Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies Students

Janice Agustin

PhD Student

Born and raised on the island of Guåhan (Guam), an unincorporated territory of the United States, and having moved to Southern California at the age of thirteen, Janice Agustin is a Filipina/x-American interdisciplinary artist and educator who delves into themes of home, memory, migration, and labor. She is in her first year as a PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies Program in Community Engagement, Social Change, and Equity. She received her Bachelor’s in Art with an emphasis in Book Arts and Publications in 2015 from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She graduated from the University of Arkansas- Fayetteville with her M.F.A. in Studio Art (Printmaking) in the summer of 2024. She lives in BC, Canada, on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation.

sarah buffett (martin)

MA Student 

Sarah is Cree-Métis scholar with roots in the Qu’Appelle Valley of Saskatchewan. She has been living on Okanagan (Syilx) territory since 2010, and is currently an MA student in Interdisciplinary Studies under the theme of Community Engagement, Social Change, and Equity. After completing her undergraduate degree at UBCO, Sarah sought several years of professional community-engaged work, and  gathered a breadth of experience through many projects that ultimately led her back to UBC Okanagan to pursue another degree. Since 2015, Sarah has completed research in Indigenous community health, community homelessness, then establishing the Start Fresh Project–a social enterprise that created pathways for individuals with multiple barriers to employment to food and agri-sector careers. In 2020, Sarah transitioned to the regional food security sector, and became a founding member of the Vinica Education Society, a group providing training to BC’s BIPOC youth that builds equity, diversity, and inclusion within wine industry leadership. Sarah’s overarching program of research centres Indigenous communities’ engagement with traditional food systems and modern food practices to create food security as an act of sovereignty for new generations. Her work is being co-supervised by Dr. Rachelle Hole and Dr. Leyton Schnellert.

Cara Basil

MA Student 

Cara Basil, Secwépemc from Bonaparte, is the granddaughter of Residential School Survivors Tom and Irene Basil and daughter of Elaine Basil. Cara has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Aboriginal Studies from Thompson Rivers University. Her professional contributions began as an Elected Councillor of Bonaparte, and expanded to leading initiatives in Community Planning, Education, and Health. These experiences influenced her research interests in trauma and healing, community development, and building capacity in healthcare within First Nations. Cara is excited to support the Nav-CARE project under the supervision of Dr. Barbara Pesut, looking at enhancing palliative care in Indigenous communities. In her spare time, Cara enjoys fostering holistic wellness, practicing Secwépemc culture and language, and spending time on the land.

Jenna Christianson-Barker

PhD Student 

Jenna is currently a Faculty Member of the Disability and Community Studies Department at Douglas College, focused on preparing practitioners dedicated to thoughtful and dignity filled supports. Through a variety of professional roles, she has had the opportunity to lead federal employment initiatives, sit on national working groups, identify and build on gaps in service, collaborate with both federal and provincial government, participate in and inform research, and create and deliver academic programming. These varied opportunities have resulted in a unique understanding of the value of diversity and a true passion for workplace inclusion. She is pursuing a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies, Community Engagement, Social Change and Equity. Applying an emancipatory approach through a disability justice lens, her research focus intends to explore the experiences, interactions, and related impacts on co-workers of individuals with intellectual, and developmental disabilities.

Emily comeau

PhD Student 

Emily’s doctoral research seeks to answer the question: can digital spaces and digital tools be used in land-based approaches to language revitalization? Following the principles of Indigenist, relational, and decolonizing methodologies, Emily investigates the potential roles that digital technologies can play in facilitating land-based language learning. Emily intends to conduct a series of interviews with language champions across Canada and internationally in order to learn about their perspectives on the use of digital technologies in land-based approaches to language learning. In the second phase of her research, Emily is hoping to work with Nsyilxcn language learners and instructors to collaboratively develop digital tools for land-based language learning that can be directly applied in local language revitalization initiatives.

