Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies appoints new associate dean

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and Dean Douglas Deutschman are pleased to welcome Brent Wolfe, professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, as the faculty’s new associate dean. Wolfe will join the team starting on July 1, 2018 for a three-year term.

"Brent's extensive background supporting graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, as a supervisor, mentor and graduate coordinator, makes him a natural fit for the faculty," says Deutschman. "We are so excited to have him join us."

For the past six years, Wolfe has been the graduate coordinator of the MA, MSc and PhD in Geography programs, as well as the Master in Environmental Studies program. He has also supervised several graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in his 16 years as a professor at Laurier.

Wolfe earned his BSc and MSc in Geological Sciences from the University of Manitoba and his PhD in Earth Sciences from the University of Waterloo. Since then, he has been widely recognized and awarded for his research on the impacts of climate change and industrial development on freshwater landscapes in northern Canada, in particular, the Peace-Athabasca-Slave River Corridor in Alberta and the Northwest Territories; the Old Crow Flats in the Yukon; and the Hudson Bay Lowlands in Manitoba. From 2002 to 2012, Wolfe held a Northern Research Chair with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

As associate dean, Wolfe’s role will be to act as a point of contact for postdoctoral fellows and their supervisors, chair the Graduate Student Appeals Committee, provide leadership for Laurier’s ASPIRE professional skills development program and assist the dean with other strategic initiatives.

Wolfe will be replacing Matthew Smith, professor in the Department of Biology, who has been the associate dean since 2011 and served as acting dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in 2017. Smith will be taking on a new role as chair of the Department of Biology.

“Matt’s presence will be greatly missed,” says Deutschman. “He provided invaluable support in a critical time of expansion of graduate programs and number of students. Moreover, he was deeply involved in promoting visibility within the Laurier community for the growing number of postdoctoral fellows, which has doubled in the last 10 years.”