Our instructors

Laurence Neal

Laurence Lewis Neal is a trans/nonbinary writer, historian and artist holding dual master’s degrees in Creative Writing and History. They are an alumnus of UBC and currently live on Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh lands. Neal’s nonfiction essays have been published in Dissent and Guernica, their short fiction was a Summer Literary Prize finalist, and an excerpt of their forthcoming novel was longlisted for the 2026 Disquiet Literary Prize. Their poetry will appear in Eavesdrop’s 2026 anthology. Neal incorporates autobiographical elements in their fiction, fiction techniques in their nonfiction, and poetic language and historical research in all their work. Over the past decade, they have taught writing to students of diverse ages, learning styles and neurotypes, and they are passionate about passing along craft wisdom and community support. 

Justin Newell

Justin Newell, art historian and artist, has lectured extensively on Western Painting, Sculpture and Architecture from 1300-1963, the Bible in Western Art, and the Greek Myths in Art. His lectures have been offered at UBC and local colleges, as well as aboard Elite Cruise Ships, where he is recognized as one of their top special interest speakers. He also conducts art history tours to Venice, Florence, Rome, Paris, London, and other art centres of the world, weaving his knowledge of history, art, political events, and famous sights into his presentations.

Lucia Nogacz

Lucia Helena Kouten Nogacz, MA, has close to 30 years’ experience teaching Portuguese language, literature and writing to learners of all ages in Brazil and Canada.

After earning her master’s degree in Portuguese language and literature, Lucia worked as a teacher and pedagogic programs coordinator at elementary and high schools in Brazil. She was also a pedagogic director at a preschool in Curitiba where she developed bilingual Portuguese-English projects.

In Canada, Lucia has worked as a language instructor at Berlitz Canada since 2010, and is accredited in Practical Teaching Techniques in speaking, listening, reading and writing from the same institution. She has taught several levels of Brazilian Portuguese classes to various ages and has prepared students for the Portuguese Language Proficiency Test (CELPE-BRAS). Lucia also has experience revising, translating and proofreading books and scholarly materials from Spanish and English to Portuguese.

Lucia was born in Curitiba, Brazil, and moved to Vancouver more than a decade ago. She reads books of a variety of genres daily, and has a passion for learning about Portuguese and English literature and languages.

David Ogle

David Ogle, MSc, COC, PCC, believes coaching is an effective means to distill our genius into simple and doable actions. He applies his background in neuroscience and organizational leadership to coaching executives, senior leadership teams, and Olympic athletes. By leveraging a deeper understanding of the brain and seeking a greater awareness around one’s role as a leader and their contribution, the highest potential for performance is achievable.

David holds a Master of Science in Applied Neuroscience and Mental Health and brings over a decade of coaching and organizational leadership experience in high-growth organizations. He graduated from the UBC Certificate in Organizational Coaching, is a certified StandOut Strengths Coach and has completed courses through CTI.

Ryan Ollis

Rodolfo Ortiz

Joel Ostblom

Joel Ostblom, PhD, is a post-doctoral teaching fellow in the Master of Data Science program at UBC. Joel discovered his passion for data science and reproducibility while completing graduate work in developing quantitative image analysis pipelines for stem cell and biology research.

He has co-created or has been the lead developer of several courses and workshops at UBC and the University of Toronto. Joel regularly contributes to open source projects and data science learning resources to promote data literacy and share his enthusiasm for programmatic data analysis. Learn more about Joel.

Maria Palomares

Maria Lourdes "Deng" Palomares, PhD, is Senior Scientist and Manager of the Sea Around Us research initiative. With a background in computer science and aquatic data sciences, she has held leadership roles in global research institutions, including as a postdoctoral fellow at the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management and a database scientist for the FishBase project.

Dr. Palomares’ work focuses on biodiversity information systems and marine resource management. She has contributed extensively to global fisheries research and serves on editorial boards for marine science publications.

Maria Lourdes Palomares

Maria Lourdes "Deng" Palomares, PhD, is Senior Scientist and Manager of the Sea Around Us research initiative. With a background in computer science and aquatic data sciences, she has held leadership roles in global research institutions, including as a postdoctoral fellow at the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management and a database scientist for the FishBase project.

Dr. Palomares’ work focuses on biodiversity information systems and marine resource management. She has contributed extensively to global fisheries research and serves on editorial boards for marine science publications.

Sagar Pannu

Mariana Paspuel Paredes

Mariana Paspuel Paredes, MSc, is a course coordinator with UBC Extended Learning, and a front end developer at Accenture. She began teaching in 2018, and has gained significant experience in teaching, mentoring, and course management over the last few years. She works closely with students and faculty to ensure a seamless educational experience. At Accenture, she applies her expertise in coordination and problem-solving to deliver impactful digital solutions.

Joenita Paulrajan

Joenita leads the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Intercultural and International Development programs at UBC Extended Learning (ExL). She conducts research, designs and develops curricula and course materials, and leads a team of approximately 30 facilitators. Joenita also optimizes the integration of new online learning tools, strategies and instructional design to make the online experience accessible and interactive for adult learners.

With a PhD in intercultural studies and extensive experience across international contexts, Joenita regularly presents at conferences and hosts EDI workshops, both at UBC, at other post-secondary institutions and for organizations that have included the Chartered Professionals in Human Resources, the Conference Board of Canada and Asia-Pacific Association for International Education. Her outreach activities help inform ExL programs, and ensure it stays at the forefront of current EDI practices.

Loghan Paylor

Loghan Paylor is a queer, trans writer whose first novel The Cure for Drowning (Randomhouse Canada 2024) won Canada Reads 2026, was long-listed for the 2024 Giller Prize, named a Globe and Mail Best Book, and a finalist for the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize and the Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes. Their work has also appeared in the Notre Dame Review, Room, Prairiefire, CBC Arts and on the long-list for the CBC Nonfiction Prize. A graduate of The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University, Paylor has an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and divides their time between teaching, writing, and co-owning a game company.

Meet Loghan Paylor.

Annick Pellegrin

Dr Annick Pellegrin is a Sessional Lecturer of French at UBC. She holds a joint PhD in French and in Spanish and Latin American studies, and has taught at the university level for over 10 years. Throughout her teaching career, Annick has taught French language and grammar to native speakers, as well as students of French as a second language, and covered all levels from A1 to C2. Annick’s research interests include bandes dessinées (Franco-Belgian comics) and historietas (Latin American comics). She also serves as a member of the editorial board of Studies in Comics and as a columns and articles editor for the Comics Forum.

Patrick Pennefather

Dr. Patrick Pennefather, PhD, is an assistant professor at UBC Theatre and Film, co-appointed at the Master of Digital Media (MDM) Program, and a faculty in residence at UBC’s Emerging Media Lab. Patrick teaches improvisation and sound design across media and collaborates on the design and research of mixed reality (MR) prototypes.

He has mentored multi-disciplinary teams co-constructing scalable digital prototypes with more than 50 companies and organizations. He regularly investigates the user experience of MR experiences, composes for a variety of media, and consults dance and theatre makers in extending the reality of their physical stages.

Patrick has facilitated workshops internationally, and has co-published in a variety of journals within the fields of extended reality (xR), virtual reality, MR and Agile application development. In the field of medicine, he has co-published a paper with Dr. Claudia Krebs exploring the role of xR in visualizations for use in medical education.

Regie Marie Plana-Alcuaz

Andy Poystila

Ajay Puri

Joseph Puyat

Zhichun Qi