kelsey darnay

PhD Student 

Kelsey is an Anishinaabe Kwe with band membership in Garden River First Nation. She completed her MA at Trent University writing a MRP titled “Exploring Gladue and its Relationship to the Overrepresentation of Indigenous People Incarcerated in Canada.” Currently, she is completing a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies: Community Engagement, Social Change and Equity focusing on Indigenous Restorative Justice (RJ) practices as an alternative to incarceration. Specifically comparing nation-specific RJ programs to urban-Indigenous RJ programs and lowering recidivism rates. Kelsey is working from an Indigenous perspective of colonization and its impacts using a decolonizing lens informed by post-colonial theory and critical theory to complete this work. Research focus: Indigenous Restorative Justice practices, decolonization, Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous methodologies in research, community-engaged research, postcolonial theory.

bonny lynn donovan

PhD Student

Bonny Lynn is a Saskatchewan Métis woman with ancestral ties to one of the first Métis settlements in the prairie province. She completed her BEd at the University of Calgary in 1993 and her MEd at Simon Fraser University in 2009. Bonny Lynn has a passion for teaching Kindergarten and has been with SD 67 (Okanagan-Skaha) since 1999. She is pursuing her IGS PhD in Community Engagement, Social Change, and Equity, while on academic leave with her school district. Bonny Lynn works both as a Research Assistant, supervised by Drs. Jeannette Armstrong (UBCO) and Leyton Schnellert (UBCV), and as the Community Liaison Coordinator for the Enhancing Ecosystem Sustainability: A Syilx/Settler Science Collaboration Eminence Fund Research Project. Bonny Lynn was awarded a University Graduate Fellowship for the 2020-2021 school year. Her research is an interdisciplinary qualitative inquiry that draws from Indigenous studies, education, and ecological sustainability. Her research is a community-based participatory action Ecoliteracy research project with Syilx/Okanagan early learners and their first teachers.

Nadia Galvan Hernandez

PhD Student

Nadia (ella/she/her/hers) is a brown immigrant woman from Mexico. Trauma care, art, and social justice are central for her. She self-identified as a Mad person, which is a reclaimed term for people who have been in contact with psychiatric and psychological services, which in her case is rooted in complex PTSD, and transgenerational trauma. She is a grateful mamá of an IVF preemie baby, and she lives with chronic pelvic pain. She is an activist for people facing infertility, uterus illnesses, L&D trauma, and postpartum mental health challenges. Nadia comes from a lineage of activist and community-based art learners. She is a first-generation PhD candidate in the IGS program with a Theme in CESCE. With more than 15 years of experience working in community-based art and social programs, her doctoral research project focuses on fighting ableism through Disability Justice and community-based art programs.

Michelle hewitt

PhD Student 

Michelle Hewitt is a disability activist in the Central Okanagan, BC. Michelle was a school principal until 2008, when an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis brought that career to an end. As she now views life from a wheelchair, she is constantly struck by the inequities disabled people face. Unsatisfied with the status quo, she works to advance systemic change as a volunteer with a number of disability advocacy groups. Michelle realized the need to hone her activist arguments so initially took courses with the Disability Studies department of Ryerson University. With the fire for academia re-lit, Michelle is now pursuing her PhD, where she is researching care options for working aged disabled people with progressive illness. Typically, this all takes place from her bed, with the company of her two Bernese Mountain dogs.

cakwəm – Jennifer Lewis

PhD Student 

cakwəm is a syilx woman, mother, auntie and helper from snpinktn – Penticton and nkmplqs – head of the lake (near Vernon). Jennifer is a graduate of the University of Victoria with a Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Indigenous Social Work and is currently a first year PhD student in UBC Okanagan’s Interdisciplinary Studies program. She has worked with the Okanagan Nation Alliance for the last 14 years and is currently the Wellness Manager. She is deeply committed to the wellbeing of her people and healing from the atrocities of on-going acts of colonization. Research interests: sqilxwchout – syilx ways of being and knowing- syilx mental health and healing – syilx child and family – syilx social structure and methods of inquiry and dialogue.

Rifah Rafia Monir

MA Student

Rifah is a social researcher and activist from Bangladesh. Her master’s thesis explores the politics of language among Rohingya refugees and their educational curriculum in Bangladesh. Through interviews and policy analysis, she is examining the ideologies behind Bangladesh’s language policy for the Rohingya people and the potentiality of including their mother language, Rohingya, in their educational curriculum. She is the Vice-President of an NGO in Bangladesh, Center for Tajuddin Ahmad Research and Activism (CTARA), and also the Associate Editor of CTARA Journal. Her publications include a journal article on RMG labour unrest in Bangladesh and a report on the minimum wage system for the Ministry of Labour and Employment in Bangladesh. At UBC, she is serving as the Coordinator of the South Asia Research Cluster and as a member of the Graduate Student Advisory Council. She also works as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Graduate Research Assistant.

