Past Postdoc, Faculty of Social Sciences

Intro

Jen’s expertise is in environmental studies, sustainability, and public policy. Her doctoral research evaluated the uptake of social-ecological research by land managers in Europe.

What does your postdoc research focus on?

My first postdoc addressed governance issues in working landscapes in Canada, using the framing of ecosystem services. We advanced an implementation science for conservation by looking at a successful case. A second postdoc project identified actions that could be taken by Niagara-region land managers to increase stewardship practices by visitors to natural areas. My current work at the Conservation Solutions Hub at Carleton University fosters a community of knowledge-and-practice for evidence-based conservation across Canada.

2024-2025 McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellows Teaching and Leadership Program Participant

Dr. Jennifer Holzer, a former postdoctoral fellow in the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, participated in the 2024–2025 program. She describes her experience as being extremely valuable. Not only did she gain new skills in teaching and leadership, but she also became part of a unique and supportive postdoctoral community. “I wish there were more programs like this,” she says. “Postdocs can really get lost without a cohort or peer community, but this experience gave me that and so much more.”

She enjoyed the opportunity to learn from a wide range of speakers brought in throughout the program. The talks focused on a variety of topics such as emotional intelligence, how to use social media to promote your research, and various aspects of leadership training. While many had academic backgrounds, some were consultants who help academics looking to transition out of academia into other sectors. “I really enjoyed hearing from the speakers,” Jen says, “They were all individuals with PhDs, but not everyone had followed the traditional academic route. Each pursued unique and interesting careers, which was both comforting and inspiring. It sparked new ideas about the different paths one might take.”

Jen also participated in the optional teaching of a module in the INSPIRE 3MP3 course. “While it was a lot of work,” she says, “it was definitely worth the experience.” She appreciated the freedom to be creative in her teaching and the chance to employ evidence-based techniques she had learned throughout the program. Although she had taught a few courses in the past, the structured format and feedback she received made it particularly valuable.

An unexpected impactful outcome was a collaboration Jen formed with another postdoc in the program whose expertise in quantitative statistics complemented her qualitative research, Dr. Ben Sclodnick. Without this program, it is unlikely their paths would have crossed, given they were from different universities and research fields: Environmental Sustainability and Psychology. Together, they worked on Jen’s Mitacs-funded project, where Jen received experience supervising a project and resulting in co-authorship. “Ben’s work has been invaluable,” she shared. “That connection in particular has been amazing; it has added so much complementary expertise to the project and I have learned so much from it.”