Laura Murphy

Laura Murphy serves as an Instructor in the Department of Geography, Earth, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Northern British Columbia, where she holds the position of Research Manager for Rural and Small Town Studies.

Her research focuses on critical challenges facing rural communities:

• Rural restructuring and service delivery
• Municipal reform and shared infrastructure models
• Rural innovation and entrepreneurial governance
• Labour commuting impacts on workers and communities
• Non-profit sector capacity and resilience
• Resource development-community relationships

Murphy leads investigations into how small municipalities navigate policy reforms and resource-driven economic shifts, with emphasis on community adaptation strategies in rapidly changing environments.

Scientific Awards:

• No scientific awards documented in available information

Advising and Grants:

While no formal advisees are listed, Murphy directs multi-year, multi-institutional research initiatives including the New Rural Economy Project and On the Move Project. Her work has secured funding for longitudinal studies in Kitimat during Rio Tinto's modernization, international analyses of work camp-community relationships for the BC Natural Gas Workforce Strategy Committee, and cross-border Resource Royalties research in BC and Australia.

Labs and Teams:

As core member of UNBC's Community Research Connections (CRC) team, Murphy coordinates rural-focused research networks examining community resilience, policy impacts on non-profits, and municipal innovation strategies through active partnerships with government and community organizations.