Fernanda Novoa

MA Student

Fernanda Novoa is a medical doctor turned graduate student and migrant rights’ activist, currently immersed in her master’s studies in unceded Syilx territory. A rock-climbing enthusiast, she’s as passionate about the outdoors as she is about advocating for health equity.

Originally from Mexico, Fernanda started her career as a physician serving underprivileged communities. The health disparities she encountered sparked a shift in her career towards confronting these systemic issues, leading her into the realm of community-engaged research. Her current work explores the experiences of Mexican migrant agricultural workers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in the Okanagan, under Dr. Joan Bottorff’s supervision. Fernanda is currently a volunteer with organizations like RAMA and KCR, and a member of the Alliance for Gender Justice Migration, a Canadian advocacy group.

While missing her family and Mexican food, she remains committed to addressing health disparities while exploring the Canadian outdoors.

Adriane peak

MA Student

Adriane is an entrepreneur, enterprising psychological anthropologist, and wannabe triathlete. With a Bachelor of Arts from UBCO and minor in Psychology, Adriane’s master’s thesis examines the cultural environment of mental health support systems for First Responders in the Okanagan.  Adriane’s background in small business is multi-faceted and combined with her love for psychological and medical anthropology has led her to establish a local non-profit to engage in community-based research projects with purpose.  When she is not working, volunteering, or writing, Adriane is looking for a new place to run, bike, swim, or hike with her dog.

Emily Kaakyo Rubooga

MA Student

Emily’s research interests are varied.  In Behavioural Science, focusing on the intricacies of framing in social communication and public engagement, Emily’s interests include advocacy, social mobilization, and social and behavioral change communication. In Implementation Science, the science of delivering social interventions, Emily’s research facilitates the uptake of evidence-based practice and ensures that research findings are delivered into the hands of grassroots practitioners and policymakers.

Emily’s research ensures that gender-sensitive approaches are used in designing and delivering social interventions in order to promote equity and human development. Emily is committed to the facilitation and promotion of community-based approaches to improve human services and health care systems.

Emily’s interests also include: engaging communities amidst polarization; civil society capacity strengthening and organizational learning for sustained impact; qualitative research; East Africa

Jo Scofield

MA Student

Jo Scofield (they/them) is an anthropologist, reproductive rights activist, and avid gamer working and studying in unceded Syilx territory. Jo received their Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from UBCO and is now pursuing a Master of Arts in the CESCE theme supervised by Dr. Susan Frohlick. Jo’s master’s work focuses on the adoption of inclusive language in pro-choice and reproductive justice activism. This project takes an explicitly trans inclusive, reproductive justice approach and was motivated by experiences volunteering with groups involved in pro-choice and abortion related activism.

Ahlam Bavi

PhD Alumna

Ahlam Bavi is a conceptual artist, industrial designer, and a digital humanist. She has studied and researched at the University of Lucerne, Switzerland and the University of Calgary, where her digital sculpture work was recognized by an award. She is trained in the Reggio Emilia Educational approach, as well as in VR and AR and digital technologies.

Ahlam’s visual artworks consist of conceptual sonic sculptures, digital remediate artworks, 3D calligraphy, and algorithmic 3D printed sculptures. She also collaborates with museums to improve the experience of low vision visitors and to re-imagine of artworks through digital technology.

Jon Michael Corbett

PhD Alumni

Jon Corbett has a well-established career in technology as a web programmer. He completed his BFA at the University of Alberta, and his MFA at UBCO in 2015, merging his technology skills with his artistic practice. He is currently pursuing his PhD, continuing this exploration. His research proposal focuses on the lack of cultural representation in programming languages, and he is building an Indigenous computer programming language based on the Cree language and syllabary.

Isabel Gomez

MA Alumna

After completing her program at UBCO, Isabel is utilizing her Master in Education and MA in IGS – Digital Arts and Humanities degrees to enhance her current roles in the education field.

