Meet The MDI Team
Dr. Eva Oberle
Associate Professor, UBC &
Principal Investigator of the MDI
Eva is an Associate Professor with the Human Early Learning Partnership in the School of Population and Public Health. She is the current Principal Investigator of the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI), a population-based survey at HELP that measures child and adolescent social-emotional and mental wellbeing, and experiences in schools and communities. Eva completed graduate studies at the University of Heidelberg and UBC and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Illinois at Chicago and CASEL. Her research interests include examining factors that predict positive youth development and resilience. Understanding the role of social relationships with peers, teachers, and families in promoting mental health and wellbeing in schools and communities is a central aspect of her research.
Please visit Eva’s Google Scholar page for a complete list of publications.
Maddison leads the project teams responsible for collecting population-level data in school systems, and has worked at HELP since 2013. She works closely with faculty and the HELP leadership team to expand and evolve the Child Development Monitoring System in support of improving the health and well-being of children through interdisciplinary research and knowledge mobilization. Her background is in applied research on early child development and population health. She has an MSc in Population and Public Health from the University of British Columbia. As a mom to two preschoolers, outside of work you can find her exploring the parks and playgrounds of East Vancouver.
Marit is a Project Lead and a part of the Implementation Team at HELP, with a focus on the EDI and MDI research projects. Marit has been a part of the Implementation Team at HELP since 2013. She enjoys working with school districts and schools in British Columbia and nationally to ensure smooth data collection, and to support the use and access to the data. She has an MA in Political Science from UBC, and has previously worked in the non-profit sector.
As part of the MDI Implementation team, Kim helps ensure that data collection processes for the MDI project are going smoothly and good working relationships are maintained with school districts and community partners. Before joining HELP, Kim worked as the Senior Program Assistant in the Office of Experiential Education in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UBC where she liaised with different pharmacy sites and community organizations to coordinate students’ practicum.
Kim completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of the Philippines in Manila. Her personal interests are in the field of mindfulness, compassion, mindful self-compassion, emotional wellness and mental health and well-being. She has also worked in the coffee industry for many years and has been in love with coffee ever since.
Kinwa Bluesky is Bear Clan and Anishinaabe from the Sandy Lake First Nation and Kitigan Zibi Anishinaabeg. She comes with sacred feet, and now lives softly on the unceded, traditional territory, and homelands of the Musqueam Peoples.
Professionally, Kinwa is an Indigenous legal advocate who is committed to implementing equitable law, governance, and rights through social justice, Indigenous, and human rights-based initiatives. At HELP, she manages Indigenous Initiatives with the support of Faculty and Staff, and under the leadership of the Aboriginal Steering Committee. She is experienced in managing multiple senior executive governance committees for non-profits and charities, higher learning institutions, and all-levels of government, including First Nations and Self-Governing Indigenous Governments.
Kinwa works to support our collective civic responsibilities to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action and Principles, the UN and BC’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, and more recently, the Calls for Justice in the Final Report of the Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
She holds Juris Doctorate and Master of Laws degrees and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at UVic’s Faculty of Law. Kinwa is a Peloton online athlete, a self-confessed Apple fan, and Master Lego Builder.
Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, PhD.
Professor, UBC & University of Illinois at Chicago
Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl led the early development of the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI). We acknowledge Kim and her expertise in the area of social and emotional learning to the development and implementation of the MDI. Read more about Kim.
We will be out in communities...virtually
Interested in upcoming MDI events and webinars?
