Vancouver Institute

CHASING SHADOWS: CYBER ESPIONAGE, SUBVERSION AND THE GLOBAL FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY

When: Where: P.A. Woodward Instructional Resources Centre, UBC’s Point Grey Campus, 2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver.

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Dr. Ronald Deibert, OC, O Ont

Founder and Director, The Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto

Dr. Deibert is a global expert in digital technology, security, and human rights, known for his groundbreaking work on cyber security. His latest book, Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society (2020), based on his Massey lectures, won the 2021 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. He is also the author of Black Code: Surveillance, Privacy, and the Dark Side of The Internet (2013), along with numerous influential articles, chapters, and reports on internet censorship, surveillance, and cybersecurity. Dr. Diebert’s work has earned prestigious honours, including the University of Toronto’s President’s Impact Award (2017), Foreign Policy‘s Global Thinker Award (2017), the Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award (2015), the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity (2014), and the Advancement of Intellectual Freedom in Canada Award from the Canadian Library Association (2014). He co-founded and was a principal investigator of the OpenNet Initiative and Information Warfare Monitor projects.

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RIOPELLE AND MUSICAL IMAGINATION

Blair Thomson is an accomplished composer and orchestral arranger, celebrated for his recent 75-piece composition for orchestra and choir commemorating the centenary of Jean-Paul Riopelle, which was recorded and premiered by the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM) in 2022.
His work spans orchestral, ensemble, theatre, dance, opera, musical theatre, and film and television compositions. He has crafted over 250 arrangements for orchestras and ensembles, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, CBC Radio Orchestra, I Musici de Montréal, l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the OSM. His notable commissions include compositions for Musica Camerata Montréal, Pentaèdre, Quatuor Claudel, l’Orchestre Métropolitain and the OSM. In 2014, his “La Symphonie rapaillé,” based on Gaston Miron’s poetry, won the prestigious Félix award for the category “Reinterpretation,” and his arrangements for Half Moon Run with the OSM in 2017 were lauded as groundbreaking.

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EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND THE FUTURE OF REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES

Dr. Lisa Tobber specializes in sustainable structural design and seismic resilience, developing systems for mid-rise and high-rise buildings that enable low-damage responses to major natural disasters and the climate crisis. Dr. Tobber leads the Build Better Cluster (BBC) research group, dedicated to advancing innovative construction materials and methods, particularly in precast concrete systems, to improve building safety and seismic performance. As the Principal’s Research Chair in Resilient Buildings, Dr. Tobber collaborates closely with industry and government agencies to generate practical, evidence-based solutions that enhance the sustainability and resilience of urban infrastructure. Her work is helping to set new standards in engineering practices in Canada and internationally. Dr. Tobber is also a champion for female engineers as the Principal’s Research Chair in Women in Engineering.