She is proud to be one of the creators and founders of Tongo, a groundbreaking method that empowers educators to design and manage creative learning sessions. Tongo effectively combines theoretical and practical knowledge with socio-emotional learning, while streamlining the instructional design process to foster meaningful learning experiences. Thanks to the invaluable support they received from the Mentor 2 Market program at UBCO Innovation, they successfully launched their first program in March. Currently, they are actively training 45 teachers in Colombia, enabling them to implement the Tongo approach in their classrooms.

In addition to her work with Tongo, Isabel is employed as an instructional designer and e-learning developer for Canada’s largest commercial aircraft maintenance and repair company. In this role, she applies her expertise in education and digital arts and humanities to create engaging and effective instructional materials that support the training and development of personnel in the aviation industry.

Overall, she is utilizing her diverse skill set and educational background to make a significant impact in both the education and corporate sectors. Through Tongo, she is revolutionizing the way educators approach creative learning, while her work with the aircraft maintenance company allows her to contribute to the growth and professional development of individuals in a crucial industry.

Yasaman Lotfizadeh

MA Alumna

Yasaman is currently living in Kelowna, BC, with her husband and baby girl. She holds a BA and a MA in Visual Communications (Graphic Design) and graduated with a second MA from UBC Okanagan in 2022 in Interdisciplinary Studies, Digital Arts and Humanities Theme. Yasaman’s research explores the intersection of art history and digital humanities in connection with Persian illustrated manuscripts. Her MA thesis focused on the representations of the natural world by comparing text-image relations using creative data visualizations and was reflected on in the UBC RESPECT Magazine. While a UBC student, Yasaman was privileged to work on +10 various projects in different roles, including GRA, GTA, GAA and Work-Study. Her most extended collaboration was with the AMP Lab, where she worked for +2 years as a lab manager and graphic designer.  Yasaman was a guest speaker in several UBCO courses, presented two peer-reviewed papers at the CAA and UAAC conferences and received 6 academic awards. With over 8 years of experience in higher education, Yasaman started to work as the Program Coordinator and Instructor of the Web and Graphic Design department after finishing school. Yasaman is excited to continue her goal of pursuing a PhD, hopefully very soon!

Tara Nicholson

PhD Alumni

Tara Nicholson incorporates photography and installation within her research creation. She has travelled throughout the Arctic to document climatology sometimes with a blurred line between sci-fi and actual science to render new experiences of northern landscape. Nicholson has exhibited across Canada, teaches at the University of Victoria and holds an MFA from Concordia University. Recently she attended ‘Earthed’ a climate-centered residency at the Banff Centre and has received funding from the Canada Council for the Arts and the BC Arts Council. taranicholson.com

Her PhD research will produce a connected body of exploratory landscape studies linking escalating changes within the Anthropocene. Examining rewilding, resurrection biology and extinction studies while witnessing connected waves of Indigenous and setter-allied land activism, Nicholson will explore the role of art within activism and how the interpretation of climate research can affect its outcomes.

Kelly Panchyshyn

MA Alumna

Kelly (They/She) is now living and studying on Gadigal Lands in Sydney, Australia. After graduating from UBC Okanagan in 2021 with a MA in Interdisciplinary Studies, Kelly was awarded an Outstanding Graduating Master’s Student Award from the Canadian Anthropology Society. Building on this momentum, they successfully applied for a Postgraduate Research Scholarship to pursue a PhD at the University of Sydney under the Department of Film Studies. Drawing on the Queer, Feminist and Decolonial themes explored in their MA, Kelly’s current research focuses on the representation of queer friendship within Young Adult television shows like Sex Education, Heartbreak High, and Reservation Dogs. Recently, they were awarded a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship in support of this work. Kelly also works as a Research Assistant at the Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre, where they support the annual Hunt-Simes Institute in Sexuality Studies. Outside of work, Kelly is an active member of the Sydney Bird Club and thrilled that the road to academia has led them to birding paradise!

