Instructor Bios (Published & Draft)
Russell is an award winning, professional auctioneer from Clinton, BC. He graduated from the Western College of Auctioneering in Billings, Montana before the age of 20. In 2025 he won Rookie of the Year at the Canadian Livestock Auctioneering Championship in Manitoba. He also does many charity and fundraising auctions.
A lover of life and a proud Rotarian, Terri escaped Vancouver and arrived in Kamloops in 1996. With over four decades of leadership experience in tourism and the non-profit sectors, she is now leading the Kamloops Heritage Railway into an exciting new chapter.
Bruce Baugh taught philosophy at Thompson Rivers University for 28 years. He has authored two books and one translation, as wells numerous articles in scholarly journals. Bruce's main interests are music (rock and blues), walking and Continental philosophy.
Megan is a Learning Coordinator with the Invasive Species Council of BC, certified horticulturalist and passionate naturalist born and raised in Kamloops BC. Outside of work, she enjoys volunteering for the Thompson Shuswap Master Gardeners, TRU Friends of the Gardens, Kamloops Naturalist Club, and Living Lakes Canada. She continually strives to find new ways to bring awareness of invasive species and their impacts on those around her.
Fearon Blair is a Master Gardener with many years of gardening experience. She is very concerned about our changing climate, and especially about keeping our rivers healthy and available to support us as well as all the other living things that depend on the rivers.
Paulette is a retired RCMP Sergeant, who served for 30 years from 1987 until 2017. Upon her retirement, she wrote a memoir of her experiences as a female police officer in a male-dominated profession. Paulette taught at Fanshawe College as part of the police foundations program and also at the Ontario Police College, teaching new recruits how to become police officers. In her spare time, she lectures on Royal Caribbean cruise lines in Alaska
Gordon Brown was the Labour Party prime minister of the United Kingdom from 2007 – 2010. He currently works as the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, the World Health Organization Ambassador for Global Health Financing, and as a special government advisor.
Charlotte Higgins is the Guardian’s chief culture writer. As an author, most of her books touch on the aspects of the ancient world. She is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a past winner of the UK’s Classical Association Prize. Olia Hercules is a renowned London-based Ukrainian food writer and chef. She is the author of Strong Roots, a story of a century in Ukraine told through four generations of her family struggling and surviving through war, peace, invasion and exile. Sasha Dovzhyk is the director of INDEX: Institute for Documentation and Exchange, a new cultural and research institution based in Lviv, Ukraine. She is also the author of Apocalypse Baroque: Tales from Ukraine at War which will be published this month. Olesya Khromeychuk is the director of the Ukrainian Institute of London. She is the author of the acclaimed memoir The Death of a Soldier, Told by His Sister.
Dr. Cheeptham is internationally recognized for her pioneering research on cave microbiomes, drug discovery, and the fight against multidrug-resistant infections. Her work has been featured in outlets such as The New York Times, WIRED, and CBC’s Nature of Things, and she has earned honours including the 2022 3M National Teaching Fellowship, the TRU Faculty Excellence Award, and the D2L Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning. Research students may also join Ann to discuss projects they are working on.
Dawn Christie is the Director of the Mount Paul Community Food Centre. She has worked in the social services sector for 20 years and has dedicated the last several years to first starting, and then growing, the first Community Food Centre in BC. As a long-time resident of Kamloops, Dawn recognizes the value of a community space and the importance of an equitable and sustainable food system for all.
Heather has 35 years of dance teaching experience. She has toured internationally and has directed and produced over 10 of her own shows. Heather currently runs Kamloops Performance Company.
Ralph has over 30 years of investment/trading experience. Well-versed in investing terminology and practices, he is experienced in several Brokerage Platforms, for example, TD direct investing, RBC direct investing, Questrade and others, as well as many Online Investment Platforms.
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Tom Dickinson is a retired Dean of Sciences at TRU and is a long time KALs presenter. His classes focus on flora, fauna and the natural history of our region.
Cristhina was born in the Andies of Columbia. She became a biologist based on her love of nature. She began her career studying primate habitats and working with communities on conservation. Later she focused on environmental impact assessments in industrial areas. After studying across Latin America, she is now at TRU, leading a project on forest conservation, climate action and community engagement.
