Who We Are - Director
Dr. Michelle Lam
Dr. Michelle Lam is a faculty member in the Curriculum and Pedagogy Department at Brandon University and Director of the Centre for Applied Research and Education in Indigenous, Rural, and Remote Settings (BU CARES). She was an English as an Additional Language teacher for ten years and also served as the Director of Teacher Training and Development for an educational project in Vietnam. She is interested in community education, rural migration, identity, anti-racism, and social justice.
As director of a research centre that focuses on rural and Indigenous community-engaged research, Dr. Lam is invested in developing partnerships and working collaboratively with community members, students, researchers, teachers, and leaders to ensure research knowledge is accessible, ethical, and useful to the community. She has managed multiple federal funding grants and has single-authored and co-authored national and international publications on areas such as equity, ethics, positionality, and research methodology. Her strong background in interdisciplinary collaboration and community-based research serves her well in carrying out community-engaged, participatory projects. She has received numerous awards as well as invitations to share her knowledge through book chapters, articles, lectures, and conference presentations. Dr. Lam also has experience in HQP training, integrating student research assistants into existing research projects, and achieving training and mentoring goals within a smaller university.