People
For information on the people who make up our School please see the pages below. You can also use the global search bar at the top of this webpage to search the University of Alberta for people, programs, services, and other information.
Explore People at SLIS
Administration
All graduate student advising in the Faculty of Education has moved to Education Student Services (ESS), a central faculty unit. Current students can contact us via email or by visiting ESS in person.
All current and prospective student inquiries should be sent to essgrad4@ualberta.ca.
Kenneth Gariepy, PhD
Director
5-111 Education North
kd.gariepy@ualberta.ca
Danielle Allard, PhD
Graduate Coordinator
5-166 Education North
allard@ualberta.ca
Rebecca Saul
Graduate Program Administrator (Education Student Services)
1-107 Education North
slis@ualberta.ca
Contact for current and prospective student inquiries related to admissions, graduation, course registration, and scholarship opportunities
Chantelle Freitas
Program Coordinator
5-107 Education North
slis.admin@ualberta.ca
Contact for accreditation support, event coordination, general and governance administration, executive assistance to the Director
James Park
Learning Consultant, Technologies in Education
Faculty
Associate Professor
University of Toronto, 2015
5-166 Education North
allard@ualberta.ca
View Research Profile
Professor
University of Western Ontario, 2012
334 Education South
mmcnally@ualberta.ca
View Research Profile
Professor
University of Western Ontario, 2011
5-169 Education North
toliphan@ualberta.ca
View Research Profile
Professor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008
5-165 Education North
(780) 492-8797
drathi@ualberta.ca
View Research Profile
Associate Professor
University of North Texas, 2018
452 Education South
(780) 492-0121
reyesaya@ualberta.ca
View Research Profile
Professor
Vice Dean, Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies
University of Strathclyde, 2004
5-113A Education North
ashiri@ualberta.ca
View Research Profile
Professor
Florida State University, 2003
5-161 Education North
dzhao@ualberta.ca
View Research Profile
Academic Adjunct Colleagues
Dr. Kathleen De Long
Academic Adjunct Colleague
Interim SLIS Chair (2020-2022)
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
kathleen.delong@ualberta.ca
MLIS, University of Alberta, 1979
Courses Taught:
- LIS 504 – Leadership and Management Principles for Library and Information Services
- LIS 545 – Human Resources Management
Gail de Vos, MLIS
Academic Adjunct Colleague
Associate Lecturer, Faculty of Education
gail.devos@gmail.com
Courses Taught:
- LIS 510 – Storytelling
- LIS 516 – Canadian Children's Literature for Young People in Schools and Libraries
Dr. Margaret Law
Academic Adjunct Colleague
Associate Lecturer, Faculty of Education
mzlaw@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 510 – Leadership and Management Principles for Library and Information Services
- LIS 531 – Collection Management
- LIS 545 – Management of Human Resources
- LIS 592 – Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility in Librarianship
Pilar Martinez, MLIS
Academic Adjunct Colleague
Chief Executive Officer, Edmonton Public Library
(780) 886-4547
pmartinez@epl.ca
MLIS, University of Alberta, 1990
Professional Interests & Activities:
- MLIS External Program Advisory Committee (MEPAC)
- Urban Libraries Council Executive Board
- OCLC Board of Trustees
- Public Lending Rights Commission
- Community engagement, intellectual freedom, service excellence
ATS Lecturers 2025-2026
This page is a listing of our current ATS Lecturers for this academic year. Please note that instructors may teach different courses from year to year, and not all ATS Lecturers will teach in each year. Current students should refer to Bear Tracks for the most current information on scheduled courses and instructors.
At the University of Alberta the term "Sessional Instructor" has been replaced by "Academic Teaching Staff (ATS) Lecturer."
Thane Chambers
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
thane@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 591 – Publishing
Gail de Vos
Associate Lecturer, Faculty of Education
gdevos@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 516 – Canadian Children's Literature for Schools and Libraries
Dr. Mahdi Ganjavi
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
mganjavi@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 541 – Library and Information Services in Culturally Diverse Society
- LIS 592 – Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility in Librarianship
Arun Jacob
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
ajacob2@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 530 – Technology, Information, and Society
Laina Kelly
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
lskelly@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 545 – Management of Human Resources
Dr. Margaret Law
Associate Lecturer, Faculty of Education
mzlaw@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 504 – Leadership and Management Principles for Library and Information Services
- LIS 542 – Library Preservation, Security, and Risk Management
- LIS 545 – Management of Human Resources
Kirk MacLeod
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
kgmcleod@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 531 – Collection Management
- LIS 540 – Indigenous LIS in a Canadian Context
Lorisia MacLeod
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
lorisia@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 531 – Collection Management
- LIS 540 – Indigenous LIS in a Canadian Context
Pilar Martinez
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
pilar@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 595 – Issues and Trends in Public Librarianship
Dr. Peymon Montazeri
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
peymon@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 543 – Human Information Interaction
Karla Palichuk
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
kdpalich@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 504 – Leadership and Management Principles for Library and Information Services
- LIS 542 – Library Preservation, Security, and Risk Management
- LIS 545 – Management of Human Resources
Alison Rukavina
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
arukavin@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 586 – History of the Book
Emily Speight
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
speight@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 594 – Records Management
Lauren Stieglitz
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
las11@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 503 – Reference and Information Services
Vicky Varga
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
vavarga@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 595 – Issues and Trends in Public Librarianship
Jocie Wilson
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
jkwilso2@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 503 – Reference and Information Services
- LIS 538 – Digital Libraries
Connie Wong
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
cw@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 533 – Database Design for Information Management
Lei Zhang
Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Education
lei4@ualberta.ca
Courses Taught:
- LIS 532 – Metadata
Contact Us
University of Alberta faculty and staff are working a mix of on-campus and remotely from home. Email is the preferred and recommended contact method. All electronic communications are queued and will be responded to. To ensure the fastest possible response time, please refrain from sending multiple communications for the same topic.
Information for Current and Prospective Students
Current students are advised to regularly monitor their UAlberta email account for communications and updates.
Are you a current applicant?
If you have an application in progress please communicate with us via the online application system. All communications are logged and will be responded to. If you have recently updated your application or uploaded a file, you may not see a change in the system until after an advisor reviews and updates your application. Please note that at certain times of the year we experience a high volume of incoming communications, and this may delay replies to messages or updates to applications. All electronic communications and document uploads are timestamped, and this timestamp is when an item is considered to have been received.
Contact Information + Hours
Email: slis@ualberta.ca
Phone: (780) 492-7288
Monday to Friday: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (MDT) • Closed 12:00 to 1:00 PM
Contact hours are subject to change without notice. The University of Alberta is in the Mountain Time Zone.
Note for Applicants and Prospective Students: Our phone line is intended for general administrative inquiries. We kindly ask that program or application related questions be sent via email to slis@ualberta.ca.
Mailing Address
7-104 Education North
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB T6G 2G5