51猎奇入口

51猎奇入口鈥檚 School of Criminology proudly congratulates professor Gail Anderson on receiving the Order of British Columbia鈥攖he highest form of recognition that the province can extend to its citizens鈥攆or her foundational work establishing forensic entomology in Canada, transforming criminal investigations, and advancing justice through innovative research and global leadership.

A conversation with Gail Anderson

What was your first reaction when you were informed you had been appointed to the Order of B.C.? 

Shock. Total surprise. I got a phone call when I was at home, sitting right here in a Zoom call with one of my grad students, and I got a phone call from Nikki Sharma. She said that she was the Attorney General and Deputy Premier. I thought, 鈥淲hoa, hang on, what?鈥� And then she said, 鈥淚'm pleased to announce that you've been appointed to the Order of British Columbia.鈥� And I said, 鈥淵ou've got to be kidding me.鈥� I was very surprised.

What does this honour mean to you, both professionally and personally?

It means a tremendous amount. It's very emotional because, as you know, I'm not from this country. I'm an immigrant, like so many of us are. And I chose to come to Canada. I chose to come to British Columbia. So, this is my province, my country, my home. It was very much a conscious decision, a very strong desire to come here and be here. I'm very fortunate to live here. And so, it's incredible to be recognized by my province.

Looking back, what moments or achievements are you most proud of?

My students, everything that they've done. You know, you watch the next generation and the next generation. I mean, some of my students now have students who have students. And just watching that grow, see the science grow, and see my students blossom and go on. I mean, that's what we're here for in the university, to train the next group of scholars and scientists and, for me, forensic scientists. And just to see them with that passion, which is my passion, and see that passion passed on, and see in many cases, watching my students grow and supervise their own students I recognize my own self in that, and the part of me that has helped that, and the part of my supervisors that helped me, because without all the others behind me, I wouldn't be anywhere.

Who was the greatest influence on your journey? And why? 

There's so many of them, not just one.

Dr. John Kennaugh. He was one of my profs back in Manchester University, and he was a forensic entomologist. He taught me parasitology, but he was just a great teacher, and he fought for students so hard. He always supported students. He cared passionately about teaching and passing his passion on to the next students. And that I notice reflected in me, in the way I teach, in the way I deal with students, I know that comes from him.

Dr. John Borden, who was one of my PhD supervisors in biology, who was the one that got me into this. He was the one who stopped me when I was walking past his office one day and said, 鈥淗ey, Gail, how do you fancy being a forensic entomologist?鈥� I said, 鈥淐ool, what's that?鈥� And so he explained it to me, and I said, 鈥淭hat sounds mega gross. I don't know. Let me think about it.鈥� So he said, 鈥淵eah, go on and think about it and come back on Monday.鈥� And I did, and said, 鈥淚'll give it a year.鈥�

The deal was that he would pay for me to have a summer student working for me throughout my PhD to help me with my research with horses and, in return, I would take forensic cases. So I started taking cases with him, and it went on from there. I did that throughout my PhD. So he was an amazing influence on me. All my forensic work goes back to him. It's all thanks to him. I'd never even heard of forensic entomology. I don't know what I'd be or where I'd have gone. It'd be in a very different career, I'm sure.

My own PhD supervisor, Peter Belton, was much more involved in my actual PhD work but was just an amazing mentor, a good, kind, sensible man who was always there. He never pushed. He wasn't on my case or anything about getting things done. It was just dropping in. And he remained a good friend until he died.

But I think the biggest influence鈥攁nd anybody who knows me will know this, and I can go on for hours about this鈥攚as Professor Thelma Finlayson. She was the very first female professor hired in biology. She was a recipient of the Order of Canada. She retired at the age of 65 and went immediately into volunteering at the university in academic advising. She retired at the age of 96. She was our oldest advisor. She published her last paper at the age of 99, died at the age of 102. She changed the law regarding women in this country several times. She was the most amazing lady. And not only was she the most amazing lady in what she accomplished, but she was deeply loved.

What values have guided you in your work throughout the years? 

I mean, to be in this position, I'm very privileged. Yes, I fought to get here. Of course, we all do. But there are so many people who fight hard and don't have the advantages that I had: supportive families, supportive parents, and a free education system in England. I didn't pay a penny for my university education in England. I have no idea what tuition was there back then as we never even saw the bill.

I'm in a privileged position. And, being a professor, people respect that office. They respect you automatically, to a certain extent. And it gets me very angry when people abuse that privilege. We are in an incredibly important position above students, and it is so easy to crush somebody. You know, if you're having a bad day or it's a really bad essay, you've got to make sure that whatever kind of criticism you're giving, it's got to be constructive. You know, these are younger people coming up. You think of how people address your PhD, this is your baby, this is your PhD, and you hand it over to somebody and then they red-line it all, you know. And that's fine, that's what we do. But it has to be done constructively and with kindness; otherwise, people don't learn.

But also, as I said, we are in a very privileged position to have students, to work with students. I think it's vitally important that we recognize that. And yeah, give as much as you can to them. It's what we're here for. 

What do you hope your legacy will be? 

Again, my students, to remember not just what I told them and what I've said and the kind of research we're doing now, learning what I taught them, but also having that same enthusiasm and passion and compassion, etcetera, for the next generation. So we continue to spread, so we get more students coming into school, kids who maybe never would have thought of going to university.

One of the proudest things is when you look at my lab, you look at a whole bunch of outreach. When you look at everybody else and the outreach, and I look at my students, wow, they are doing so much to get the word out to the young kids, to encourage young kids to go into northern communities, to go into Indigenous communities, to try and bring kids into education. We have this great spreadsheet now of all the stuff the students are doing. And I think that's awesome. That's a big legacy.

Is there any message that you'd like to share with the community as you receive this honour? 

I don't know if it particularly relates to the honour, but I hear students鈥攁nd I think more and more these days鈥攖hey're terribly, terribly worried. They don't know what they're going to do with their life. I tell them, don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I'm still not sure! You know, there's a whole world out there, and they seem to spend an awful lot of time worrying. Will they get a decent job? Will they get a job they'll like? And all that kind of thing. And I think the most important thing with any job is that you like it, that you enjoy it.

I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't know where I was going. I had no idea. Some people do. My brother knew from the age of 12 he was going to be a doctor. So people would always ask me, 鈥淲hat are you going to do, Gail?鈥� Different answer every time. 

So it finds you. Whatever you're doing, it'll find you. So just don't worry about it. Take the courses you're interested in, volunteer for the things you're interested in. It will find you. 

How do you measure success beyond awards and recognition?

Well, I think that people know what I do, and that people recognize me for my service, my passion. That people remember me with affection, with pleasure, with pride. Yeah, I mean, they always say you measure a person in the friends and the people who care about them.

Is there anything else you鈥檇 like to add?

Just basically gratitude. Thanks to all the people who put me forward, the people who wrote my reference letters for me, the School for putting me forward. It's just... It's an amazing honour.