BIG Difference BC is a behavioural insights community network co-led by the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG) and UBC’s Decision Insights for Business and Society (UBC-DIBS) with the support of a cross-sectoral advisory board. We shared a little about the BIG Difference BC network in our introductory blog post. Now, we want to introduce you to the amazing members of our BIG Difference Advisory Board.
The BIG Difference Advisory Board was formed in fall 2020 to help guide the growth and development of the community network and its initiatives, like the conference and this blog! We're thrilled to have a diverse, cross-sectoral board that thinks about and uses behavioural science in a number of different ways. Read on to learn about our board members and how an understanding of behaviour informs their work.
Kirstin Appelt
Research Director, UBC Decision Insights for Business & Society
Academic Director, UBC Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights
Dr. Kirstin Appelt is the director of UBC’s Decision Insights for Business & Society (UBC-DIBS), a cluster of researchers and partners building a leading, cross-sectoral centre of excellence to shape how Behavioural Insights are used in BC and beyond. Through this work, she conducts decision research, uses Behavioural Insights to tackle pressing societal challenges, trains the next generation of BI Practitioners, and supports the development of the BI community. Kirstin co-chairs the BIG Difference Advisory Board and the BIG Difference BC conference planning committee.
How does an understanding of behaviour support the work you do?
Understanding of behaviour is at the heart of all of my work. When we understand the barriers and motivators driving behaviour, we can use Behavioural Insights to help nudge people toward the best decisions for themselves and for society—decisions that are environmentally, financially, and/or socially sustainable. As cheesy as it sounds, I try to use Behavioural Insights to make the world a better place!
Kerri Buschel
Director, Experience, Marketing and Insights, WorkSafeBC
Kerri Buschel has worked in the fields of marketing, engagement, and behavioural insights for the last 25 years across federal and provincial agencies. Teaching, presenting, and leading sessions on the interface of brand, culture, and behavioural insights to influence perceptions and shape consistent positive choices are highlights in her career, alongside working with, and learning from, her incredible team at WorkSafeBC. Kerri is honoured to be on this board, involved in the behavioural insights landscape in public policy development, and also co-hosting the BIG Difference BC conference.
How does an understanding of behaviour support the work you do?
As public agencies we do our best to create regulation, share information, and educate and consult with people in workplaces across BC to shape health and safety decisions. BI helps us understand the biases and norms that shape perceptions and behaviours so that we can design services that make positive choices easier for the public, workers, and employers. We remember that BI has powerful capabilities, but is one tool among many, and we assess each opportunity for the best ways to serve the workers and employers of BC.
Christopher Darwent
Senior Parking Engineer, Parking Management Branch, Engineering Services, City of Vancouver
Christopher Darwent has worked in the field of transportation engineering for municipalities in British Columbia for 15 years. In his role as a Senior Parking Engineering for the City of Vancouver, he develops policy for the City’s on-street parking assets which include over 11,500 metered parking spaces, 23 residential permit parking zones, and countless other curbside regulations. Christopher is responsible for developing and implementing policy related to car-sharing, ride-hailing/taxis, and the delivery of commercial goods.
How does an understanding of behaviour support the work you do?
The City of Vancouver’s transportation and parking systems are shaped by every individual’s actions and decisions. Understanding behaviour will help the City develop better policies and provide the right infrastructure to meet the needs of its residents, visitors, and businesses.
Jeremy Douglas
Executive Vice President of External Relations, Ocean Wise
Jeremy Douglas leads communications, strategic partnerships, fund development, and government relations at Ocean Wise, a global conservation organization that inspires millions of people to take action to improve the health of our oceans. He is passionate about collaboration and creative ideas to drive positive change.
How does an understanding of behaviour support the work you do?
Unsustainable behaviour is what got us into the environmental mess the world is in and changing this behaviour is what will get us out of it. Behavioural insights are absolutely fundamental to tackling the climate crisis, ocean pollution, and overfishing. That’s why Ocean Wise is focused on how people can take collective action that will improve the health of our oceans and planet.
Ana Fong-Marquez
Senior Innovation Advisor, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Ana Fong-Marquez has over 19 years of experience in the private and public sectors. Her government career started at NRC IRAP Concierge as a Regional Innovation Officer. Most recently, she worked at Innovation Canada as a Senior Innovation Advisor with the AGS team. Ana enjoys working collaboratively, and helping clients succeed.
How does an understanding of behaviour support the work you do?
Behavioural insights help us improve client experience and trust.
Mikayla Ford
Lead, BC Behavioural Insights Group
As the Lead for the BC Behavioural Insights Group, Mikayla Ford supports a small team using insights and methods from behavioural science to help solve complex challenges across the BC Public Service. She is passionate about bringing behavioural insights and scientific thinking to the design and evaluation of government programs and services.
