Reflections From Our Wonderful Knowledge Mobilization Students – Hilda Smith / Quelques réflexions des merveilleux étudiants de l’équipe de mobilisation des connaissances – Hilda Smith

On August 28, 2014, we bid farewell to some of the students who have been instrumental in helping York’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit deliver expert knowledge mobilization services. We are pleased to post the reflections of our students on their time with us.
Le 28 août dernier, nous disions au revoir à quelques-uns des étudiants qui ont joué un rôle majeur dans notre équipe en nous permettant d’offrir des services de mobilisation des connaissances spécialisés. Nous publions ici quelques-unes des réflexions que leur a inspirées leur séjour parmi nous.
Hilda SmithName: Hilda Smith
Degree: Masters of Arts
Work at the KMb Unit: Almost two years as Research Translation Assistant
What’s Next: PhD in Critical Disabilities, York University, emphasis on KMb processes; September 2014
I became interested in knowledge mobilization because I thought it would be a great place to explore my passion for making information accessible.  I found so much more once I started working the field.
As a knowledge translator most of my work was writing 2-page clear language summaries for published academic articles.  This position allowed me to work with NeuroDevNet’s (NDN) Knowledge Translation Core, which exposed me to other ways of sharing information.  (Anneliese, the KT manager for NeuroDevNet, is amazing with videos).  As well, working with a variety of researchers with ResearchImpact and the KMb Unit really made me realize how far reaching KMb is.  It also exposed me to the types of impacts knowledge mobilization can have!  How KMb affects research, researchers, and communities. These experiences have changed me in a great way.
These experiences have had a major impact on where my future research will go.  Having just finished my masters, dealing with how communities influence theory development, I’m eager to expand on this topic in my PhD.  Having a better understanding of KMb I plan to make it a central theme in my PhD research.  The project will have two objectives.  One will focus on what role communities have in sharing research knowledge and how to evaluate the impact this form of knowledge mobilization has.  The other will be to better understand how KMb works with community groups who have information to share; whether that is their own, something that was co-produced, or something that they received from a researcher.
I look back at my time working with ResearchImpact, the KMb Unit and NeuroDevNet with fond memories.  I’m so happy to have met the wonderful people in these organizations, who were great at answering questions and helping me learn about the knowledge mobilization field.  I’ll be pleased to find new ways to collaborate with these colleagues as I move forward in my PhD.
Thanks for you all for your help and support!