Carmen’s background is in Geology (BSC Geology, 1993, UBC) and Education (B.Ed. 1997, M.Ed, 2016, UBC). She first worked in the mining industry as a student in the early nineties at Myra Falls and Premier Gold doing dirt bagging and water monitoring.
After graduating, Carmen worked as a Geology and Science Teacher in the K-12 system in BC and Alberta, which started her life-long passion for teaching young minds about this amazing industry. Since 2011, she has been employed by the University of British Columbia, Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, managing and directing the Master of Engineering Program.
She has had the opportunity to recruit, evaluate and advise students from all over the world and through this work has developed a broad knowledge of international educational programs for mining and geosciences.
Most recently, her program has set up UBC Applied Science’s first graduate certificate program in Mine Waste Management and she continues to develop other educational programs for the department with input from government, industry and communities. Her ongoing goal is to make lifelong learning accessible and flexible to people throughout their careers. She enjoys working in mining and looking for opportunities to attract people to careers in this industry.