Greetings from the unceded territories of the Musqueam (MUS-kwee-um), Squamish (SKWA-mish), and Tsleil-Waututh (tSLAY-wah-tooth) Nations, in the city now known as Vancouver.

I so wish I could be there with all of you today to celebrate another year of BERA activity, and to continue the many wonderful conversations that we started at the BERA conference in Birmingham earlier this year.

When I received word from my wonderful supervisor, Dr Kevin Proudfoot from the University of Glasgow, that I was the recipient of the 2023 Masters Dissertation award, I was quite surprised, then instantly grateful that no one else was in my office, as happy tears started streaming down my face. Of course, the personal validation was and will always be something I treasure, but more importantly, knowing that the perspectives of the participants had been recognised meant more to me than the award itself.

Thank you for hearing the voices of the participants in this research project, whose stories and artwork remind us that we are all connected. When we respectfully enter into that connected space, I believe we will find opportunities to reimagine academic integrity in a way that honours Indigenous knowledges, embraces different ways of knowing and being, and celebrates the complexity and diversity of our interconnected relationships.

Indigenous scholar Shawn Wilson quoted a friend who said, ‘If research doesn’t change you as a person, then you aren’t doing it right.’ I can’t say I did everything right, but I can certainly say that I’ve been changed. My hope for the future is that we will continue to embrace change in our academic institutions, to challenge colonial norms, and to put people, rather than policies, first.