Our Alumni

Jennifer Lindley with a big cat

Alum of the Month: Jennifer Lindley

October 11, 2024

It was while working at a job in another field that Jennifer Lindley decided she wanted to try a different career path. She thought the Forest Resource Technology program was a good fit because it explored a variety of forestry avenues, including reforestation and silviculture. Jennifer graduated in 2022 and currently works for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure as Project... Read more


Jane in a VIU Mariners jersey

Alum of the Month: Yevgeniya (Jane) Lytvynenko

August 13, 2024

The chance to be part of a successful volleyball team motivated Yevgeniya (Jane) Lytvynenko to choose Vancouver Island University for her studies. She quickly became a player that no one would forget, helping to lead the team to two national championships. Other accolades include CCAA Player of the Year, PACWEST Player of the Year and, after helping lead the team to a nationals championship, MVP... Read more


Melissa Ayling head and shoulders leaning against a wall

Alum of the Month: Melissa Ayling

May 22, 2024

One assignment changed the trajectory of Anthropology alum Melissa Ayling’s life. The paper she wrote for an upper-level Anthropology class about baklava and its significance to Middle Eastern identity sparked a passion for studying ancient food systems. “I hadn’t realized that the relationship between food, culture and identity was something you could even study, but I knew then that it was the... Read more


Headshot of Clair Morgan

Alum of the Month: Clair Morgan

April 30, 2024

Clair Morgan graduated from Vancouver Island University with a Bachelor of Design in Graphic Design. After graduation, Morgan opened Cosmo Packaging in Chemainus, a brick-and-mortar business specializing in branding and package design. She later transitioned out of this into managing creative projects for start-ups and established companies. “Cosmo grew quickly over four years, attracting clients... Read more


Mary Anne Molcan stands by her print press.

Alum of the Month: Mary Anne Molcan

March 21, 2024

For Mary Anne Molcan, having her lino-block print selected as part of the Boston Printmakers 75th Anniversary North American Print Biennial was an exciting moment. It was amplified when her piece Plexus was also featured in Artscope Magazine, which wrote a review of the artwork featured in the biennial. “It was an absolute honour to have my work profiled in Boston by Artscope Magazine,” said... Read more


Haley Healey head and shoulders with a forest background

Bringing to light the stories of trailblazing women

March 3, 2024

VIU Education grad Haley Healey writes books about boundary-pushing women A desire to share the stories of extraordinary historical women led VIU Education grad Haley Healey to become a published author in 2020. Four years later, the high school counsellor by day, author by night has published five non-fiction adult and children’s books highlighting boundary-pushing women as well as a fiction... Read more


Morgan in front of green bushes

Alum of the Month: Dr. Morgan Mowatt

February 13, 2024

Dr. Morgan Mowatt is an advocate for Indigenous sovereignty in Indigenous-state relations. As a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow in Indigenous governance at the University of Victoria, the VIU alum is researching the application of Indigenous authority-making processes to Indigenous-state diplomacy. Their interest in this area of research started when they were an undergraduate student at VIU. Mowatt... Read more


Jordyn Monaghan stands outside a classroom

Alum of the Month: Jordyn Monaghan

January 27, 2024

Jordyn Monaghan is passionate about supporting the community with a trauma-informed, harm-reduction and strength-based approach. That passion guided her through her undergraduate degree at VIU, where she studied Psychology and Criminology. Monaghan is now doing a Master of Science in Forensic Psychology at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We caught up with her to find out more... Read more


Perry Bulwer speaks into a microphone with a shelf of books behind him

Alum of the Month: Perry Bulwer

January 14, 2024

Coming to Vancouver Island University (then Malaspina College) in the early 1990s was a turning point in Perry Bulwer’s life. He had dropped out of high school in 1972 to join a fundamentalist Christian cult when he was just 16 years old. When he got out 20 years later, he described himself as “intellectually starving.” The Liberal Studies program helped him overcome his religious indoctrination... Read more


portrait of Marisa

Alum of the month: Marisa Turner

December 20, 2023

Marisa Turner graduated from VIU’s Bachelor of Business Administration, Major in Marketing program in 2022 and wasted no time in starting her own design firm – Marisa Turner Design. She’s also giving back to the community with a side venture that aims to inspire. Called @Honey_WomenWhoWin, Marisa interviews successful female entrepreneurs to “help the younger generation realize the range of... Read more