Our instructors

Iva Cheung

Iva Cheung (She/Her/Hers), MSc, MPub, PhD, is a plain language trainer and researcher, and a Certified Professional Editor with Editors Canada. Iva runs a publishing consultancy that offers indexing, print design, and editing services. She has provided plain language training to health, academic, and legal professionals. As an accessibility advocate, she works with people who use health services to co-create communication tools they can understand.

You can learn more about Iva on her website.

Daniela Chimisso Dos Santos

Daniela Chimisso Dos Santos, BA, LLB, LLM, SJD, is an expert on mining and sustainability. She has practised law in the oil, gas and mining industries for close to 20 years, and has extensive national and international experience in Sub-Saharan Africa, South America and Asia.

Daniela is the principal consultant at Invenient Consulting Solutions, and was recently a senior governance advisor at the sustainability consulting firm Proactiva. She has also held roles at McCarthy Tétrault, Shell, Hatch, and Vale where she led a team of more than 45 lawyers in 11 jurisdictions.

In addition to serving as a board member of Transparency International Canada, Daniela is a member of the ICC Canada Task Force on Addressing Issues of Corruption in International Arbitration. She’s also a member of the Environmental Appeal Board, Forest Appeals Commission and the Oil and Gas Appeal Tribunal in British Columbia. The United Nations Development Programme has recognized her as an extractives expert.

Daniela has published in the areas of mining and sustainability, business and human rights, mining finance, and sovereign debt and human rights. She has lectured and spoken at universities, events and associations across North America, and has presented her work at Harvard Law School, University of Cambridge Law School, Center for International Governance Innovation and Society for Institutional and Organizational Economics.

Diana Cho

Diana Cho, BA, BSW, MPS, is an American Sign Language instructor, and has been a program administrator, facilitator, and career and admissions counsellor.

At the Rochester Institute of Technology, she served as a departmental and program administrator, and staff and student supervisor. She implemented, delivered and taught curriculum and service programs, and was a career and admissions counsellor. While at the Vera Institute of Justice, Diana worked to improve services for women with disabilities and Deaf women who have experienced violence. She has also served as meeting facilitator with several national non-profit organizations, and has volunteered for countless community activities.

Diana is Deaf, and delights in supporting and empowering Deaf and hearing people. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Bachelor’s degree in Logic and Buddhism, and Master’s in Professional Studies, concentrating in Deaf Education and School Psychology. Outside of teaching, she is completing life coach training.

June Choi

Villy Christensen

Dr. Villy Christensen, CAND. SCIENT, PHD, is a professor at the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. Dr. Christensen is a globally recognized expert in marine ecosystem modelling. As the principal developer of the Ecopath with Ecoism modelling approach, his work has significantly influenced ecosystem-based management worldwide.

John Christopoulos

Chantelle Cocquyt

Matthew Connell

Matt Connell has extensive experience teaching various subjects among several age groups. He taught ESL for kindergarten through high school in South Korea for almost ten years. Following this, he earned his Master of Data Science at the University of British Columbia, became a  teaching assistant for graduate students to learn the statistical programming language R.

 
He has continued his passion for teaching and data science through his work as a Data Analyst and Software Engineer, as well as teaching courses on the Data Science Toolbox and Data Visualization.

Dianne Cook

Jeremy Cowie

Jeremy Cowie brings over 11 years of operations and coordination experience from news broadcasting, where he supported teams in adopting new technologies and solving problems under tight deadlines. After completing UBC Extended Learning's AI courses, he developed practical AI case studies and presented them in live classes. His work focuses on developing no-code and low-code AI solutions to business problems, applying AI to project management and business operations and making AI accessible to non-technical professionals. Jeremy is dedicated to helping learners progress from initial curiosity to a confident and applied understanding of AI tools.

Molly Cross-Blanchard

Molly Cross-Blanchard (she/her) is a white and Métis writer, educator and editor born in Treaty 3 (Fort Frances, ON), raised in Treaty 6 (Prince Albert, SK), and currently living in Treaty 1 (Winnipeg, MB). She is a grant writer for Room Magazine and a post-secondary teacher of Indigenous Studies. Molly's poetry collection, Exhibitionist, was published with Coach House Books in 2021 and she’s currently working on a collection of short stories about Truly Horrible Women.

Meet Molly Cross-Blanchard.

Travis Czech

Travis Czech is an EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker and Network Defender who serves as an instructor for UBC Extended Learning. Balancing roles as a solutions and security architect alongside his work as a business and technology consultant, he teaches across a broad spectrum of disciplines, including cybersecurity, software development, ethical hacking and data engineering. Notably, he specializes in training Data, Software, Security and Systems Engineers to major defense contractors and global consultancies, including Leonardo, KPMG and Sopra Steria.

Travis’s entrepreneurial journey began with a business dedicated to mentoring seniors in technology and helping small enterprises establish their digital presence. During his 14-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces, he honed crucial leadership skills, discipline and instructional methodologies—all while continuing to manage and grow his technology ventures. Since transitioning from the military, Travis has shifted his focus to education and mentorship.

Today, his consulting and educational initiatives include partnering with Indigenous communities to implement IT and security strategies, while guiding the safe and effective adoption of AI. Committed to sharing his expertise broadly, Travis is also the author of several technical books, including Cyber Security: Rust for Ethical Hacking, Cyber Security: Python for Penetration Testing and Cyber Security: Incident Response Plans.

Maura Da Cruz

Maura Da Cruz brings extensive experience to her work in organizational development, leadership development and program design as a Learning Consultant and former lead of UBC Coaching Services. As a master certified coach, and external coach with UBC Coaching Services, Maura’s multidimensional and holistic approach facilitates leaders, managers, and individuals in transition to create audacious goals while creating authentic, vibrant and fulfilling lives. Maura is passionate and dedicated to supporting individuals and work teams tap into their strengths and natural abilities to achieve exponential and sustainable results. A trained practitioner in Appreciative Inquiry, Maura has effectively facilitated leadership, team development, strategic planning, and strengths-based programs for a wide spectrum of work groups and professionals ranging from executives, senior managers, academic heads, emerging leaders and front-line staff.

Taslim Damji

Kelly Davidson

Hugh William Davies

Valentin Deransart

Jennifer Diamond

Socorro Esther Dominguez Vidana

Socorro Esther Dominguez Vidaña (She/her) holds a Master of Data Science degree from UBC and is a data scientist I at University of Wisconsin. She facilitates Programming in Python for Data Science and Introduction to Machine Learning at UBC-ExL. She has an extensive experience in data analysis and computational methods, particularly in the geosciences. She has made significant contributions to the Neotoma Paleoecological Database, focusing on improving data accessibility, integration, and analytical workflows for global ecological and paleoenvironmental research. Her work involves developing innovative approaches to managing and analyzing large datasets, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. With a strong foundation in research and teaching, Socorro applies data science techniques to enhance scientific understanding and decision-making. She is passionate about creating efficient, impactful solutions to complex data challenges in scientific and technical domains.

Dinorah Dugas

Dinorah Dugas has been teaching Spanish with UBC Extended Learning for 28 years with excellent evaluations from her students. Dinorah is currently the head instructor for the Spanish program and assistant for curriculum development. She is an enthusiastic language teacher who loves her work just as much as the first day and keeps exploring and creating new ideas in the field. Dinorah believes that each student in her class is important and deserves her respect, encouragement, and the very best she has to offer.

View all current Spanish courses.