Najam Ul-Assar

PhD Alumni

Najam Ul Assar (b.1992) is a creative entrepreneur from Lahore, Pakistan. He has also worked with cultural and public organizations including the United Nations, British Council, Alliance Française, and Prince Claus Fund. As the founder of the Lahore Digital Arts Festival (LDF), he is committed to nurturing dialogue around art accessibility, creative exchange, and experimental expression. He holds an Erasmus Mundus Master of Arts in Media Arts Cultures and is interested in archiving, ethics, and historical outlook of digital arts in South Asia. Follow him on X: @najamulassar

Kaytlyn Barkved

MA Alumni

Kaytlyn Barkved is a queer disabled digital artist building a practice of generative art methods framed by Critical Disability Studies.  Fueled by passions for feminism, social justice, and activist art, she completed her Bachelor of Arts with a major in Gender and Women’s Studies and a minor in Visual Arts.  She has participated in many drawing projects, most recently, completing a 100 day drawing project, exploring the interconnected nature of Autism Spectrum Disorder, mental illness, and queer identity.  Visit her on Instagram to see her entire digital body of work and drawn responses to readings from her graduate coursework: @kaytlynbarkvedart.

Felix Amoh-Siaw

PhD Student 

Felix Amoh-Siaw is an enthusiastic and pragmatic young man who hails from Southern Ghana, West Africa. He holds a BA Degree in Political Science and an MA in International Relations from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Shanghai University, respectively.  Coming from Africa, Felix is very particular about the incessant negative connotation of the continent in international media and dares to make a difference through every necessary means. This reason underlies his decision to pursue a PhD in Global Studies. He believes he can draw synergies from his experience and knowledge of the multidimensionality of the program to attempt to address some of the most pressing developmental challenges that Africa is confronted with. With this in mind, his current research project focuses on Armed Conflict, Mass Atrocity Crimes, the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 16 in Africa.

Eric d. de roulet

PhD Student 

Eric is currently investigating the impact of governance issues, political stability, and changing international relations on the life courses of skilled migrants from mainland China and Taiwan to North America, including the incidence of, and reasons for, return migration within this population.  His academic background is mainly in Sociology and Sociolinguistics, and he developed his interest in this research topic through his work experience teaching English as a second language, first in the U.S. and then for two years in northeast China. In the summer of 2019, he also conducted fieldwork with ACMS (American Center for Mongolian Studies) in rural and urban Mongolia, where he met several current and former international students who were torn between their love of their country and their desire to pursue upward social mobility abroad.

karyann dorn

MA Student 

Karyann Dorn is a Registered Pharmacy Technician who works in outreach pharmacy practice. Her recent experiences contributed to ASIS (Assisted Self Isolation Shelter) for vulnerable people who have COVID and do not have shelter for self-isolation. Pathways to Housing assisting people in returning to community settings after a period of homelessness. Camp Team, a labour of love project that connects patients living on the street who are palliative to medical support.  She graduated from the University of Lethbridge with a BA in Anthropology. She is passionate about global policies on harm reduction for displaced and vulnerable populations. Her research interest includes global models for housing, medication, education and human rights.

Segun fatudimu

PhD Student 

An international development expert with over nine years of experience working on youth development, social entrepreneurship, healthcare, and education projects in West Africa. Segun founded sozonetworks.com and impacttoolbox.org and has received several local and international recognition including U.S. Department of States’ 2017 Mandela Washington Fellow, Associate Fellow of the United Kingdom Royal Commonwealth Society, and one of African Youths Award Top 5 Leaders of the year 2018. Segun also received special recognition from the U.S Consular General to Nigeria-John F. Bray in 2018 and was the 2019 Obama Foundation Scholar and Clinton Global Initiative Scholar. He is the Winner of the 10th John Edwardson Social New Venture Challenge organized by Chicago Booth Business School and Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation. Segun’s research focuses on comparative trends and advances in social sector management in North America and Sub Saharan Africa.

Sandamali Kanchana Jayakody

MA Student

From 2017 to 2021, Sandamali Kanchana was an undergraduate at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka and earned a First Class Honours Bachelor of Arts Specialized in International Relations. Sandamali completed her internship at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sri Lanka and worked as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of International Relations, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 2021 to 2023. Sandamali is a volunteer-driven individual who wants to work in multi-communal environments to positively impact society. Her research interests include global civil society, non-state actors, environmental governance, and human security.

