Dr. Julie Drolet
Affiliations
Professor
Faculty of Social Work, Edmonton Campus
Contact information
Phone number
Office: +1 (780) 492-1594
I'm looking for...
Research partners
Julie is interested in developing new interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research partnerships, joint projects, and student opportunities in Canada and internationally.
Background
Educational Background
B.A. History, University of Toronto, 1994
B.S.W. Social Work, University of Regina, 1995
Doctor of Philosophy Social Work, McGill University, 2006
M.S.W. Social Work, McGill University, 1997
Research
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Courses
| Course number | Course title | Semester |
|---|---|---|
| SOWK 436 | Green Social Work and Sustainability | Winter 2025, 2026, 2027 |
| SOWK 437 | Social Work Practice in an Interconnected World | Winter 2025, 2026, 2027 |
| SOWK 721 | Research Colloquia | Winter 2021, 2024 |
| SOWK 797 | Resettlement as a Climate Adaptation Strategy | 2023 |
| SOWK 747 | Research Methods II | Fall 2022 |
| SOWK 799 | Community Resilience and Adaptation | 2022 |
Projects
Transforming the Field Education Landscape (TFEL) is a partnership project that aims to better prepare the next generation of social workers in Canada by creating training and mentoring opportunities for students, developing and mobilizing innovative and promising field education practices, and improving the integration of research and practice in field education.
With funding from a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s (SSHRC) Partnership Grant, the TFEL partnership (2019-2026) is focused on creating new training and mentorship opportunities for social work students.
www.tfelproject.com
This Advancing Transdisciplinary Experiential Learning (ATEL) partnership brings together academic, public, private, and not-for-profit partners in 23 countries to support innovative approaches to research training and mentorship, mobilize climate change adaptation practices, and strengthen disaster risk reduction in communities through curricular and co-curricular experiential learning. Funded by a SSHRC partnership grant (stage 1), the team is continuing to develop a research partnership for transformative change (2025-26).
The study examines the lived experiences of wildfire evacuees in Alberta, including people affected by the 2023 and 2024 wildfire seasons. The research looks beyond the evacuation itself to understand what people experienced before leaving, during displacement, and after returning home. The study includes interviews and focus groups with evacuees, as well as social workers and human service professionals who supported people in hotels, shelters, and other temporary housing settings. This project is supported in part by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Insight Grant, 2025-28).
Climate change is intensifying existing health inequities among youth, who face intersecting environmental, social, and institutional vulnerabilities. Young people, particularly those from equity-deserving communities, are among the most affected, yet they remain underrepresented in climate policy and governance. Despite growing commitments to equity and inclusion, little attention has been paid to how structural determinants interact with identity-based factors to shape youth health outcomes and experiences of climate justice. This multi-phase study is guided by a Critical Systems Thinking (CST) and intersectionality within a social constructivist paradigm. Methods included an equity-oriented policy analysis of international and government documents using the PROGRESS Plus framework to assess how youth, equity, and inclusion were represented. Policy Delphi surveys with young people (ages 15-25) identified and prioritized actions for embedding youth voices in policy development. Interviews with young people and focus group discussions with youth and community leaders explore lived experiences of climate-related health challenges, barriers to adaptation, and actionable strategies for equitable adaptation.Addressing inequities require upstream, systems-level interventions that embed health equity and meaningful youth participation within climate adaptation frameworks.
Awards
- Parex Innovation Fellowship Award, 2025
- Alumni of Influence Award, University College, University of Toronto. 2025
- ASTech Award Finalist, 2025
- Emerald Award, Public Engagement and Outreach, Alberta Emerald Foundation. 2024
- Faculty Publication Award, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary. 2023
- Research Impact Award, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary. 2021
- Killam Research Excellence Award, Killam Foundation. 2020
- New member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, Royal Society of Canada . 2019
Publications
- Transforming field education in social work: A special issue on field education. Transformative Social Work. 1-5. (2024)
- Settling in a mid-sized city in the Interior of British Columbia: A case study of recent immigrants’ housing experiences in Kelowna (Central Okanagan Valley). C. Texeira. Canadian Ethnic Studies. 101-124. (2024)
- Social work practicum students experiences, challenges, and aspirations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drolet, J.L, +Salim, S., +Choudhury, M., Nicholas, D., McKee, E., Walsh, C., Charles, G. . Transformative Social Work. 1-24. (2024)
- The role of social work practitioners and human service professionals in long-term disaster recovery after the 2016 Alberta wildfires.. Drolet, J.L., +Lewin, B., +Khatiwada, K., +Bogdan, E., & +Windsor, E.. International Social Work. (2024)
- Promoting older adults’ engagement in disaster recovery through supportive relationships, partnerships, and collaboration: Perspectives of social work practitioners and human service professionals. Drolet, J.L., & +Choudhury, M. . International Journal of Disaster Risk Science. (2024)
