Lesley Duncan, PhD

So.  Turns out it has been a long while since I’ve updated this page.  And it is really kind of cool to be able to return after such a hiatus with some major life changes. 

First – I now am a Research Assistant at NRG Research Group (www.nrgresearchgroup.com).  This has been a big, and very welcome change.  I started working with them on contract at the end of June, and have since become a part of the research team.  It has been a bit of a challenge making the switch from academic to real-world research, but it has been fun so far.  And I think if you can say that about your job you aren’t doing too badly.

Life change number two was getting married.  Granted, after 10 years together this was hardly unexpected, but it was a fantastic day.  And it made me appreciate my husband and all of our talented friends and family who helped us out to make it a pretty special day, and a pretty awesome party!

So now the next phase is to continue finding new challenges and meeting them head on.  A friend and I have been learning to run this summer, and we’re getting good at it, so we will be carrying on with that.  I’m pretty sure there are a couple dance projects on the immediate horizon.

As well, I’m taking over the reins of the Connecting Environmental Professionals Mentorship program later this fall.  This I am really looking forward to, as it brings together my belief that mentoring is really a great way to learn intangible skills that is beneficial to both people involved in the mentoring relationship with my desire to get further into the sustainability movement and do some good things with my experience.  Anybody out there in the environmental industry (broadly construed) who wants to be a mentor, please leave me your contact info, I’ll be in touch!

 Finally, I have the good fortune of becoming a founding member of the Pacifica Wine Club – head over to  http://russball.blogspot.com/ if you want to hear from our dashing and informed club president.

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I decided that keeping myself busy and increasing my exposure to new and interesting people and activities is a great way to use this time that I have productively. So, in pursuit of this goal I joined Tap Stew in December, which introduced me to a great new group of people with some insane talent. We’ve had one successful show thus far, and have a second showing of a modified version of that show on the books for June 27th (Let me know if you want tickets – you don’t want to miss this!).

But as hard as it was to find my tap shoes, and re-discover my ability to actually tap, pick up choreography and most importantly have fun while I was doing it, tapping was a bit safe – my friend Peg was involved, and I knew that I could tap, I just had to work on it a bit.

So, I’ve jumped into two new experiences.

First, I’ve become a board member of Connecting Environmental Professionals. I’ve been on boards and committees in the past, but this is the first one made up almost entirely of people that I don’t know (with the exception of the other Lesley), and is focused in an area where my expertise is a little peripheral. So it is up to me to make social psychology relevant, interesting, applicable and helpful to an entirely new group of people who are trying to make this world a more sustainable place to live and work. I’m looking forward to the challenge, and to working with what promises to be an enthusiastic team.

Second, I’ve signed myself up to be an extra on movie and TV sets. I’m not expecting a lot to come out of this (but wouldn’t say no if someone decided I was Oscar-worthy). It just seemed like an opportunity that arose which could be interesting. I’ll keep you posted if you should be looking out for me in any upcoming productions!

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While reviewing the updates in my RSS feeds today I came across a fun bit of news.  Between October and December 2009, a scale that some colleagues and I composed and validated is on the 25 Hottest Articles list from Science Direct – in the psychology field.  That’s right, we hit #16!  Looks like we are not be the only ones interested in the effects that awareness of infectious disease have on the way people view, think about, and behave within their social environment.

Should you want to check out the article, follow the ‘Portfolio’ link to the article about Perceived Vulnerability to Disease measurement.

Should you want to check out what else made the list, follow this link . Make sure you select the most current setting in the menu option on the left side of the screen to get the most current list.

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The title of this post was the response I wrote to the question “What is your day job?” The question was one of a few included in a tap show in which I recently performed.  The interesting thing for me was to a) have an answer other than ‘graduate student’ and b) not have a job.  I always thought that I would complete school and jump right away into the perfect job.

I haven’t done that, and I think that the reason is I’ve been narrowing down the field to figure out what it is that I really want to do – and I’ve seen the value in this time.  It has allowed me to take stock of my values, my skill sets, and see how these can work together, and keep me interested.  I think that where I will end up is not very far from where I started looking, in the research related fields, but I may be there for the right reasons now.

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I now officially have ‘real world’ business experience under my belt. Over the course of the Olympics I had a contract with Oakley, working with their Global Public Relations team to host four waves of international media.

What a ride!!

I had a great time developing working relationships with the Oakley personnel, and really enjoyed coordinating team members, media, and other relevant people within the local environment. I learned that people outside of the academic world perceive me to be outgoing, a great representative, a fantastic communicator and someone who takes initiative, understands what needs to be done and does it. All of these are great traits. My question remains – what is the best way to wrap all that up an present my skill set, learned in academia and real life, to the business community?

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Olympicism is a word that I’ve recently added to my vocabulary. Being a Vancouver resident, one can no longer avoid noticing the event that is soon to take over the city. Sporting aside, I’ve found for me, the Olympics are providing an opportunity to meet new people, get involved in random events, and take on new contract job positions. While I won’t go so far as to call myself an Olympic-atic, I am interested to see what the games bring with them.

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A new calendar year has begun, and I’m back on the career search wagon. My search was put on hold while I took some time off for the holidays. This time was well spent in Calgary, catching up with family and friends, reading great books and watching my sister’s dogs enjoy the snow. However, as great as holidays are, they eventually come to an end, and we must return to real life.

So here I am, back in Vancouver, and ready to once again take on real world challenges.I have one that is at the forefront.
1) Find and get a job in a career path that I enjoy and believe in.
Coming out of grad school I’ve been excited about the prospects of working for an organization with an eye to sustainability. So I’m following leads and meeting people who might be able to help me attain that goal.

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I’m pleased to be able to say that I’m getting this ‘website’ thing figured out. I’ve manage to upload a fair number of documents and pdfs, which I hope will give any of you out there a better idea of how I’ve spent the last few years of my life. Still to come are the examples of my leadership/professional development experience, but I’m getting there.

Also, in recent news, I’ve been hired on contract for the UBC Learning Exchange to find placements for students in a community psychology course. The idea is very cool – students learn about the theories academia has regarding community organizations, while also working with organizations to see how these theories apply/translate in the real world. Let me know if you think of any organizations who might want to be involved and take on a volunteer student for a term!

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This is my first time setting up a website.  I’ve got a plan for it, and am working on mastering the skills to bring it about.   Fingers crossed.   Luckily I have a great technical support team if things start to go sideways.  The plan?  A mostly awesome online portfolio by the end of the week.

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