Mohammad morad hossain khan

MA Student

Morad has recently completed his BA in International Relations at UBC Okanagan. His first undergraduate degree was in History from the University of Dhaka in 2004. Morad completed a Master of Arts in Asian Studies at Aarhus University in Denmark in 2017, a Master of Science in Global Studies at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden in 2014, and a Master of Arts in History from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2005. Morad taught at various institutions, such as North South University, University of Liberal Arts of Bangladesh, Northern University Bangladesh, and BRAC University in Bangladesh as an Assistant Professor and Lecturer between 2005 and 2018. He has received various grants, scholarships, fellowships, bursaries, and awards from Sweden, Denmark, and Canada. Morad’s research interests include Canada’s Arctic affairs, current world order under the US, and China’s recent Arctic policy. Morad’s MA research is especially supported by SSHRC and MINDS, among others.

Samira Kheirdariyar

MA Student

Samira, from Iran, graduated from Tehran University of Medical Sciences with a Bachelor of Science degree in Midwifery. After graduation, she visited patients in a private office and worked at MOM Fertility and Infertility Center as a midwife consultant and marketer for one and a half years.

Currently, Samira is a graduate student in the Global Studies theme, focusing on global health.

Samira’s research, under the supervision of Dr. Elizabeth Keys, focuses on infants’ sleep problems and its effects on parents’ lives. This project is called “Better nights, better days,” which helps parents and infants to have normal sleep and interaction. Samira believes that every parent should have a healthy lifestyle and sleep even after having a child.

Mhamoda Akter Moli

MA Student

Mhamoda Akter Moli is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. Her research interests focus on international development, the role of civil society and NGOs, and gender discrimination. With a strong academic background, including a Master of Development Studies from the University of Dhaka, Mhamoda has worked on various impactful research projects. Notably, she contributed to initiatives aimed at improving the sexual and reproductive health of disabled individuals in Bangladesh.

Her diverse experiences also include organizing events and advocating for sustainable development practices. As a Graduate Student Representative, she continues to engage with her academic community, promoting inclusion and social justice.

Brian murphy

MA Student

Brian is an Irish citizen, has lived in the UK, and is now a proud permanent resident of Canada. Brian previously worked in the IT industry before pursuing academia, and now holds a BA, double major in English and Philosophy from UBCO, graduating in 2020. His research straddles the nexus of the philosophy of language; the philosophy of history; and political philosophy, theory, and ideology; with a particular focus on the way in which language can be coded to mediate, sublimate, or merely hide any political or social intent, from propagandistic to progressive, and how historical examples of this type of multi-meaning language is rampant in the fraught landscape of contemporary political ideology and social discourse. Encompassed in this project, is the examination of the degree to which speech, as understood in both free speech and hate speech, is related to the described type of coded language, and whether or not any meaningful and usefully unmediated understanding can be produced.

Bukunmi Mary Okoduwa

MA Student

Bukunmi Mary Okoduwa is a student in the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies – Global Studies program at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan Campus. Bukunmi holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Philosophy, with a focus on ethics, philosophy of law, and social justice.

Bukunmi’s passion for social justice was ignited while mentoring high school students who faced significant hardships. This inspired her to explore the application of philosophical concepts to real-world issues. Her research interests include the theory of social justice, particularly in developing regions, and the ethical implications of policies affecting marginalized communities.

At UBC, she aims to conduct interdisciplinary research to address inequality and promote sustainable development.

F M Tunvir Shahriar

MA Student

With an academic background in interdisciplinary social science, Tunvir focuses his ethnographic and mixed-method research on the intersection of politics, religion, and crime. He is particularly interested in studying the sociopolitical and religiocultural dynamics of South Asia and the Middle East. He obtained his bachelor’s and master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies, a Postgraduate Diploma in Genocide Studies, and an MPhil in Criminology from the University of Dhaka with outstanding educational attainments. An Assistant Professor now, he has been working as a permanent faculty member at the University of Dhaka for about ten years and also has previous professional experience as a desk and field researcher at Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies.

shorif sonia

MA Student

Sonia is passionate about digital diplomacy and advocacy, and her research is looking into the role of internet and connectivity on the global governance of “forcibly displaced people” which includes refugees, internally displaced, and asylum seekers. She completed her undergraduate degree with a major in Asian Studies with double minors in Development Studies and Gender Studies. Before starting her master’s at UBC, she was working with the United Nations World Food Programme as a Reports and Communications Officer, for the Rohingya refugee response under the highest level of emergency. She possesses diverse professional expertise, previously working with radio, newspapers, NGO, INGO, and corporations such as Radio Foorti, Médecins Sans Frontières, Chemists without Borders, Marriott International, VF Corporation, etc. For her academic and professional achievements, She has received PEO International Peace Scholarship 2020-21 and IKEA Scholarship for Academic Excellence 2013-2017.

