Leadeship and Governance Updates

We’re pleased to share some updates regarding the leadership and governance of our Partnership Grant.

In leadership:

  • Carrie Demmans Epp is now Co-Lead for the Technology & New Media theme, joining Jenny Thomson. Previously, she co-led the Language Background & Culture theme with Henny Yeung.
  • Guofang Li will now serve as Co-Lead for the Language Background & Culture theme alongside Henny.

In governance:

  • Jenny Thomson has taken on an additional role as Lead for the Finance Sub-Committee, while continuing as Lead for the Research Sub-Committee.
  • Carrie Demmans Epp is now co-chair of the Training Committee with Marc Joanisse.

We’d also like to extend our gratitude to Suzanne Curtin and Muhammad Abdul-Mageed for their contributions to the Training Committee.

Thank you all for your continued support and commitment to the success of this grant!
 

Ensuring Full Literacy 2025 Annual Meeting: RSVP & Call for Presentations

We are thrilled to announce that the Ensuring Full Literacy (EFL) 2025 Annual Meeting will take place from June 4 & 5, 2025 at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (AMII) in Edmonton, Alberta!

As part of the event, we will make space for a number of presentations, and we are pleased to invite you to present at the meeting. To confirm your attendance (in-person or virtually) and to indicate your interest in presenting, please fill out this Initial RSVP & Call for Presentation form by March 15, 2025.

For any questions, please contact Nympha at ensuring.literacy@ubc.ca.
 

New Trainees

We are pleased to introduce Dr. Erica Flaten and Dr. Helen Lu.

Dr. Flaten completed her B.Sc. Honours in Psychology at the University of Manitoba and earned her Ph.D. in Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour from McMaster University. She's working with Dr. Janet Werker at the Infant Studies Centre to investigate how rhythm supports word learning by engaging infants' neural and visual signals.

Dr. Lu received her B.A. in Psychology and Linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Southern California. Drs. Janet Werker and Alexis Black co-supervise her research on the cognitive and perceptual mechanisms underlying language acquisition in infancy. 

If you have new trainees, please ask them to fill out this form or email Nympha at ensuring.literacy@ubc.ca to let her know.
 

Membership News

  • Dr. Marc Joanisse recently joined CBC’s call-in show Just Asking to discuss the best ways to teach kids to read. 

    🎧 Listen here: CBC - How to Teach Kids to Read
     

  • Shoelace Learning has published a new study in collaboration with Michigan Virtual, exploring the impact of game-based learning on student engagement and outcomes.

    📄 Read the full study here: Shoelace Learning Research Report

  • Congratulations to Dr. Alona Fyshe on her renewal as a CIFAR AI Chair! 

    🔗 Read more: CIFAR AI Chair Announcement
 

Contact Us!

If you have any EFL-related news or events that you would like to promote, please contact Nympha at ensuring.literacy@ubc.ca.