Amanda Benjamin, professor in the faculty of education, will receive a Dr. Allan P. Stuart Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching on Thursday, Oct. 24 in Fredericton. Dr. Benjamin began working at UNB in 2009 when she joined the faculty of education as an assistant professor. Before joining UNB, she worked as a research fellow at the University of Glasgow for two years.
Dr. Benjamin’s expertise is in adult education. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate students, and her courses are often centered around adult learning, diversity and inclusion for adult learners, and the methods and strategies of adult teaching. She is the supervisor for the adult education practicum and the coordinator for the instructor development program. Her main field of research is the transition to adulthood for adolescents and many of her studies are related to the effects of the labour market and how precarious employment impacts young people.
As well as teaching adult education courses, Dr. Benjamin also supervises undergraduate and graduate adult education students. As an advisor, she welcomes students with open arms, helps them navigate their courses, and supports them through their academic journeys. Her students say that it is her caring, approachable nature and her extensive knowledge in her field that make her an outstanding educator.
Since joining UNB, Dr. Benjamin has published numerous research papers, contributed chapters to multiple books, and has been both primary investigator and co-investigator on many research projects. She is an active member of the UNB community and has served in various administrative roles and faculty committees over the past 15 years. Currently, Dr. Benjamin is an adult education program coordinator, a prior learning assessment evaluator, and a member of the graduate studies committee. Outside of UNB, she is a member of the Canadian Association for Studies in Adult Education where she has served as secretary, Atlantic representative, and on various conference planning committees.
The impact Dr. Benjamin has had and continues to have on her students and her contributions to the field of education make her an ideal recipient of the Dr. Allan P. Stuart Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Jae Ogilvie, assistant dean and teaching professor in the faculty of forestry and environmental management, will receive a Dr. Allan P. Stuart Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching on Thursday, Oct. 24 in Fredericton. Professor Ogilvie first began working for the University of New Brunswick (UNB) as a research associate in 2009 while completing a master of science in forestry degree. In 2015, professor Ogilvie began working as a contract academic instructor at UNB’s Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Management. After graduating in 2017, he became an associate of the Canadian Rivers Institute, co-director of UNB’s Esri Canada Centre of Excellence, and then teaching professor in 2020. He was appointed assistant dean of the faculty of forestry & environmental management in 2021.
Professor Ogilvie’s computing skills and love of the outdoors first led him into his academic instructing role in 2009, where he discovered his natural talent for education. He has been instructing undergraduate courses in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), forest inventory and quantitative skills for the faculty of forestry & environmental management ever since.
Although professor Ogilvie’s current focus is on his teachings, he has made many contributions to forestry research throughout his career. Many of his studies relate to GIS-based landscape process models, and he has played a significant role in the Wet Areas Mapping (WAM) initiative with the government of Alberta. While working on the initiative, professor Ogilvie developed high resolution WAM datasets for 300,000 square kilometres of Alberta’s forest and oilsands regions, which were largely accepted by the government and industry partners in their day-to-day operations. This contribution led to his team receiving the 2011 Alberta Science and Technology’s (ASTech) Outstanding Achievement in Environmental Technology Award, as well as the 2013 Emerald Award. In 2017, his team received the Canadian Forest Management Group Achievement Award from the Canadian Institute of Forestry while he was working with the Forest Watershed Research Centre at UNB under Dr. Paul Arp.
An educator respected by all who come into his classroom, it is professor Ogilvie’s compassionate and welcoming nature that cultivates a sense of academic confidence in his students. He is described as the type of educator who will always go the extra mile, and his genuine care in his students’ success leaves a lasting impression. For these reasons, he is an ideal recipient of the Dr. Allan P. Stuart Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching.