How does an understanding of behaviour support the work you do?
Understanding human behaviour lies at the centre of the work our team does in the BC Government. Looking at public sector challenges through a behavioural lens can be a very powerful way of uncovering barriers and identifying innovative and human-centred solutions.
Carl Jensen
Project Director, BC Behavioural Insights Group
Carl Jensen has been with the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG) since October 2019. He is responsible for the operations and project management for the team. Carl is a graduate of the pilot cohort of UBC’s Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights and he has been with the BC Public Service since 2007. Find him on Twitter at @carloncouncil.
How does an understanding of behaviour support the work you do?
As a member of BC BIG, I appreciate the opportunity to assist client ministries with their projects using an understanding of human behaviour to help develop better programs, products, and services for the citizens of British Columbia.
Adam King
Co-Founder, BeThink Solutions
Adam King is a behaviour-change strategist and co-founder of BeThink Solutions, an applied behavioural science agency that supports innovation initiatives globally in the public, non-profit, and private sectors. He is currently completing a PhD program at the University of British Columbia.
How does an understanding of behaviour support the work you do?
Behavioural insights inform almost all aspects of my work, both within our own team as well as with external partners. Working with, not against, how we are wired to make decisions under conditions of uncertainty has improved our effectiveness across the board.
Janice Lee
Director, Product & Market Leadership, Technical Safety BC
Janice Lee is a Professional Engineer and the Director of Product and Market Leadership at Technical Safety BC, an independent, self-funded organization that oversees that safe installation and operation of technical systems and equipment across the province. She is responsible for leading the development of client-centric products and services that effectively drive safety outcomes, increase participation, and contribute to the sustainability of Technical Safety BC. Before this role, Janice was the Director of Technical Programs and, before that, she worked at Otis Elevator as the Construction and Modernization Superintendent for BC and then as a World Headquarters Field Installation Specialist.
How does an understanding of behaviour support the work you do?
By improving our understanding of our clients and their behaviours, we identify opportunities and barriers for change. We can then transform those insights into new or improved safety products and services with the goal of sustaining participation in the safety system, increasing safety behaviours, and ultimately reducing safety risk in BC.
Stephanie Papik
Director for Strategic Integration of Indigenous Knowledge, Cultural Safety and Humility, Emergency Management BC
Stephanie Papik is a public servant, social entrepreneur, artist, and parent. Stephanie has been in provincial government for 16 years, including six years as Lead for the Indigenous Youth Internship Program, which won the Public Sector BC Workplace Inclusion Award for Diverse and Inclusive Culture Champion. She has been with Emergency Management BC since 2018 as the Director for Strategic Integration of Indigenous Knowledge, Cultural Safety and Humility.
How does an understanding of behaviour support the work you do?
Strategic integration of cultural safety and humility skills across all emergency management professionals requires shifts in attitudes, behaviors, practices, and procedures. Understanding human behavior is key in this work for creating long-lasting systemic shifts with the vision of providing compassionate emergency management services to all British Columbians, across all of BC.
Sharilynn Wardrop
Knowledge Translation Strategist, BC Behavioural Insights Group
Protected Areas Ecologist, BC Parks
Sharilynn Wardrop came to the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG) from BC Parks’ conservation program for a one-year temporary assignment. Her background is as a biologist with a graduate degree in behavioural ecology; she has taken a meandering career path through conservation biology, museum education and programming, and science communications. Sharilynn has been sitting on the advisory board since it started through her role as Knowledge Translation Strategist at BC BIG.
How does an understanding of behaviour support the work you do?
At BC BIG, I have been using BI to create effective communications, and to contribute to the work of the BC BIG team to support colleagues in the public service to design better policies, programs, and services. When I return to BC Parks, I am excited to take what I have learned at BC BIG to look for opportunities to solve conservation challenges that sit in that gap between people’s intentions and their actions.
Heather Devine
Senior Lead, Behavioural Science Office, Public Health Agency of Canada
(former Head of BC Behavioural Insights Group)
Heather Devine uses behavioural science to make government services better for Canadians. She is the Senior Lead and Co-Founder of the Behavioural Science Office (BeSciO) in the Public Health Agency of Canada and the former Head and Founder of the British Columbia Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG). As a career public servant, Heather has held a variety of senior leadership positions at the intersection of research, innovation, and policy. Find her on Twitter at @cbcgeek.
How does an understanding of behaviour support the work you do?
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we need to more formally integrate behavioural science into public health policies, programs, and communications. PHAC’s new Behavioural Science Office was established to do just that. Understanding the drivers and barriers to behaviour change is a priority for the Agency and will be a going concern well beyond the pandemic.