Diane’s mother was a magician when it came to organizing. And Diane grew up organizing everything. Bouts of anxiety made a well organized living situation mandatory for peaceful living. She was in business (retail and tourism) for nearly 50 years, and weeding out anything not helpful made her successful.
As a Sustainability Educator with the City of Kamloops, Jaimi Garbutt develops and delivers programs that advance climate action in the community. Through education and outreach, she helps residents make sustainable choices and inspires everyday actions that create meaningful change and support a healthier, more sustainable future.
Kristen is the Educator and Public Program Director for the Kamloops Art Gallery. Prior to holding this role, she served as the School and Youth Programs Coordinator for 4 years. Kristen holds a Bachelor’s Fine Arts degree from TRU (2002) and a Diploma in Digital Arts and New Media from Selkirk College (2017). Passionate about arts education, she believes in the power of art to build meaningful connection and create transformative spaces for engagement in learning.
Claudia Gonzalez is a biomedical engineer who went on to study cognitive neuroscience and is now an Associate Professor of Psychology at Thompson Rivers University. Her research focuses on how the brain supports cognition, particularly attention and memory, and how these processes change with aging. She uses brain imaging and other neuroscience methods to better understand healthy cognitive aging and the factors that may help support brain function across the lifespan.
Penny Haggarty is a retired academic librarian with a keen interest in information integrity and research. She is an advocate for lifelong learning and currently serves as KALS secretary and as a member of the Publicity Committee.
Lindsay Harris is a community developer and researcher living in Kamloops, BC. She has a PhD from UBCO and a background in agriculture and food systems, affordable housing, community economic development, rural and small city resilience and grassroots community decision making. She is a co-owner of Tapestry Collective Co-op and the Executive Director of the Propolis Cooperative Housing Society, which aims to build affordable, sustainable housing in the Kamloops region.
Sadie holds a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Tehran and a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) certificate from Fanshawe College in Ontario. Over the years, Sadie has applied her technical expertise globally and locally, from humanitarian mapping with the United Nations, the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), and Crowd2Map Tanzania, to contributing to infrastructure mapping projects in Waterloo. In Kamloops, she has dedicated her career to the non-profit sector, currently serving as Co-Executive Director of the Kamloops Food Policy Council, overseeing programs and operations. Alongside her leadership, she continues to support Indigenous and municipal planning projects through community engagement, research, data analysis, and GIS mapping.
Gerry is no stranger to volunteer work. Currently Chairman of the Kamloops District Men's Shed, he is also one of the one of the founding members. He has been involved in several community service organizations, including the Lions Club, the Rotary Club and the Hospital Board. As a licensed Red Seal HD Mechanic, he worked in the service industry throughout his career. He has been a Service Manager and a Self Employed business owner. Retired for 16 years, he devotes much of his time to the Men's Shed. Last year he clocked abut 1,800 hours to the Men's Shed.
Jackie Jules works at the Tkemlups te Secwepemc Museum and for School District #73 as a Language and Cultural Educator. She leads three types of tours at the Secwepemc Museum and Heritage Park: Residential School tours, Pre-contact in the museum galleries, and Ethnobotony in the Heritage Park. The tour may be led by another guide from the Museum and Heritage Park.
Barry Lane was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, and studied history at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. He later served as a Captain in the United Nations Emergency Force, Sinai, at its headquarters on the Suez Canal in Egypt. Since 1976, he has resided in Quebec City. Barry speaks fluent English and French, and is also conversant in Russian and Italian. After working in historical interpretation with Parks Canada, Barry became co-founder and Vice-President of Mendel Tours in 1984, a company that specializes in organizing academic travel. In Paris, in 1991, he was awarded the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry prize for his book, "Ce jour-là en Nouvelle-France". This award is given to the author of the best children’s book published in the French language, outside of France. Retired from Mendel Tours in 2014, Barry has just completed a book entitled Canadian Pacific and the Golden Age of Travel.
Alison is a combat videographer, who through her company, Tomboy Digital Productions, has created several thought-provoking feature videos: Op Faust: Hunger Winter '45, Burkas2Bullets, Chinatown: Then and Now and Kandahar. Earlier in her career, Alison was a camera person and covered live news hits, studio interviews, Olympic events, World Series Baseball, and numerous World Cup competitions in a variety of sports.
The Nowek Family has run the business since 1997. Ed Nowek founded his dream business "Bee World". It later became known as Planet Bee. Ed wanted people to discover "the amazing world of Honey bees".
