Julie Stephens, MSc

Area of Study / Keywords

Plant physiology microbiology and more recently research development and administration.

About

I graduated from the Faculty of Science, University of Alberta in 1993 and have had the pleasure of working at the University ever since. I spent 13 years working in an active research lab in the Department of Biological Sciences in the Faculty of Science prior to moving to an administrative position in the Research Services Office in 2004. Since moving to the Vice President (Research and Innovation) portfolio my roles and responsibilities, which include 15 years of leadership experience, have covered numerous aspects of research administration including finding funding and communicating opportunities to the university community, research facilitation and grant development, application review and approval, award processing, agreement negotiation, and post award financial administration. Related to my ongoing commitment on the service excellence front I have actively been involved in and/or played a lead role in a number of continuous improvement activities including, policy and procedure development and implementation, PeopleSoft Grants Management system development and upgrades, and the establishment of service standards for various units I've been involved with.  I also have change management experience as a result of being involved in these activities. I currently lead the Research Partner Network, which is part of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation) portfolio and composed of a diverse team of skilled professionals working collaboratively as part of an institution-wide network to provide essential hands-on support designed to enhance the research application and grant management success. 

Research

My master's work focused on understanding the mechanisms plants use to tolerate abiotic stresses, more specifically aluminum toxicity in plants growing in acidic soils, at both the cellular and whole plant levels using cell biology, comparative genomics, and whole plant physiology techniques.