her work explores concepts of storytelling while examining ideas about the archive, nostalgia and memory using both analogue and digital mediums.

Before teaching at Durham College, Jennifer worked in the visual arts sector with notable organizations such as the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener Area (CAFKA), Art Gallery of Burlington, and Oakville Galleries. Her work has been exhibited and screened across North America, United Kingdom and Eastern Africa, including an installation in First Canadian Place during the 2012 Nuit Blanche exhibition, Toronto Canada.

Her photographs have been published in newspapers and magazines such as the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Azure magazine, Border Crossings, Canadian Art, Sculpture Magazine, and numerous Canadian exhibition catalogues.  For her passionate contributions to the visual arts community, she received a Waterloo Region Top 40 under 40 award in 2013. In 2019, Jennifer and her DC colleague Danielle Harder were awarded a PIEoneer Real Life Learning award for a documentary film called The Kenya Education of Employment Program which they produced with four DC students while in Kenya for three weeks.

Jennifer has a passion for learning and teaching.  She believes in community building both at the school and in the greater Durham Region. She is the past co-chair of the Academic Council at Durham College and is also actively involved in applied research projects with the ORSIE Social Impact Hub at DC and various work integrated learning (WIL) projects with students at the college.

E: Jennifer.bedford@durhamcollege.ca

Image of Nicole Doyle.

AMANDA CAPPON - Faculty of Social and Community Services

Amanda has been Durham College employee since 2010. She began in a support staff role working in the Campus Health Centre as a Mental Health Worker supporting students. In 2013, Amanda transitioned into a full-time faculty role as a member of the Social Service Work team.

Amanda holds a Master of Education (MEd) in Counselling and Psychotherapy and she is a Registered Psychotherapist (RP) in the Province of Ontario. Throughout her career, Amanda has gained invaluable experience working directly with vulnerable populations and educating others about vulnerable populations in a variety of settings ranging from not-for-profit, hospital and a post-secondary wellness facility. Amanda will often describe her own, best teachers are the clients she has worked with in these various settings. She values learning through observing the resilience of those that face some unimaginable adversities.

In 2019, Amanda received a Seed Grant from Durham College to conduct a literature review exploring the topic of parents with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities while supervising a team of 3 students from the Social Service Worker program.  Amanda subsequently partnered with a colleague, Kay Corbier, to submit the proposal to be considered for a College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF) grant.

In spring 2021, Amanda and Kay received notice of award that their project would be funded by NSERC for a CCSIF grant. The project began officially in June 2021 and is funded at over $300, 000 over the course of three phases. The title of the project is Raising Resilient Families: Empowering Parents with Cognitive Challenge. The overall objective is to develop a model of support that is proactive and addresses the social issues that impact parents with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (ID/D) and/or Cognitive Challenges (CC), including trauma, institutionalization, and violation of human rights based on best practices identified and input from parents with ID/DD/CC and key stakeholders.

Amanda has a life-long passion for learning about human behaviour, health and psychological wellness. Research is viewed as an extension of this passion as it allows Amanda to investigate social determinants of health and wellness while also exploring gaps in services, barriers to change and addressing social injustices.

E: amanda.cappon@durhamcollege.ca

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Erin Dancey - Faculty of Health Sciences

Erin Dancey, PhD, is a professor and research coordinator in the Faculty of Health Sciences with a strong focus on community health and wellness.  She recently led a project investigating the social determinants of health through a Newcomer Kitchen Community Program, in collaboration with the Community Development Council Durham.  Dr. Dancey’s research contributions extend to the fields of rehabilitation science, wellness, food insecurity and exercise science.  Her work is characterized by her ability to bridge research and community engagement, making significant contributions to health equity and wellness in the community. She is currently collaborating with Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences and the Abilities Centre in Whitby on a College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF) grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).  This study will examine the barriers to exercise for forensic patients and how community-based exercise impacts their physical and mental health. 

 

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Lynne Kennette - FACULTY OF LIBERAL STUDIES

Lynne Kennette completed her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology (Psycholinguistics) at Wayne State University (Detroit, MI) in 2012. She began teaching full-time at Durham College one month later.  Prior to joining Durham College, she taught various psychology courses at Wayne State University where she also worked in a research lab. Lynne currently teaches psychology courses for General Education as well as for the General Arts and Science program and has also served on the Durham College Research Ethics Board (REB) since 2013.

Her research has focused on three areas: (1) bilingual (French-English) language representation; (2) the representation of ambiguous English words; and (3) student learning and memory in higher education.

Lynne has been informally mentoring and supporting faculty with research for many years, and has now taken on this work formally with her new role as Research Coordinator for the Faculty of Liberal Studies. In addition to her own research projects and extensive publications, Lynne has also mentored students in their research endeavours. As a result of these initiatives, Lynne was awarded the 2018 Researcher Award of Excellence at Durham College.

In her role as Research Coordinator for the Faculty of Liberal Studies, Lynne hopes to encourage faculty to consider engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and conducting research in their classrooms.

E: Lynne.Kennette@durhamcollege.ca

lynne-kennette

Marko Kostic, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Information Technology

Marko N. Kostic, Ph.D., P.Eng., CQM is an R&D scientist and engineer with medtech industry experience spanning over a decade and a half.  His doctorate and master degrees are both in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles [UCLA], where he designed a novel near infrared spectroscopy [NIRS] system for lower leg tissue perfusion monitoring and, as a post-doctoral researcher, a prototype for a novel pleural mesothelioma cryogenic treatment system.  Additionally, Marko holds a bachelor of science degree in Electrical Engineering (magna cum laude) from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss).  Marko is a licensed Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) in the province of Ontario and a Certified Quality Manager [CQM] – Medical Devices.