Dr. McKinnon holds B.Sc. (Hons.) (1960) and Ph.D. (1963) degrees in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. From 1965-2001, he was a faculty member in the Chemistry Department at the University of Manitoba. He maintained an active research program and authored or coauthored 74 refereed papers, two reviews and three book chapters, and presented papers at international conferences. He has taught courses, mainly Organic Chemistry, at all university levels and received the Stanton Teaching Award from the University of Manitoba in 1995. He has a continuing interest in scientific education and a wide range of hobbies.
Rod Michell is a long time resident of Kamloops. With a Masters Degree in English Language and literature from Oxford, Rod taught in the TRU English Department for over 35 years. On retirement, Rod has continued to teach, this time for KALS, and since 2008 has taught as many as 20 courses in literature, especially the Classics. Rod’s love of music led him to offer to write the programme notes for the Kamloops Symphony concerts. It is out of his research for the Symphony Notes that the classes of “Come to the Concert” have evolved to become a regular item in the KALS calendar.
A Monastic Monk lives by the principles of the monastic life, contributing to the management and upkeep of the monastery.
Naomi Klein is a Guardian US columnist and contributing writer. She is the professor of climate justice and co-director of the Centre for Climate Justice at UBC. Her latest book End Times Fascism – and the Fight for the Living World, co-written with Astra Taylor, will be published this month. Astra Taylor is a writer, organizer and documentarian. Her books include the American Book Award winner, The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age.
Roland and his wife, Anne, are passionate community advocates who aim to preserve the natural world through philanthropy and education. Together they received honorary degrees from TRU in 2022. Roland was a Cariboo College student from 1970 to 1972, then transferred to Simon Fraser University. During the summers, he organized bus tours to Wells Gray Park, a business which grew into the largest outdoor tour company in BC.
Jack is an Assistant Professor of Law at Thompson Rivers University. His teaching and research focus is air and space law. His work has been cited in publications from NASA, the United States Institute of Peace, the European Parliament and the United States Congressional Research Service. From 2022 to 2025, he was the Editor of the Annals of Air and Space Law, produced by the Institute of Air and Space Law, McGill University.
Vashudha is a third year student at TRU. She was born in Nepal to a Nepalese mother and an Indian father who met at university in The Netherlands. The family moved to Canada when she was 12. Her father's work took her to Malaysia, where she lived for several years. Besides English, Vashudha speaks Nepalase. She holds an Indian passport and is a Permanent Resident of Canada. Last winter, she spent 2.5 months living in India in her father's village and 2.5 months living in Kathmandu with her maternal grandmother, aunts and cousins.
Dan has been performing improv in Kamloops since 2015, and has been the leader of The Freudian Slips Improv since 2019 (which was a really bad year to take over as the leader of an improv team). He has also acted, directed, and written for stage and screen.
Julie is the Co-founder and Director of Sammy’s Forgotten Felines Rescue Society, founded in 2010. She is, as well, the Owner/Operator of the Catloops Cat Cafe.
Born in England and trained as a nurse and midwife, Helen Parkyn spent 3 years working her way around the world and could find nowhere better to live than BC. After various postings, two years of university work, and a posting with the BC Health Service, she retired from work but not from travelling. Helen is one of the few people who has visited over 100 countries and still loves to travel.
Ray Pillar is a retired Thompson Rivers University administrator, Political Science instructor and former teacher assistant at the University of Victoria and York University. He continues to be a political commentator and a keen follower of Canadian and international politics. Ray has facilitated classes at KALs for over 15 years and has received the KALs volunteer award.
Mark Rakobowchuk PhD completed his first degree at the University of Ottawa in Human Kinetics. After many great research experiences in areas ranging from cardiac rehabilitation to environmental physiology, he continued his studies at McMaster University completing both a Master’s and a PhD in Cardiovascular Physiology. To gain more research experience, Mark completed a Post Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Leeds Multidisciplinary Cardiovascular Research Centre before becoming a Lecturer/Senior Researcher at the University of Essex and then Brunel University London. Finally, after a more prolonged stay in England than was expected, Mark accepted an Assistant Professor position at Thompson Rivers University where he continues his work researching the links between health, stress, and physiology. This work ranges from whole body performance to cell and molecular assessments.
