Holly Mathias

Holly Mathias, MA, PhD is an Assistant Professor (Family Science) in the Department of Human Ecology at the University of Alberta. She is also an Early Career Fellow with the Work and Family Researchers Network. Holly’s program of community-based research explores how contemporary families encounter and experience emerging health and social issues, such as substance use, and critically examines family-oriented policy and program interventions. Her most recent area of research focused on unpaid family caregiving for people who use drugs in rural Canada and was well-awarded with the Vanier, Killam, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Doctoral Scholarships. She regularly collaborates on research and supports students with interests related to rural health, substance use, access to services, health and social policy, and determinants of health.

Holly holds a PhD in Public Health Sciences (UofA), MA in Health Promotion and Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (Dalhousie), and BA (Honours) in Global Development Studies and English Literature and Language (Queen’s). Outside of work, Holly enjoys staying active, reading a good book, visiting her family in Nova Scotia, and spending time with her husband, Justin, and their miniature dachshund, Zola.