Moura is Professor and founding Director of UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (2017-2019), the former Director of the Liu Institute for Global Issues, and teaches in the Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs program. She was appointed Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President, Academic Affairs at UBC on August 1, 2020.

Moura’s interests lie in rethinking, refining, and rebuilding collaborative spaces at the intersections of academia, government, business and civil society. Her teaching and research focus on strategic design, designed leadership, and an emerging Policy Studio that helps students and organizations learn to use design processes and tools.

She has been Deputy Minister of the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education, B.C. Commissioner of Pacific Coast Collaborative, Dean of UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems, and Associate VP, Academic Programs at UBC Okanagan. Moura received an honorary doctorate from the University of Guelph in 2004. She currently serves as Chair of Genome Canada. Her book, Designed Leadership, was published by Columbia University Press in July 2017.

Since arriving at the Liu Institute for Global Issues and then transitioning to the UBC School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, Moura’s scholarly and professional activities re-focused on leadership and policy design/development.

The Policy Studio

The transition from a business focus to a policy focus has provided the opportunity to apply strategic design to policy innovation. The Policy Studio is both a place and a pedagogy to share opportunities and expertise with multi-stakeholders. The Policy Studio is built on the strategic design method – a participatory process rooted in user research. Leveraging creative and critical-thinking techniques from design disciplines, the method has been successfully tested in Industry, Government, and Academia. The UBC Policy Studio convenes teams to co-create, test, and launch solutions to big picture challenges. Globally oriented and focused on complex and wicked-system problems, the Studio emphasizes policy design, development, strategic planning, and implementation. The Policy Studio has engaged in the following projects:

• Policy Studio in Ottawa: 3-day studio program with Canada’s Federal government
• Resilient City Policy Challenge: Sciences Po and MPPGA students tackle social connectedness in the City of Vancouver
• Enhancing KMb@UBC: a research project to discover the challenges of knowledge mobilization at UBC
• Co-Creating the UBC Knowledge Exchange: a research project to determine external stakeholders challenges in engaging UBC and therefore helping to create the UBC Knowledge Exchange
• Re-Envisioning UBC’s ISGP Program
• Tec de Monterrey Strategic Design Sessions: customized innovation pedagogy
• Annual Strategic Design Workshops for MPPGA students

Learn More about the Policy Studio

Quayle, M. and Richard Littlemore (Editors), David S. Fushtey (2021). Principled Governance When Everything Matters. Information Age Publishing.

Quayle, M. (2017). Designed Leadership. July 2017. Columbia Business School Press, 226 pages.

Quayle, M., B.Weber, M. Bravo, D. Das (2018) Re-Envisioning the ISGP at UBC.

Quayle, M., Bravo, M. MacLennan (2018) Research Report. Co-Creating the UBC Knowledge Exchange (Kx) prepared for Gail Murphy (VPRI) and Helen Burt (AVPRI). 25% Editing and Overseeing Project

Quayle, M. Bravo, M. MacLennan (2017) Research Report. Enhancing KMb@UBC prepared for Helen Burt, VP Research pro tem.

TEACHING/SCHOLARSHIP:

• Fellow, Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (North America) (2011).
• Distinguished Alumna, College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley (2009).
• Honourary Doctorate (Doctor of Science, Honoris causa), University of Guelph, Ontario (2004).
• Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Honour Award (National) for Portrait of a Profession (1991).
• Killam Award for Excellence in Teaching, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (1990).
• Distinguished Teaching Award: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (North America) (1987).

PROFESSIONAL/SERVICE:

• One of 10 most influential female administrators at Metro Vancouver public universities, college, and institutes (Charlie Smith, Georgia Strait, March 2016)
• One of Fifty Notable Alumni from University of Guelph Landscape Architecture Program (2015).
• Y.W.C.A. Women of Distinction, Communication and Public Affairs (1993).
• American Society of Landscape Architects Merit Award (1993).
• Canadian Society of Landscape Architects President’s Award of Excellence for outstanding service to the Society (1993).
• Fellow, Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (1990).

• Pete Dupuis, ISPG Ph.D., Co-Supervisor with Penny Gurstein

NOTE: She is not currently taking any more Ph.D. students.