WNRCASN Conference 2025

Cheryl Pollard

Dr. Cheryl Pollard, RN, RPN, PhD, ANEF, is an active scholar and researcher committed to the promotion of mental health and well being. Over her 35-year career in nursing, she has served in a wide range of academic and practice environments spanning large and small public and not-for profit organizations in Canada. She currently serves as Dean for the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Regina. The National League of Nursing has recognized Dr. Pollard’s enduring and substantial contributions to nursing education by inducting her as a Fellow into the Academy of Nursing Education. She is widely regarded as a thought leader and scholar in the areas of healthcare education, innovation, and leadership. As a professor, within the Faculty of Nursing, her passion for the scholarship of teaching and learning – specifically the impact of the relationships within the learning environment is bringing attention to the importance of being kind and compassionate to one another.  She also had the honour of joining CASN’s Board of Directors in November 2023.

Nicole Harder

Nicole Harder, RN, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs at the College of Nursing, University of Manitoba, Canada. She also holds an endowed professorship (Mindermar Professor in Human Simulation) at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. In this role and with her team, she has launched an interprofessional virtual reality program called the ‘RadyVerse’. This virtual reality program spans 10 health professions programs, and 3 geographically separate campuses, and was the 2024 recipient of the Sim Innovator award from Simulation Canada.

Dr. Harder is an Editor Emeriti for Clinical Simulation in Nursing, and a curriculum developer and facilitator for the Canadian Association for Schools of Nursing in the Simulation Nurse Educator certification program. Nicole’s research focuses on learner outcomes linked to facilitation and debriefing techniques in simulation, with her most recent work on the use of virtual reality to develop socio-emotive skills.

Laura Vogelsang

Dr. Laura Vogelsang RN, PhD, CCNE, CCCI, CMSN(C) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Lethbridge. Dr. Vogelsang’s program of research is within the area of digital health technologies including artificial intelligence and extended reality. Her doctoral work explored the use of virtual reality as a teaching strategy for managing aggressive behaviors in older adults with dementia. Most recently, she was awarded the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing Pat Griffin Research Grant to explore how nursing students and nurse educators are being impacted by the recent release of the artificial intelligence Chat Generative Pretrained Transformer (ChatGPT). Dr. Vogelsang has the privilege of delivering the newly developed ‘Praxis in the Digital Age’ course which is one of the only courses of its kind offered to undergraduate nursing student in Canada. Laura strives to maintain a student-centered strengths-based approach to her research and teaching, and role model an appreciative inquiry approach to new technologies for students and her nursing colleagues.

Katrina Plamondon

Katrina Plamondon (she/her) is an assistant professor, Michael Smith Health Research BC scholar, and co-director of the Equity Science Lab in the Faculty of Health & Social Development at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Syilx People. As woman of Cree and Irish-German-French settler ancestry, and a Registered Nurse with more than 20 years combined of practice and health systems leadership experience, she grounds her work as an equity scholar in critical anti-oppressive pedagogy and relational approaches. In Canada, she plays a national leadership role in advancing health equity. Her program of research aims to overcome inertia in reducing health inequities and promote equity across social ecosystems. The Equity Science Lab is grounded in the belief that everyone deserves to live with dignity, across all social and geographic locations. Her work is intentionally relational and service-orientated, aiming to cultivate a supportive and collaborative learning environment focused on leveraging resources and evidence to spark equitable futures.