Lori McCay-Peet, an Interdisciplinary PhD student at Dalhousie, successfully defended her dissertation at a public examination on December 9, 2013. Lori’s dissertation, Investigating work-related serendipity, what influences it, and how it may be facilitated in digital environments, reports on a suite of studies of factors in digital environments that facilitate serendipity. A complex phenomenon, serendipity is often instrumental in scientific discovery, innovation in industry, breakthroughs in artistic and creative initiatives, and scholarship in the humanities. Creating mechanisms to support serendipity in digital environments, such as websites, databases, and social media, reflects a desire to nurture serendipity. As almost every aspect of society is increasingly affected by digital developments, Ms. McCay-Peet’s findings could have significant implications at personal and global levels.
Lori’s research was supervised by Dr. Elaine Toms, with the Information School at the University of Sheffield, co-supervised by Dr. Bertrum MacDonald, School of Information Management, and committee members, Dr. Stephen Brooks, Faculty of Computer Science, and Dr. Kevin Kelloway, Canada Research Chair in Occupational Health Psychology, Saint Mary’s University.
A 2008 graduate of Dalhousie’s Master of Library and Information Studies program, Lori has been recognized for her innovative doctoral research by prizes such as the Thomson Reuters Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Scholarship, awarded by the American Society for Information Science and Technology. During her studies, Lori obtained a prestigious Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Fellowship, awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and she received additional support from grants to Dr. Toms from the Graphics, Animation and New Media Network of Centres of Excellence (GRAND NCE), and the Canadian Foundation of Innovation. Lori’s research has been published in several journal articles, and she has presented work at numerous conferences.
Congratulations Lori.