KGinny Ratsoy, TRU Professor Emerita, has taught for Kals since 2007. Her scholarly publications have focussed on third-age learning, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and Canadian fiction, theatre, and small cities. She enjoys reviewing books for British Review, volunteering on the KALS Board, travelling, and, of course, reading.
Elma (Martens) Schemenauer grew up in a Saskatchewan Mennonite family and spent many years working in publishing in Toronto. She is the author of 78 books. Her 1940's-era Mennonite novel "Consider the Sunflowers" is set in Vancouver and rural Saskatchewan. Her 1970's-era Mennonite novel "Song for Susie Epp" takes place in a BC Interior city like Kamloops and her native Saskatchewan. Elma and her husband have lived in Kamloops since 2006.
Wolfgang Schneider studied chemistry and biology at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and eventually settled in Montreal. After several years doing research, he started a career as a clinical chemist supervising the biochemistry labs of the Montreal General and the Sacré-Coeur Hospital. Since his retirement in 2017 he has joined the McGill Community for Lifelong Learning. He enjoys participating in and moderating study groups, and preparing presentations in the areas of science, history, and food.
Murray Sholty is a member of the Hagwilget First Nation with extensive consulting experience for First Nations on governance, economic development, business, and taxation issues. Murray was a member of the Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law’s inaugural class of 2011, receiving his juris doctor in 2014. During his time with TRU Law, Murray was an active member of the Indigenous Law Students’ Association and participated in the Kawaskimhon National Aboriginal Rights Moot. In addition to his consulting work, Murray has continued to pursue higher education in law, obtaining his Master of Laws (specializing in Business Law) in 2019 and Master of Laws (specializing in Energy and Infrastructure Law) in 2021 from Osgoode Hall Law School. His teaching and research interests include Aboriginal Law, Business Law, Energy Law and Corporate Governance.
Marge is a retired Professional Biologist who has worked with BCIT and the District of Logan Lake on area restoration projects for well over 10 years.
Julie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Education degree from Memorial University in Newfoundland. Her passions in life (besides her husband, Rodney) include musical theatre, Disney and Christmas. Since 2017, she has been the host of the CFBX radio show, “On the Marquee”, which has been syndicated across Canada. Julie published her first novel, “That’s How You Know” in 2023.
Shannon Smryl is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Communication and Visual Arts at TRU. She is curious about how, as communities, we can rethink how we connect online in the interests of the public good.
Gord moved to Kamloops from Victoria in 2000 to work as a watershed stewardship and management consultant. In March 2005, he was hired by the BIG Little Science Centre Society (BLSCS) to run the Science Centre and be the Executive Director of the BLSCS. Gord's current responsibilities include all aspects of the operation of the Science Centre and the Society behind it.
Dawne is a retired Christian minister with an on-going and long standing interest in Palestine/Israel history and affairs. She has been to the area twice, and came back from each visit with two entirely different perspectives.
Major-General (Retired) Denis Thompson served 39 years in the Canadian Army deploying on multiple operations at home and abroad in Cyprus, Germany, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Egypt including command of NATO’s Task Force Kandahar (2008/09), Canada’s Special Operations Forces (2011-2014) and the Multinational Force & Observers in the Sinai (2014-2017). Since retirement he has been a periodic lecturer at University of Ottawa, Winnipeg, Queens, Carleton, Bishop’s, and McGill as well as a Senior Mentor and Instructor at the Canadian Forces College, Toronto. He is a fellow at the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Defence and Security Studies and remains in service as the Colonel of the Regiment for The Royal Canadian Regiment.
Dr. Sandra Vermeulen completed her PhD in Psychology at Simon Fraser University where her sub- discipline was psychology and the law (experimental forensic psychology). She is a retired Thompson Rivers University faculty member and taught courses in social psychology, psychology and the law, research methods, and statistics. Her research focused on the application of social cognitive processes to criminal thinking, juror decision-making, and other legal processes
Dr. Whitehead is a graduate of Cambridge University in England with a BA in Engineering, has an MBA from Harvard Business School, was a Fulbright Scholar and has a Ph. D from London Business School After a long, varied and successful career as a consultant, teacher and researcher on business strategies and management issues in large companies, Dr. Whitehead is now an adjunct lecturer for the Hult International Business School. In addition, he lectures at the University of the Third Age, Cambridge, on a range of topics including the Cold War, Empire. the Middle East, and on Progress and the Science of Happiness.