Our instructors

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.

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

Sana Raddadi

Sabrina Rai

Maryam Raiyat Aliabadi

Maryam R. Aliabadi, BSc, MSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering, PhD in Computer Science, is a Postdoctoral Teaching and Research Fellow in the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia.

Guided by a passion for innovation, Maryam’s academic focus shifted towards applied machine learning for Cyber-Physical Systems during her PhD studies. She has over 10 years of international industrial experience as an R&D engineer in international companies and four years of teaching experience in international universities such as UBC and New York Tech.

Her commitment to the digital world's security extends beyond academia as the trailblazer behind cyber security education for children through gamification.

Wesley Regan

Dean Regier

Vicente Regis