ACOTUP - Newsletter - Issue 28 - 2016

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5and societies, as well as meetings hosted by the American
Association of Geographers, World Congress on Gerontol-
ogy and Geriatrics, International Symposium on Cultural
Gerontology, Qualitative Health Research Conference, and
Research Conference on Urban Aboriginal Peoples.
Further signaling the strength of scholarship in our pro-
gram, publications authored by graduate students, and fac-
ulty members have been included among the most cited
(Huot and Laliberte Rudman, 2010; Laliberte Rudman,
2005, 2010, 2013; Phelan & Kinsella, 2009) and most read
articles (Durocher et al., 2014a,b; Phelan & Kinsella, 2009,
2014) in the Journal of Occupational Science. Articles have
also been among the most cited (Huot & Laliberte Rudman,
2015) and most read (Classen et al. 2014; Huot & Laliberte
Rudman, 2015; Taylor, Fayed & Mandich, 2007) in OTJR:
Occupational, Participation and Health. Reflecting addi-
tional contributions to scholarship in occupational science,
Dr. Sherrilene Classen is Editor-in-Chief, and Dr. Debbie Lal-
iberte Rudman is the Associate Editor - Occupational Sci-
ence for OTJR: Occupation, Participation, and Health. Drs.
Anne Kinsella and Evelyne Durocher are currently guest ed-
iting a special issue for this journal on occupation and jus-
tice.
Faculty members affiliated with the field have been
leaders in Occupational Science. Drs. Debbie Laliberte
Rudman and Lynn Shaw (now Vice-President Academic
and Dean at Pacific Coast University) have both served as
President of the Canadian Society of Occupational Scien-
tists (CSOS) and have each been awarded the society’s
Townsend and Polatajko Lectureship. Reflecting her contri-
butions to occupational science on a more global scale, Dr.
Debbie Laliberte Rudman has also served on the inaugural
board of the International Society for Occupational Science
(ISOS), was awarded the Ruth Zemke lectureship by the
Society for the Study of Occupation: USA, and is on the in-
ternational advisory board for the Journal of Occupational
Science. Dr. Suzanne Huot has served as Executive Director
and as an executive member on the board of the CSOS and
is currently on the ISOS board. Several of our graduate stu-
dents have also served on the CSOS board holding various
positions. Some have also received the CSOS Award in Stu-
dent Scholarship.
The Occupational Science field of the Health and Re-
habilitation Sciences program is open to students from a
variety of academic and professional backgrounds. Since
its inception, over 20 students have completedMasters and
Doctoral studies, with 14 currently enrolled. One student
has also completed the most recently available
MScOT/PhD combined program obtaining a Masters in
Occupational Therapy and PhD in Occupational Science.
Students have come from graduate and undergraduate pro-
grams in Occupational Therapy, Geography, Human Fac-
tors Engineering, Kinesiology, Psychology, International
Development, among others, as well as from within and
outside of Canada (e.g. Germany, Iceland, Austria, India,
Chile). Graduates have undertaken interesting career paths,
obtaining academic positions across Canada and abroad
(e.g. Australia, Germany), working as post-doctoral fellows,
for non-profit organizations (e.g. Canadian National Insti-
tute for the Blind), and in diverse health care settings. There
are current 10 faculty members affiliated with the field,
many of whom can currently supervise incoming Masters
and Doctoral students. People interested in pursuing a de-
gree in Occupational Science can contact the field leader,
Dr. Suzanne Huot and can obtain more
information at:
Five doctoral candidates/students in Occupational Science at the Uni-
versity of Western Ontario who presented at the Sponsorship for the
Health and Wellbeing through Occupation conference at
Bournemouth University organized by Occupational Science Europe
in September, 2015. Pictured from left to right: Kathleen Sandy-
Thompson, Sigrún Kristín Jónasdóttir, Lisette Farias Vera, Sachindri
Wijekoon, and Nedra Peter
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