Marko joined Durham College in 2020 as a full-time professor in the Faculty of Science, Engineering, and Information Technology [SEIT].  While at Durham, Marko has been teaching courses in the Honours Bachelor degree in Health Care Technology Management program, as well as in other programs within SEIT, including Biomedical Engineering Technology and Electromechanical Engineering Technology advance diploma programs.  Prior to Durham College, Marko was an Associate Professor at East Tennessee State University.

Marko’s most recent professional engagement was as a Principal R&D Engineer – Electrical Engineering at Stryker Corporation, a Fortune 500 medical device company.  During his five-year tenure at Stryker, Marko worked with cross-functional teams on product development, software architecture, quality, marketing, intellectual property [IP] development, and system-level requirements.  Prior to Stryker, Marko worked with several start-up companies in Southern California, primarily focusing on medical technologies.  He worked on development of novel portable wireless ECG devices, video endoscopy system, as well as ultrasound and terahertz imaging systems.  Additionally, Marko was a technical lead for a project that resulted in a first-ever real-time wireless transmission of racecar driver ECG signals during races (Champ Car World Series at Toronto Grand Prix).  Presently, Marko holds 32 United States patents focused on medical technologies.

Marko’s recent research interests concentrate on communication strategies for healthcare, engineering, and technology professionals and students.  His recent publications include analysis of Health Canada communication effectiveness during COVID-19 vaccine roll-out (published in the Canadian Journal of Communication, 2024) and presenting a practical approach for communication during acute-event scenarios, such as COVID-19 pandemic (published in the Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2022).  In addition to these peer-reviewed journal articles, Marko and his collaborators presented competitive papers at three National Communication Association [NCA] conferences (2023, 2022, and 2021).

As a Research Coordinator in the Faculty of Science, Engineering, and Information Technology, Marko looks forward to building stronger relationships with industry partners with the goal of providing students with additional real-world experiential learning opportunities.

WENDY SMITH - FACULTY OF HOSPITALITY AND Horticultural SCIENCE AND FACULTY OF SKILLED TRADES AND APPRENTICESHIP

Wendy is a proud Durham College Alumni of the first graduating class of the Food and Drug Technology program which launched an exciting career in Research and Development and Product Development, first with General Foods (now Kraft), then with Nestle and her own consulting business.

Throughout her six years with Durham College, she’s had the pleasure of working with a highly talented team of outstanding leaders, industry partners, expert faculty and curriculum developers focused on designing, developing and introducing the Food and Farming program.  As a professor, she continues to build and teach the program’s Food Science and Technology courses while enhancing the student experience.  Wendy values the next generation of Food Science and Technology and maintains a focus in research and product development. She is committed to the continued advancement of the DC student experience, the Food and Farming program, and the implementation of ever evolving industry trends.

Wendy is also enthusiastically involved in the Vietnamese Skills for Employment Project as a subject matter expert in Food Science and Technology. She contributes her program development expertise to the design, development and introduction of a Pharmaceutical and Food Science program for Hau Giang Community College in Vietnam. Her education and career experiences give her a unique edge, allowing her to implement the elements necessary to provide the best educational experience for the students.

Finally, Wendy is a member of the College’s Academic Council and is research co-ordinator, working with a cross section of colleagues to advance the research agenda.  This is a dynamic time for applied research at Durham College and in her new research co-ordinator role, Wendy engages with students, industry, the community, and faculty to build and develop applied research projects within the W. Galen Weston Centre for Food and the School of Skilled Trades, Apprenticeship and Renewable Technology.

Prior to joining Durham College, Wendy had the opportunity to work on many research projects including the identification of a gold standard for orange juice, improved flavour and texture profiles in crystal beverages, the effect on and maintenance of flavour profiles in roast and ground coffee during vacuum packaging, and new product development of chocolate and ice cream while with Kraft and Nestle and identification of carcinogens in environmental sources of dioxins while completing a B.Sc. in Honours Applied Chemistry at the University of Waterloo.

E: wendy.smith@durhamcollege.ca

KELLY WEBDALE - FACULTY OF BUSINESS

Kelly Webdale is the program coordinator of the Recreation & Leisure Services program in the Faculty of Business. She has also taught in the Fitness and Health Promotion, Golf Management, and Sport Administration/Sport Business Management programs. Through opportunities for action research, she encourages students to follow their curiosity. Her background is in fitness and wellness promotion. She has worked for a variety of municipalities managing fitness programming and she is a coach/personal trainer and fitness instructor. Kelly has earned a Master of Health Sciences in Kinesiology and also holds degrees in Education, Physical and Health Education, and Life Sciences. She has a passion for movement, sport, and fitness. Kelly has published two papers as a result of her research on the topic of relative age effects in sport and education. Kelly also taught grades 7-12 prior to coming to Durham College in 2010. Kelly served as Research Coordinator in 2015-2016 for what was then the School of Business, IT, and Management and she is excited to reprise the role now for the Faculty of Business.

E: kelly.webdale@durhamcollege.ca

Kelly Webdale