Thompson Rivers University is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Tom Owen as the new Director, Environment & Sustainability. Starting Jan. 1, Dr. Owen will work closely with the Environmental Advisory Committee and is responsible to develop policy and directives to assist TRU in becoming the University of Choice for Environmental Sustainability.

Dr. Owen holds a Ph.D. and M. Philosphy in Public Administration and an M.A. in Communications from Syracuse University. He also holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Western Ontario.

Dr. Owen has over 30 years of environment and sustainability experience as a senior government official in Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean where his roles included Deputy Minister, Project Director and Project Manager. During his term as the Deputy Minister he chaired the committee that developed the National Round Table on Environment and Economy, the first national institutional support for sustainable development in Canada. His expertise includes determining environmental policy and practice in air, water and waste, capacity building for environmental program implementation and project management, and communicating the need for change to a wide and varied audience.

A former Harvard University senior environment policy and health advisor to the government of Slovakia, Dr. Own has lectured at a number of universities in the United States, Canada and Europe including Harvard University, the University of Toronto, Queen’s University, and the University of British Columbia, to name a few.

Starting Jan. 1, Dr. Owen can be reached at: 250.851.7299 or by email at towen@tru.ca

Contact: Cliff Neufeld, Vice President Administration & Finance, (p) 250.828.5011