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Meet the Judges for the 2025 3MT Finals
Daphne Bramham
DAPHNE BRAMHAM is a Vancouver-based journalist and author who has written extensively about Asia, children’s rights, women’s rights and animal rights. She has covered two Olympics, two elections in India, the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese control in 1997 and too many elections in Canada to count.
A columnist for the Vancouver Sun for 23 years, she was named British Columbia’s Commentator of the Year by the Jack Webster Foundation three times, most recently in 2023. She has also received a National Newspaper Award for column writing.
A 2024 nominee for the YWCA’s Women of Distinction Award in the professions category, she is a past recipient of the Rosemary Brown Award for women. In 2011, she was named Champion of Child and Youth rights by the BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition.
Her book, The Secret Lives of Saints: Child Brides and Lost Boys in Canada’s Polygamous Mormon Sect, was published by Random House in 2008 and was a finalist for three national, non-fiction book awards.
Daphne has a master’s degree in Liberal Studies from Simon Fraser University, a Bachelor of Applied Arts in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and German literature from the University of Regina. In 2013, Capilano University granted her an honorary Doctor of Letters degree. In June 2024, Simon Fraser University conferred her with an honorary Doctor of Laws.
MATT HERN lives in Richmond, BC, on xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) waters. He is a community organizer, independent scholar, writer, and activist and has led many community projects. He is the co-founder and co-director of Solid State Community Industries, which is building a network of worker cooperatives with migrant communities in Canada.
He is the author of many books - including What a City Is For, Global Warming and the Sweetness of Life (with Am Johal and Joe Sacco), and, most recently, O My Friends, There is No Friend: The Politics of Friendship at the End of Ecology (also with Am Johal) - which have been translated into nineteen languages.
He holds a doctorate in Urban Studies, teaches at multiple universities, and lectures globally.
Matt Hern
Dugan O'Neil
DUGAN O'NEIL was born in Miramichi, New Brunswick, obtained a BSc. at the University of New Brunswick, an MSc. at the University of Alberta and PhD in physics at the University of Victoria. As a professor of physics at Simon Fraser University, his research has focused on the search for new particles and interactions at high energy particle colliders at Fermilab and CERN. From single top quarks to Higgs bosons, his contributions have tended to focus on the "big data" problem of extraction of small signals from large backgrounds.
In addition to his work as a particle physicist, O'Neil has played a leadership role in building Canada's Digital Research Infrastructure, through work with WestGrid and Compute Canada. This includes spending three years (2014-2017) as Compute Canada's Chief Science Officer. At SFU, he has served as principal investigator of the institution's advanced research computing efforts since 2010. SFU has recently built Supercomputer Cedar, one of Canada's most powerful academic supercomputers. O’Neil served as SFU’s Associate Vice-President, Research (AVPR) from 2017-2020.
As SFU's Vice-President, Research and Innovation (VPRI), O'Neil leads SFU’s strategic research initiatives and champions SFU’s innovation strategy and the many initiatives within its innovation ecosystem.
POH TAN is an award-winning scientist, educator, entrepreneur, and mother. She earned her first PhD in Experimental Medicine from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 2008, focusing on stem cell biology. Demonstrating an unwavering commitment to education and interdisciplinary research, Dr. Tan pursued a second PhD in Education at Simon Fraser University (SFU), successfully defending her thesis in February 2024.
As the founder and CEO of STEMedge Academy Inc., Dr. Tan has advised prominent organizations, including BC Hydro's Power Smart for Schools program, on educational outreach initiatives. Dr. Tan is a two-time TEDx speaker and her commitment to decentering dominant ways of teaching science is demonstrated by her long-term volunteer work at Vancouver's Science World, a research associate at the Institute for Environmental Learning, research fellow at Vancouver Botanical Garden Association, and faculty at Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
In recognition of her outstanding contributions, Dr. Tan was honored with the 2024 Outstanding Alumni Award from SFU, Dean’s medal for her thesis work, Mantella Corporation BIPOC Entrepreneur Award, and the Kris Magnusson’s Emerging Leaders Award that recognizes her leadership and a commitment to transformative education.
Poh Tan
Learn about the 2025 SFU Finalists!
Learn about the the competitors participating in the Finals on April 10.