David Stapells

After graduating from Mt. Doug in 1973, I worked in a couple “non fulfilling” jobs for 6 months in the Victoria area. Come Winter, I said “I’m out of here”, and moved to Whistler to ski full time. Two seasons at Whistler showed me I needed something more to pursue, and I pursued undergraduate studies at SFU. After SFU, I continued my studies, obtaining a Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa in 1984. Next stop was a 2-year post doc at University of California-San Diego and San Diego Childrens Hospital. At the end of this, looking for my first faculty position, I moved to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY. in 1986. Who would have guessed “Dave” would end up as a professor in New York City? Though I had planned to be in New York for “only 3 years”, I ended up being there for 10 years. My research is primarily in the area of infant hearing assessment, and in New York I ran a clinical lab testing infant hearing. In 1996, I finally came home, accepting a faculty position at The University of British Columbia in the School of Audiology and Speech Sciences, where I eventually became School Director. Even more momentous, in 1996 I married Michelle, a lifetime Vancouverite who I met while I was interviewing at UBC in 1995. Certainly 1996 is one of the best years of my life! In 2012, I formally retired from my UBC faculty position (Michelle retired from her UBC job in 2011), so that Michelle and I could “sail away” on our sailboat “Pelagia”. We sold everything and sailed to Mexico in 2013. We loved much of our 2 seasons in Mexico, however, after the first year in Mexico, we knew we would be coming home: we missed the mountains, skiing, sailing in BC, and weren’t fans of the heat. We came home in 2015 and moved to Whistler. Since then, we’ve been skiing in the Winter, sailing in the Summer, and in the shoulder seasons, travelling to Nepal (trekking, 16 times so far) and Europe (bicycling). Along the way, I’ve returned to some of my research at UBC as “Professor Emeritus” as well as clinical consultation with the British Columbia Early Hearing Program.