Image: Contributed
This year, Okanagan Edge and the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce have partnered to showcase some of the Okanagan’s most exciting entrepreneurs, through the Top 40 Under 40 program.
Sponsored by BDO, the Top 40 Under 40 recognizes innovative young professionals in our community, and showcases their accomplishments.
Okanagan Edge will feature a new honouree each week, so check back often.
This week, we feature UBCO research professor Christopher Martin.
Image: Contributed.
As a research professor at UBCO, Christopher Martin tackles problems relating to how educational institutions can address social issues such as inequality, as well as how education can develop skills people need to flourish in their communities.
His work on student debt and fair access to higher education has received local and international media attention.
“It is impossible to succeed as a researcher without being entrepreneurial,” he says. “One has to innovate and take risks in the pursuit of knowledge and new ideas. In my research, I address enduring education issues in creative and unconventional ways.”
He has also been invited to speak about his work at universities in Canada, the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
Martin’s work on democracy and educational policy has also been recognized in numerous academic publications, including three books.
When not at UBCO, Martin enjoys long-distance running and long-distance swimming.
He has placed in competitions such as the Rattlesnake Island Swim and the Peak to Beak road race.
Martin said he considers his leadership role to focus on community engagement between UBCO and the broader community.
“For example, I have co-organized a campus speaker series that is open to the public and focused on public policy issues relevant to the Okanagan, including the future of the salmon fishery and youth civic engagement,” Martin says. “As an educator, I have played a lead role in developing innovative educational programming aimed at supporting the local community.”
He co-led the redevelopment of the Faculty of Education’s teacher education program. The new program is designed to meet the demands of the new B.C. curriculum.
“I am also a member of a campus leadership team creating a new UBCO program (called “Interprise”) aimed at developing student’s entrepreneurial skills by working with local industry.”
Martin’s educational accomplishments include a bachelor of science degree, bachelor of education and master’s of philosophy degrees.
He has a doctorate in philosophy and education from the Institute of Education, the University of London, UK. Martin completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Memorial University in Newfoundland.
He’s volunteered with Project Literacy in Kelowna since 2015 and is a Scout Leader with the Glenvalley Beavers Colony.
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