Competition Details

Allen Ball, BA (Honours), MVA, is Professor, Painting, in the Department of Art and Design, at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Born in London, United Kingdom, Allen completed his undergraduate training at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (achieving First Class Honours in Painting and a commendation in Printmaking). As a Commonwealth Scholar, he graduated from the University of Alberta's Master of Visual Arts program.

Emiliya Picard is the Community Librarian for the Strathcona Branch of the Edmonton Public Library. She completed her Master's in Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta in 2022, where her research focused on emerging issues and trends in makerspaces and library and information science. During her graduate studies, she was awarded the David and Rhea Jenkinson Prize in Young Adult Literature.

Before relocating to Edmonton, Emiliya completed an Honours Bachelor of Applied Science in Justice Studies at the University of Guelph. She collaborated as a student of law with Innocence Canada to help secure the exoneration of Maria Shepherd, who had been wrongfully convicted. In her current role, Emiliya is dedicated to building meaningful relationships with community members. She actively engages in consultation and collaboration to advocate for local needs and help shape inclusive, responsive library services and policies.

Tracy Raivio, PhD, is Vice-Provost and Dean of the Faculty of Graduate + Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) at the University of Alberta. As Vice-Provost and Dean, Tracy has a deep commitment to the cultivation of support for, and the success of, the university’s 8,300+ graduate students and 500+ postdoctoral scholars, who pursue study and work in virtually every field imaginable: from the humanities to the physical sciences, from nursing to neuroscience and from cosmology to nanotechnology.

Tracy provides leadership through advocacy, seeking to foster a collaborative approach to graduate education and supervision across campus and the elevation of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in the wider community.

Cody Steinke is a University of Alberta Alumnus (BEd, MEd) with a passion for hands-on education, outreach, and community engagement. He has worked as the Faculty of Science Community Engagement Coordinator since 2014 where he supports science outreach programs, public events, school events, and adult learning opportunities. Since 2015 he has grown the massively popular Science Summer Camps, which brings thousands of young scientists on to campus every year. Outside of work, Cody loves cinema, trivia, board games, baking, and travel.

Megan Strickfaden, PhD, is a design anthropologist and migrant who has lived in seven countries. She currently makes a home in Edmonton’s University of Alberta at the Department of Human Ecology in Amiskwaciy Waskahikan Treaty 6 Territory. As a professor, Megan solves complicated problems for people who live without sight, move around speedily on wheels, and/or process the world differently from others.

Megan is interested in exploring and provoking change through visual and tactile arts. She has been involved in making, designing, and researching through imagery, objects, films, and exhibitions. For example, Megan has directed/produced 40+ films, including Light in the Borderlands (2013), Dementia Care by Design (2015), and Smoke Break (2019) and has a series of Illustrated films co-created with older folks with disabilities. Her attention to visual, tactile and material engagements is foundational to her ongoing pursuits.