Faculty Affiliates

Faculty Affiliates

Faculty		Research Interests
	Grant Charles	Dr. Charles is an associate professor at the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC and associate faculty member of the Division of Adolescent Health and Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC Vancouver. Grant Charles’ research falls into two board categories of vulnerable children and youth and system change. He is currently involved in projects with young carers, children of parents with mental illness, families where there is a parental mental illness, youth homelessness, youth in care and student-to-student abuse in the Indian Residential School System.
	Jamie Piercy	Dr. Jamie Piercy is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia in Kelowna, BC. As a practicing clinical neuropsychologist, Dr. Piercy is passionate about helping children and families grow and thrive in our community. With a keen interest in developmental psychology, her research delves into the interplay between medical risks, psychosocial factors, and childhood development. Additionally, she explores the intricate dynamics of childhood grief and loss, as well as the ramifications of chronic stressors on both the mental and physical health of caregivers with loved ones impacted by the overdose epidemic. She is committed to training graduate students in child and youth assessment and intervention in the UBC-O Psychology Clinic. Dr. Piercy has a Ph.D. from Wayne State University and a BSc from the University of Victoria.
	Jeffrey More	Jeffrey More is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia in Kelowna. Jeffrey has over 25 years of practice concentrating in rural, remote, and medium-sized city environments. He provides counselling, training, and consultation emphasizing anti-colonial clinical practice and trauma treatment, including posttraumatic stress, intergenerational trauma, and complex trauma. Jeffrey’s research intends to enhance practice in clinical social work, work with Indigenous peoples, and child protection. Jeffrey’s teaching aligns with his practice and research. He focuses on advanced clinical social practice, interpersonal skills, trauma-specific practice, anti-colonial clinical social work practice and education. Jeffrey’s role with the Centre includes that of co-investigator and co-authorship. He also liaisons with agencies and communities and leads the Centre’s team to pursue culturally safe research processes. More earned his MSW from UBC Okanagan and is currently a Ph.D. student in social work at Memorial University.
	Judy Gillespie	Dr. Judy Gillespie is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia in Kelowna, BC. Her current research focuses on multi-sector collaboration for community-level change to enhance Indigenous child and family well-being, including participatory approaches to examine culturally- relevant methods for evaluation of the impacts of multi-sector collaborations. She is also interested in place; the role of place in well-being, the interactions of person and place, including the ways in which professional practice is shaped by place using a post-structural lens. Dr. Gillespie has a PhD from the University of British Columbia and an MSW from the University of Calgary.
	Lea Caragata	Dr. Lea Caragata is Director and an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Areas of research and specialization include gender, poverty and marginalization including in international context. Her research has examined welfare and labour market changes, critical constructions of resilience and the provisioning roles played by children and youth in low-income families. Other research has focused on citizenship, social movements, gender and social exclusion. Lea contributes to “Canada’s conversation” through her active role as a member of the Educational Review committee of The Walrus magazine as well as having served on numerous non-profit Boards. Dr. Caragata completed her PhD at the University of Toronto, focused on the interplay between land use, social movements and the democratization of public space. Her return to academe to do a PhD followed an almost 20-year career that included grassroots community organizing, social housing development, public policy coordination and public administration in non-profit community organizations and in government.
	Monty Montgomery	Dr. Montgomery is an associate professor at the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. His professional experience includes social welfare policy development for First Nations and Provincial governments and planning, developing and administering First Nations Social Development, Post-Secondary Education and Child Welfare programs. Monty has a PhD in Education from the University of Saskatchewan and a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Victoria.
	Shelly Ben-David	Dr. Shelly Ben-David is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia in Kelowna, BC. Her program of research works closely with youth and young adults with mental health challenges and their families to: 1) examine decision-making and engagement with mental health services; 2) examine social, community, and online mental health messages; and 3) understand how identity is disrupted after the development of a mental health disorder. Dr. Ben-David has a PhD in social work from New York University, an MSW from Columbia University, and a BSc in psychology and religion from the University of Toronto.

Faculty Affiliates Alumni

Faculty		Research Interests
	Sheila Marshall	Dr. Marshall is a professor emeritus at the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC and associate faculty member of the Division of Adolescent Health and Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC Vancouver. Her work primarily focuses on the ways in which adolescents’ social relationships promote psychosocial development and how adolescents actively engage in their own development during interactions with parents and peers. Her research also includes investigations of how foster parents integrate children into the family. Dr. Marshall has a PhD and MSc in Family Relations and Human Development and a BASc in Family Studies from the University of Guelph.

Last Update: May 7, 2024