- Promoting older adults engagement in disaster settings: An introduction to the special issue. . Wu, H., Walsh, C.A., Drolet, J.L., & Breen, K. . International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 15, . 181-185. (2024)
- Welcome to the first issue of Transformative Social Work: A special issue on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drolet, J.L. & Nicholas, D.B. . Transformative Social Work, 1(1). 1-3. (2023)
- Impact of COVID-19 on social work field education: Perspectives of Canadian social work students. . Au, C., Drolet, J., Charles, G., Franco, M., Henton, J., Hirning, M., McConnell, S., Nicholas, D., Nickerson, A., Ossais, J., Shenton, H., Sussman, T., Verdicchio, G., Walsh, C., & Wickman, J.. Journal of Social Work. . (2023)
- New directions in social work field education” Promising, wise and innovative practices. . Kaushik, V., +Klassen, S., Drolet, J., & Walsh, C.A. . Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 43(3. 324-341. (2023)
- Transforming the field education landscape: Relational leadership and practicum learning. Drolet, J.. Relational Child & Youth Care Practice. 44-65. (2026)
- The climate action and advocacy project: Engaging practicum students in applied green social work. Drolet, J.L., Kaemingh, K., Choudhury, M., Khatiwada, K., & Arzuaga, L. . Applied Learning in Social Work Education. (2026)
- A scan of social work practicum education in Africa: Prospects and challenges. Makoha, G., Chilanga, E., Hanley, J., Khatiwada, K., & Drolet, J.L. . Applied Learning in Social Work Education. (2026)
- Canadian social work student perspectives on the state of field education: Insights from virtual dialog circles. Iriye, A., Drolet, J.L., Kaushik, V., Charles, G., McConnell, S., & Walsh, C.A. . Journal of Social Work Education. 1-13. (2025)
- International Instruments. Julie L Drolet. Springer. 13--20. (2014)
- Welcoming and Inclusive Communities and Workplaces Program (WICWP): The Case in Thompson-Nicola Region, British Columbia. Julie L Drolet. Springer. 17--33. (2017)
- Adaptive Social Protection. Julie L Drolet. Springer. 35--49. (2014)
- Post-Tsunami Recovery in South India: Including the excluded. Julie L Drolet; Miriam Samuel; Haorui Wu. Oxford University Press. (2019)
- Microcredit and Microlending. Julie L Drolet. (2016)
- The historical and current context of social protection: the development of the Social Protection Floor Initiative. CRYSTAL KWAN; JULIE DROLET. Routledge. 37--54. (2016)
- Social protection, disaster risk reduction and community resilience: evidence from rural areas in Indonesia SAUT SAGALA, DODON YAMIN, ALPIAN A. PRATAMA AND. Julie L Drolet. Routledge. 280--300. (2016)
- Social Protection: An Alternative or Not for Africaâs Post-2015 Development Agenda Alternative?. Julie Drolet. Springer. 295--308. (2015)
- Literature Review. Crystal Kwan; Julie Drolet. Oxford University Press. (2019)
- Introduction. Julie Drolet; Amy Fulton. Oxford University Press. (2019)
- Alberta Syrian refugee project: Implications for refugee resettlement. Esra Al Saadi; Lisa Elford; Gayatri Moorthi; Dania El Chaar; Amanda Weightman; Julie Drolet. McGill-Queen's Press. (2019)
- the 2013 flood in Southern Alberta: Case study. Julie Drolet; Amy Fulton. (2019)
- Adaptive social protection: Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Julie Drolet; Haorui Wu. Routledge. 116--139. (2016)
- "At the End of the Road": The Johnsons' Landing landslide in rural British Columbia. Julie L Drolet. (2019)
- Country Developments and Initiatives. Julie L Drolet. Springer. 51--62. (2014)
- âRecovery for allâ and reducing inequality: austerity and poverty elimination. Crystal Kwan; Julie Drolet. Routledge. 55--71. (2016)
- Key concepts and definitions of social protection, social development, and related terms. TIFFANY SAMPSON; JULIE DROLET. Routledge. 96--115. (2016)
- Rebuilding lives post-disaster: innovative community practices for sustainable development. Julie L. Drolet; Chaosing Huang; Golam Mathbor; Margaret Alston; Yen Yi Huang; Hargreaves Desley; Haorui Wu; Robin Ersing. Routledge. 63-73. (2018)
- British Columbia Wildfires. Julie L Drolet; Grant Larson. Oxford University Press. (2019)
- Background to the Social Protection Initiative. Julie L Drolet. Springer. 1--12. (2014)
- The Bolsa Fam\'\ilia program in the context of social protection in Brazil: a debate on central issues: focus and impact on poverty MARIA OZANIRA DA SILVA E SILVA. Julie L Drolet. Routledge. 165--194. (2016)
- Definition of the Social Protection Floor. Julie L Drolet. Springer. 21--34. (2014)
- Methodology. Julie Drolet; Haorui Wu. Oxford University Press. (2019)
- Conclusion. Julie Drolet. Oxford University Press. (2019)
- Building inclusive and welcoming communities for immigrants. Julie Drolet; Haorui Wu. Oxford University Press Canada. (2017)
- Forced migration and the lived experiences of refugees. Julie Drolet. IFSW. 192-201. (2017)
- Societal adaptation to climate change. The impacts of climate chang. 365-377. (2021)
- Revisioning practicum: Lessons from supervised self-directed practicum and research informing curricular change for undergraduate social work students.. Judge-Stasiak, A., Mann-Johnson, J., Drolet, J., & Ross, J. . In L. Shklarski & Y. Latzer (Eds.) Rethinking social work education in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. . 60-74. (2024)
- Transforming the field education landscape: Student handbook on field education. Drolet, J., & Charles, G. (Eds.). University of Calgary Press. (2025)
- Transforming social work field education: New insights from practice research and scholarship. Drolet, J., Charles, G., McConnell, S., & Bogo, M. (Eds.) . University of Calgary Press. (2022)
In the News
- ‘Design a better system’: Alberta wildfire evacuees need more support, shows research. Edmonton Journal. (2026)
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