Our instructors

Maria Lourdes Palomares

Maria Lourdes 'Deng' Palomares, PhD, is the Senior Scientist and Manager of the Sea Around Us research initiative.

Early in her career, Dr. Palomares explored the field of computer science, which led to several leadership positions in the realm of the aquatic data sciences, such as postdoctoral fellow at the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) and Software Development and Database Scientist for the FishBase team in 1996. Deng's commitment to education is underscored by her role as an adjunct professor at the University of the Philippines (2010-2015).

In addition to managing the Sea Around Us and interfacing with its various partners, she is also involved in securing research funding to develop and improve the Sea Around Us infrastructure. She was nominated as FishBase Consortium Coordinator in 2017, which is associated with the role of Science Director in the Philippine NGO, Quantitative Aquatics, home of the FishBase and SeaLifeBase projects. She serves in the editorial boards of Frontiers in Marine Science's section on Marine Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Living Resources (since 2016) and the Philippine Journal of Fisheries (since 2018).

Dr. Palomares has published widely in the area of biodiversity information systems. For a selected listing, please view here.

Dr. Palomares holds a PhD from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Toulouse (Institut National Polytéchnique de Toulouse, France).

Sagar Pannu

Mariana Paspuel Paredes

Mariana Paspuel Paredes, MSc, is a course coordinator with UBC Extended Learning, and a front end developer at Accenture. She began teaching in 2018, and has gained significant experience in teaching, mentoring, and course management over the last few years. She works closely with students and faculty to ensure a seamless educational experience. At Accenture, she applies her expertise in coordination and problem-solving to deliver impactful digital solutions.

Joenita Paulrajan

Joenita leads the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Intercultural and International Development programs at UBC Extended Learning (ExL). She conducts research, designs and develops curricula and course materials, and leads a team of approximately 30 facilitators. Joenita also optimizes the integration of new online learning tools, strategies and instructional design to make the online experience accessible and interactive for adult learners.

With a PhD in intercultural studies and extensive experience across international contexts, Joenita regularly presents at conferences and hosts EDI workshops, both at UBC, at other post-secondary institutions and for organizations that have included the Chartered Professionals in Human Resources, the Conference Board of Canada and Asia-Pacific Association for International Education. Her outreach activities help inform ExL programs, and ensure it stays at the forefront of current EDI practices.

Annick Pellegrin

Dr Annick Pellegrin is a Sessional Lecturer of French at UBC. She holds a joint PhD in French and in Spanish and Latin American studies, and has taught at the university level for over 10 years. Throughout her teaching career, Annick has taught French language and grammar to native speakers, as well as students of French as a second language, and covered all levels from A1 to C2. Annick’s research interests include bandes dessinées (Franco-Belgian comics) and historietas (Latin American comics). She also serves as a member of the editorial board of Studies in Comics and as a columns and articles editor for the Comics Forum.

Andy Poystila

Maryam Raiyat Aliabadi

Maryam R. Aliabadi, BSc, MSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering, PhD in Computer Science, is a Postdoctoral Teaching and Research Fellow in the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia.

Guided by a passion for innovation, Maryam’s academic focus shifted towards applied machine learning for Cyber-Physical Systems during her PhD studies. She has over 10 years of international industrial experience as an R&D engineer in international companies and four years of teaching experience in international universities such as UBC and New York Tech.

Her commitment to the digital world's security extends beyond academia as the trailblazer behind cyber security education for children through gamification.

Gabriel Reygondeau

Alexandra Richmond

Alexandra Richmond has an MSc in International Marketing Communication Strategy, an MEd, and 13 years of experience in organizational administration and education. She is very involved with public and private sector organizations and teaches extensively both in the classroom and in the boardroom.

Heather Robertson