Maryellen Gibson

Maryellen is a research manager in the Department of Sociology with Dr. Colleen Anne Dell and in the School of Public Health with Dr. Barb Fornssler. With a background in the social determinants of health and health inequities, Maryellen’s work focuses on harm reduction, substance use, and stigma. 

Maryellen has contributed to numerous research activities on a variety of topics including cannabis harm reduction, knowledge translation of health information to youth, male experiences of intimate partner violence, youth mental health, supervised consumption site evaluation, the opioid crisis in Saskatoon, Veteran's health supports, affordable housing project, and sexual health organizational policy.

Maryellen engages in community-based research approaches and project development focusing on issues presented and requested by the community she serves. She now lives in Saskatoon where she is an active board member of Quint Development Corp Inc., Station 20 West, and Chairs the Board of Yorkton Veterans Foundation.  She is an adamant supporter of sexual and reproductive health rights for all, housing first, anti-opressive service provision, and community-led program development. She enjoys painting, listening to podcasts, and traveling the world.

Doctoral Candidate, Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan

Graduate Certificate in Substance Use Health and Wellbeing, School of PUblic Health, University of Saskatchewan

Graduate Certificate in Teaching Preparation, Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning, University of Saskatchewan 

Master's of Public Health focus on the social determinants of health and addictions, School of Public Health, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK 

 Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in International Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK 

Safe Spaces: Implementing Harm Reduction Strategies in University Settings

Date: January 2025 

Conference: Hawaii International Conference on Education

Co-Author: Rebekah Bennetch

Embracing a Sociologically-Informed Harm Reduction to Better Support People who use Drugs

Date: November 2024

Conference: Lisbon Addictions 2024

Breaking the Cycle: An Exploration into the Potential Impacts of Universal Basic Income on People who use Substances Living in Poverty in Canada

Date: September 2024

Conference: Prairie Political Science Association Conference 

The Helping Roles of Working Dogs in Substance Use Recovery 

Date: November 2023

Conference: Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addictions Issues of Substance Conference 

Co-Authors: Drs. Colleen Anne Dell and Linzi Williamson, Therapy Dog Molly

Pups in Prisons: A Novel Approach to Prison Programming 

Date: September 2023

Conference: Biannual Custody and Caring Conference

Co-authors: Drs. Colleen Anne Dell and Darlene Chalmers, Grace Rath, Therapy Dogs Molly, Reacher, E-Jay, Ruby and Reina

Reducing the Harms of Everyday Life: Embracing Harm Reduction in Sociology 

Date: June 2023

Conference: Canadian Sociological Association at Congress 

"My Lifeline is Gone": An Exploration of the Expereinces of Veterans Following the Loss of their Psychiatric Service Dog(s) 

Date: May 2023

Conference: Canadian Sociological Association at Congress

Co-authors: Dr. Darlene Chalmers and Dr. Siyu Ru

Academia in Action: How Research led to Renewed Community Advocacy Efforts for Safe Injection Sites in Saskatoon Saskatchewan

Date: November 2019

Conference: Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addictions Issues of Substance Conference

Co authors: Hanson L., Fornssler, B., Dixon, J., and Butt, P.

Consolidating perspective on the nature of Saskatoon’s evolving opioid crisis

Date: November 2019

Conference: Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addictions Issues of Substance Conference

Co authors: Hanson L., Fornssler, B., Dixon, J., and Butt, P.

Cannabis on Campus: Best Practices for Developing Educational Resources on Cannabis Use

Date: October 2018

Conference: Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse Prairie Node Annual Meeting

Co-author: Hanoski, R.

Cannabis on Campus: Best Practices for Developing Educational Resources on Cannabis Use

Date: August 2018

Conference: Saskatchewan Cannabinoid Research Symposium

Co-author: Hanoski, R.

Cannabis on Campus: Best Practices for Developing Educational Resources on Cannabis Use

Date: June 2018

Conference: Canadian Association of College and University Student Services Annual Conference

Co-author: Hanoski, R.

 Gibson, M., Chalmers, D., & Ru, S. (2022). “My Lifeline is Gone”: An Exploration of the Experiences of Veterans Following the Loss of their Psychiatric Service Dog (s). Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin 

Gibson, M., Williamson, L., Henwood, G., Chalmers, D., Dell, C., (2021)  Perceptions and Use of Alcohol and Medical Cannabis among Canadian Military Veterans Living with PTSD . Journal of Veteran Studies

Williamson, L., Pelletier, D., Gibson, M., de Groot, P., Moss, J., Dell, C. 2023. “Stigma and Stereotyping of Veterans who may Benefit from a Psychiatric Service Dog: A Test of the Stereotype Content Model and Weiner's Attribution-Affect-Action Model”. Journal of Veterans Studies. 29(2), 41-57.

Dell, C., Gibson, M., Carey, B., McKenzie, H., Peachy, S., Williamson, L., Chalmers, D. (2022). “How Therapy Dogs are Helping to Reduce Needle Fear at a COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic”. Canadian Nurse. Practice Article. French.

Dell, C., Williamson, L., Pavelich, A., McKenzie, H., Gibson, M., Cruz, M., Carey, B. 2021. “A Commentary about Lessons Learned: Transitioning a Therapy Dog Program Online during the COVID-19 Pandemic". Animals. Special Issue: Social Isolation and the Roles that Animals Play in Supporting the Lives of Humans: Lessons for COVID19. 99(3), 914, pp. 1-12.

Reddekopp, J., Dell, C., Rohr, B., Fornssler, B., Gibson, M., Carey, B., Stempien J. (2020) Patient Opinion of Visiting Therapy Dogs in a Hospital Emergency Department. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

 Focus Group Report on Factors Impacting Student Mental Health in the Classroom 

at the U of S 

April 2018

Evaluation of the Response to an HIV outbreak in South Eastern Saskatchewan for First Nations and Inuit Health Branch Saskatchewan 

August 2017

 Episode 18- Mental Health Panel Discussion- U of S, #bellletstalk https://www.sayknow.org/podcast

Date: January 2018

Co-authors: Inguille, M., and Hedley, P.

Building Bridges Interdisciplinary Forum: Cannabis Legalization for Health Sciences Students Association of U of S 

Date: November 2018  

Co-authors: Szafron, M., Laprairie, R., Dowling, T., Hedley, P., and Holt, A. 

Cannabis on Campus: What Students Need to Know

Interactive Community Educational Fair for Students at the University of Saskatchewan

Date: November 2018

Co-author: Hanoski, R.