A class assignment does not usually come with a digital object identifier (DOI) that gives published research a permanent, searchable link.

For a growing number of Thompson Rivers University students, however, research that begins in the classroom is finding a much wider audience through Future Earth: A Student Journal on Sustainability.

The open-access journal provides undergraduate and graduate students with an opportunity to develop their work for publication, experience the review and editorial process and share their research beyond the university.

Since March 2025, Future Earth has published 61 items spanning topics from climate change and biodiversity to transportation, toxic drug poisoning and sustainable technology. By Sept. 15, 2026, those publications had generated more than 30,000 article interactions, including more than 17,600 file views and downloads.

Dr. Shannon Wagner, vice-president research, said opportunities like Future Earth allow students to experience research as something that extends beyond their coursework.

“Research is an important part of the student experience at TRU, and publication gives students an opportunity to see their work contribute to a larger conversation,” Wagner said. “They develop skills as researchers while creating knowledge that can have relevance well beyond the university.”

For co-editor and founding lead Dr. Peter Tsigaris, professor and chair of Economics in the Bob Gaglardi School of Business and Economics, the journal is about giving strong student research somewhere to go after a course or research project is complete.

“Students are doing thoughtful, relevant research as part of their studies, and too often that work ends when the course ends,” Tsigaris said. “Future Earth gives students an opportunity to take that next step, develop their work through the publication process and share it with people beyond the classroom.”

From student projects to publication

Future Earth grew out of earlier projects Tsigaris developed with TRU students to bring their research to a wider audience.

Students contributed to a series of open-access books examining topics including the value of Kamloops parks and lakes around Secwépemc territory, socioeconomic issues in Kamloops and climate economics.

The readership showed there was interest beyond the classroom. Three of those books have collectively generated tens of thousands of page views since publication.

Those experiences eventually led to Future Earth: A Student Journal on Sustainability, a multidisciplinary journal where undergraduate and graduate students can develop and publish their research. Students can publish independently or with instructors, with students taking first authorship when faculty members are co-authors.

The journal is free for both authors and readers and publishes research articles, case studies, reviews, commentaries, opinions and other work from disciplines across TRU. Pamela Willis serves as managing editor, working alongside co-editors Tsigaris and Dr. Tara Duncan, professor and co-chair of Tourism Management.

Duncan said the publication process gives students experience that extends beyond completing an assignment.

“We want students to experience what it means to contribute to research, not simply complete an assignment,” said Duncan. “They learn how to respond to feedback, strengthen their work and communicate their findings to a wider audience. Seeing their work published can also build confidence and help them begin to see themselves as researchers.”

That reach can extend beyond scholarly publication. Tsigaris has also brought student research into public discussion through editorials published by the local Armchair Mayor news blog, including pieces on climate change, toxic drug poisoning and caribou conservation.

The editorials link readers to the underlying student research, providing another way for students’ work to reach people outside the university.

“Publication is one part of the process, but we also want student research to contribute to conversations in the community,” Tsigaris said. “When research addresses issues that matter locally, there is an opportunity to make those findings accessible to a much broader audience.”

Research with real-world relevance

Some of the journal’s most-read work tackles issues with immediate relevance to British Columbia.

Jackson Weeber’s Cost-Benefit Analysis of Fire-Resilient Home Retrofitting has recorded more than 1,800 interactions, making it one of Future Earth’s most-accessed publications.

For Weeber, a third-year Bachelor of Tourism Management student, the experience offered an introduction to the scholarly publishing process while he was still a student.

“My work on Future Earth has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have had as a student,” Weeber said. “The process has taught me so much, from learning how research moves from an idea to a published piece, to collaborating with editors, and working with other students to create something bigger than what we could have done individually.”

He said having published research has also given him something tangible to carry into his career, strengthening his CV and giving him meaningful work to discuss with prospective employers.

The journal’s most-accessed article focuses on wildfire, examining the economic impacts of wildfires in British Columbia. Other highly accessed research has explored sustainable software development, old-growth forest conservation and caribou recovery, the toxic drug poisoning crisis and transportation systems in Kamloops and Vancouver.

The impact isn’t measured only in readership. For Kris Kadaleevanam, a fourth-year Bachelor of Business Administration student majoring in economics, that opportunity changed the way he viewed his own work.

“Publishing in Future Earth was special to me because it was one of the first times I saw my research become something beyond a class or university project,” Kadaleevanam said. “Seeing my name on a peer-reviewed publication gave me confidence that I could actually contribute to academic research.”

Kadaleevanam has since taken on additional research projects and presented his work at conferences.

“When I look back, publishing in Future Earth was one of the experiences that made me start seeing myself as a researcher,” he said.

Looking beyond TRU

The journal is continuing to develop at TRU, while its editors explore opportunities to collaborate with other post-secondary institutions.

An initial conversation with UBC Okanagan has indicated interest in participating, and the longer-term vision could see Future Earth gradually welcome student research and editorial participation from elsewhere in the Interior, B.C. and eventually Canada.

For Tsigaris, any growth would build on the journal’s central purpose: creating opportunities for students to participate in research and scholarly publishing.

“The goal is not simply to make the journal bigger,” Tsigaris said. “It is to create a strong, sustainable journal that gives students meaningful opportunities to publish their work and contribute to conversations about issues that matter to their communities and beyond.”

For students, that means work that began as a class assignment can continue to be discovered, shared and cited long after the course ends, giving that DOI a purpose well beyond the classroom.

Thompson Rivers University is leading in sustainability. Learn more about TRU’s contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.