Mike has been actively engaged in Canadian and international higher education for over 22 years. In 2017, Mike began his current with College of the North Atlantic where he leads the College’s Office of Applied Research and Innovation and its teams of researchers, technicians and administrative staff. Prior to this role, Mike was the Director of Applied Research with Lethbridge College where he supported industry engagement and R&D activity overseeing projects ranging in scope from aquaponics, water quality and environmental science to virtual reality, irrigation, early childhood education and the scholarship of teaching and learning that involved dozens of industry partners.
Before joining Lethbridge College, Mike was the founding Chair of the Office of Applied Research at College of the North Atlantic’s Qatar campus where he led the growth of applied research activity from very humble origins into a vibrant and industry-engaged enterprise. He negotiated contracts, sub-awards and technical service agreements with institutions from 14 different countries, established an externally funded research chairs program, organized international roundtable forums on applied research between Canada and Qatar and co-chaired one of the largest TVET conferences ever organized (Global Innovators 2013 – in partnership with UNESCO) with delegates from 43 countries.
In addition to his work in research administration, Mike has experience teaching at the college and university levels. He holds undergraduate degrees in English and Education from Memorial University, a Master’s degree from the University of Toronto and a doctorate from the University of Oxford.
