2022 AIHA BC Yukon AGM Feature Speaker
Sherri Ferguson, MSc
Sherri Ferguson is the current Director of the Environmental Medicine and Physiology Unit at Simon Fraser University, and has been with the lab since 2007. She holds a Master of Science degree in Biomedical Physiology, her research focuses on hyperbaric physiology and the effects of increased gas pressures on the cardiovascular system. The lab houses Canada’s only civilian hyper/hypobaric research facility in an educational institution. In addition to academic research and industry contracts the lab is accredited by the Divers Certification Board of Canada for certification of chamber operators for both clinical and diving/tunneling operations and offers training for hyperbaric safety officers.
She is the current Vice-Chair of the CSA Z275 Technical Committee for the series of standards for diving and hyperbaric operations. She has chaired the sub-committee on work in hyperbaric and compressed air environments since 2013. As Chair she has attended the ASME PVHO committee meetings representing the CSA and liaises with the NFPA standard for hyperbaric operations. She has served as a member of the Safety Committee for the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) since 2014.
She is a current executive member on the board of directors of the Canadian Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Association (CUHMA). Among her awards received is the James Wilson award and a special recognition award for her service to CUHMA. She is was the recipient of the Paul Baker award for contributions to hyperbaric safety from the UHMS. She has held research grants from the US Office of Naval Research and several from WorkSafe BC including this year’s Innovation at Work grant.
Sherri is an advisor on safety standards to the Canadian Association of Underwater Science and serves on several diving safety committees at various institutions. She is a former Diving Safety Officer at both the University of British Columbia and The University of Victoria.