Our Alumni

Haley Healey head and shoulders with a forest background

Bringing to light the stories of trailblazing women

March 3, 2024

VIU Education grad Haley Healey writes books about boundary-pushing women A desire to share the stories of extraordinary historical women led VIU Education grad Haley Healey to become a published author in 2020. Four years later, the high school counsellor by day, author by night has published five non-fiction adult and children’s books highlighting boundary-pushing women as well as a fiction... Read more


Morgan in front of green bushes

Alum of the Month: Dr. Morgan Mowatt

February 13, 2024

Dr. Morgan Mowatt is an advocate for Indigenous sovereignty in Indigenous-state relations. As a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow in Indigenous governance at the University of Victoria, the VIU alum is researching the application of Indigenous authority-making processes to Indigenous-state diplomacy. Their interest in this area of research started when they were an undergraduate student at VIU. Mowatt... Read more


Jordyn Monaghan stands outside a classroom

Alum of the Month: Jordyn Monaghan

January 27, 2024

Jordyn Monaghan is passionate about supporting the community with a trauma-informed, harm-reduction and strength-based approach. That passion guided her through her undergraduate degree at VIU, where she studied Psychology and Criminology. Monaghan is now doing a Master of Science in Forensic Psychology at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We caught up with her to find out more... Read more


Perry Bulwer speaks into a microphone with a shelf of books behind him

Alum of the Month: Perry Bulwer

January 14, 2024

Coming to Vancouver Island University (then Malaspina College) in the early 1990s was a turning point in Perry Bulwer’s life. He had dropped out of high school in 1972 to join a fundamentalist Christian cult when he was just 16 years old. When he got out 20 years later, he described himself as “intellectually starving.” The Liberal Studies program helped him overcome his religious indoctrination... Read more


portrait of Marisa

Alum of the month: Marisa Turner

December 20, 2023

Marisa Turner graduated from VIU’s Bachelor of Business Administration, Major in Marketing program in 2022 and wasted no time in starting her own design firm – Marisa Turner Design. She’s also giving back to the community with a side venture that aims to inspire. Called @Honey_WomenWhoWin, Marisa interviews successful female entrepreneurs to “help the younger generation realize the range of... Read more


Mary Clare stands next to a lamppost with flowers trailing down it

Alum of the Month: Mary Clare Massicotte

October 20, 2023

A self-described lifelong learner, Mary Clare Massicotte enrolled in VIU’s Master of Education in Educational Leadership program in 2020 at age 64. By this time, she had retired from her full-time career with the federal government and started her own consulting business. Completing a master’s degree had long been a goal for Mary Clare. She graduated from the program this past spring. We caught... Read more


Telma Dos Santos sitting in a chair in front of a group of seniors who are all playing with a Hua hoop in their hands

Alum of the Month: Telma Dos Santos

September 8, 2023

Telma Dos Santos was working as a health care assistant when she first heard about the Activity Assistant certificate at VIU. The program is designed to provide further training for people who have previous experience as a health care aid or community support worker and want to create programming that promotes wellness and fun for those in their care. “I heard about this program from a recreation... Read more


Spenser Smith profile

Alum of the Month: Spenser Smith

September 6, 2023

Struggling with substance use in his hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan, Spenser Smith decided to come to a residential treatment centre in Nanaimo. Following his treatment, he made the decision to stay in the city after falling in love “with the rainforest, the wildlife and the small caring community.” He also decided to enroll in VIU’s Creative Writing program to chase his dreams of becoming a... Read more


Brian Timmer wears a SCUBA suit while swimming surrounded by kelp.

Alum of the Month: Brian Timmer

July 31, 2023

As a SCUBA instructor at Sundown Diving, Brian Timmer swam amongst the kelp forests in the waters of Nanoose Bay. During heatwaves in 2014 and 2015, he witnessed those kelp forests disappear.   A few years later while attending Vancouver Island University, he worked for the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute on a kelp restoration project, studying kelp forests and nearshore... Read more


Lee Cooper

Alum of the Month: Lee Cooper

June 18, 2023

French-inspired and set in a 19th century brick-and-beam building, L’Abattoir sprouted up among the cobblestones of Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood more than a decade ago. The restaurant’s executive chef and owner is Lee Cooper, who graduated from VIU’s Culinary Arts program in 1997. The restaurant’s most recent accomplishment is making the Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list this year. The... Read more