Selkirk College is happy to announce that Terri MacDonald has been selected as the new BC regional innovation chair in rural economic development and the lead researcher of the Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join Selkirk College and to initiate and oversee the efforts of the institute,” says MacDonald. “I’m looking forward to supporting the needs and priorities identified by our communities through the provision of timely, applied research.”
The institute is funded by Columbia Basin Trust and is the result of an important eight-year partnership between the Trust and Selkirk College. The regional innovation chair position is funded through an endowment established under the BC Leading Edge Endowment Fund.
Because of the increased demand for information and applied research, Columbia Basin Trust evolved its State of the Basin Initiative, which launched in 2008, with the first Basin-wide indicator report and website.
Simultaneously, Selkirk College’s regional innovation chair (previously held by retiree George Penfold) in collaboration with the Selkirk Geospatial Research Centre, has been a hub for data collection, research and analysis related to the regional economy since 2006.
The new chair will include a web portal that combines and expands on these assets, providing easily accessible, up-to-date research for communities in the Columbia Basin-Boundary Region.
“I have a strong commitment to rural revitalization research and dissemination,” says MacDonald. “I’ve seen an increase in demand for information and applied research by communities. The work of the institute fulfils a much needed resource in the Columbia Basin-Boundary Region.”
In addition to a PhD in educational studies from the University of British Columbia, MacDonald holds almost 10 years of experience working in economic development across BC, primarily in the Kootenay region.