Christine D’Onofrio (she/her)
Director, Digital Scholarship in Arts
disa.director@ubc.ca
Christine D’Onofrio is an artist and educator who explores potentials of digital technologies via creative practice. Her work critically examines how digital processes create and transform meaning, challenging traditional academic and artistic conventions. For example, in Intuition Commons (2018) D’Onofrio developed a user-generated database that reimagines citation. Unlike conventional reference systems, this digital archive visualizes creative contributions as an interconnected network. Mapping a complex web of influences, mentorships, and inspirations that shape artistic communities she highlights the collaborative nature of creative work. Through her research and artistic practice she seeks to expand our understanding of digital effects, representation, and knowledge sharing. D’Onofrio is an Associate Professor of Teaching in the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory, current Chair of the Bachelor of Media Studies, Faculty in Residence at the Emerging Media Lab and co-lead of the Faculty of Arts Digital Strategy Working Group.
Neil Aitken, PhD
Digital Projects Specialist, Digital Scholarship in Arts
Neil Aitken is a second-year MLIS student with a background in computer science, creative writing, and academic scholarship. A former computer games programmer, Neil holds a PhD in Literature & Creative Writing, an MFA in Creative Writing, and a BS in Computer Science. His interests include contemporary poetry, interactive fiction, the cultural history of artificial intelligence, and gaming. He is the author of Babbage’s Dream (Sundress Publications, 2017) and The Lost Country of Sight (Anhinga Press, 2008). View his work at www.neil-aitken.com. As a Digital Projects Specialist, he provides consultations and training to researchers; troubleshoots update and transition problems with existing digital scholarship projects; and develops code solutions to bridge gaps between tools, automate tasks, and simplify researcher workflow. He is currently a member of the Faculty of Arts Digital Strategy Working Group.
Sydney Lines, MA (she/her)
Project Manager, Digital Scholarship in Arts
PhD Candidate, Department of English Language and Literatures
Sydney Lines is a UBC Public Scholar and Co-PI of the Adaptive TEI Network, an innovative, collaborative project funded through the G+PS PhD CoLab award. She is also Project Manager of the Winnifred Eaton Archive, a TEI-encoded digital edition of the collected works of Asian North American author Winnifred Eaton and exhibition designer/digital developer of both the Kuwentong Pamamahay oral history project and the Early Chinese in Montreal exhibit, both built with CollectionBuilder’s open source framework. Sydney is also a seasoned experience designer and community-engaged organizer. She has partnered with the Museum of Vancouver and the Heritage Vancouver Society on several public programming initiatives and co-organized larger conferences such as Crossing Fonds: A Critical Digital Archives Symposium (2024) and Games in Action: Interactivity / Activation \ Activism (2022). She is a member of the Faculty of Arts Digital Strategy Working Group, and she sits on the Public Humanities Hub’s Advisory Board.
Holly Pickering
Digital Scholarship Librarian
With a background in digital humanities, sociology, linguistics, and music, Holly is passionate about the intersections between technology, culture, and scholarship. She also brings both professional expertise and lived experience in working with accessible library materials, services, and programs, and is committed to promoting equity in the library. She is excited to be able to support innovative digital projects that advance research and learning.
Bronwen Sprout
Head, Digital Programs and Services at UBC Library
In Bronwen’s role, she is responsible for several Library teams and areas of activity, including digitization, digital repository and scholarly communications and copyright services.
Helen Wu
Communications Officer, Digital Scholarship in Arts
Helen Wu is a first-year Master’s student at the UBC School of Journalism, Writing, and Media. Raised as a classical pianist, she holds a BA in Comparative Literature, a BM in Piano Performance, and an MM in Chamber Music. Her journey into journalism began through music criticism. She was one of 17 writing fellows selected for the 2022 Rubin Institute for Music Criticism, where she was mentored by critics and editors from The New York Times, The Washington Post, and San Francisco Chronicle. Helen has written for San Francisco Classical Voice and The Source. Her writing delves into the intersection of arts, culture, and social issues. Before transitioning to journalism, she had a multifaceted career as a chamber pianist, teacher, and arts administrator—roles that cultivated her deep understanding of the arts and their broader societal impact.
Zohra Faqiri
Digitization Assistant, Digital Scholarship in Arts
Currently in her final-year as a MLIS/MAS student at the UBC iSchool, Zohra has a Master’s degree in History. She works at the UBC Library Digitization Centre, where her work focuses on digitization, photo editing, and metadata creation. Currently digitizing Unión Cívica (1961–1962), a Spanish-language semi-weekly newspaper that exposes the crimes of dictatorship and advocates for democracy and freedom in the Dominican Republic, these invaluable records will soon be accessible via Open Collections. She also works at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery as a Records Management Assistant.
Abi Muthukumar
Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian (Digital Scholarship)
Abi is the liaison librarian for Economics, International Relations, Philosophy, Political Science, and Public Policy and Global Affairs. In her role, she also provides digital scholarship support for faculty and student research projects.
Eka Grguric (on leave until January 2026)
Digital Scholarship Librarian
Eka Grguric is the Digital Scholarship Librarian. In this role she supports exploratory scholarship across disciplines which is either completely reliant on the use of a new computational approach or augmenting a traditional approach using new technologies.