Robyn Thomas

MA Alumna

Upon graduating from the IGS program in May of 2022, Robyn began the Doctor of Medicine (MD) program at the University of British Columbia’s Island Medical Program in Victoria, British Columbia. Robyn continues to work closely with her master’s supervisor, Dr. Barbara Pesut, from the Palliative and End of Life Care Lab on action-based efforts from her thesis. Robyn was recently published as first-author in the Global Qualitative Nursing Research Journal for the study entitled “Medical Assistance in Dying: A Review of Canadian Health Authority Policy Documents,” and awaits further publication on submitted papers. Robyn is Vice President of the newly ratified Black Medical Students Association of UBC and President of the Island Medical Program’s Harm Reduction and Community Outreach Club. Robyn continues to foster a commitment to advocating for health and social equity through providing outreach and mentorship to high school students from historically and contemporarily marginalized and racialized communities in Canada and supporting UBC curriculum reform for improved diversity, equity, and inclusivity in undergraduate medical education.

Robyn envisions a career where she can wear shifting hats between clinical practice and action-based research, and is excited to begin her second year of medical studies in the fall of 2023.

rene roger tissot

PhD Student 

Research Interests: governance of extractive commodities and political settlement; artisanal mining in the global south. Professional experience: Local content in the energy sector; energy and regulatory economics; political risk analysis. Organizations: King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (Kapsarc, Saudi Arabia), PFC Energy (Washington DC), Encana, Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI, Calgary).
Education: MA Economics, Universite Laval; MBA Calgary University; Current affiliation: Energy Fellow Institute of the Americas, La Jolla, California.

cassie van camp

MA Alumna

Cassie’s graduate research at UBCO was an analysis of police violence against Indigenous Women in British Columbia. It examined the colonial, patriarchal and violent culture of policing in Canada, and identified how structural violence is inflicted upon Indigenous women through various institutions such as the media and the police service. Throughout her time at UBCO, she also worked as a Team Lead for a youth harm reduction housing site within CMHA, and also served as a Board Member for HOPE Okanagan until very recently.

During her time at UBCO she was granted the Graduate Student Travel Grant which allowed her to attend the Feminist Theory Workshop at Duke University in March 2022. The travel grant provided opportunities to connect with other academics, researchers and professors across North America to support her research and has since offered her opportunities to guest lecture at the University of Toronto, Carlton University, University of Miami and UBCO on her research.

Upon completion of her thesis, Cassie accepted a position as a Substance Use Clinician with Island Health on Vancouver Island. Her current position involves working with folks who are impacted by their substance use and mental health and additionally experience institutional and structural violence on an ongoing basis. Her research has directly influenced her ability to understand the inner workings of our governmental and health care systems, and to successfully advocate for change in policy decisions that affect the population she works with at both a community and government level.

Since moving to the island, Cassie has been involved in the planning and organizing of multiple community and mutual aid events to draw attention to the injustices faced in our community by folks who are Indigenous, unhoused, using substances or impacted by mental health.  She also took part in a focus group with Good Night Out Vancouver/Victoria, to examine the culture of consent and safety, and examine experiences of sexual harassment and sexual violence in hospitality spaces. Additionally, In January 2023, the report “Human Trafficking in the Prairies” in which she had the honour of being a project advisor, was published. Cassie feels her research and time at UBCO has successfully set her up to be directly involved in community work both on the micro and macro level.

Cassidy acheson

MA Alumna

Since completing her MA in Interdisciplinary Studies (Power, Conflict and Ideas theme), Cassidy has continued to pursue social justice and Indigenous-focused academic and professional opportunities. In October 2022, she presented a paper titled “A Softer Colonization?: White Women’s Roles in Settler Placemaking at Nk’maplqs, 1870-1900” at the Western History Association’s Annual conference in San Antonio, Texas. Since September 2022, Cassidy has been working in the Indigenous Student Services department at Okanagan College. This role has allowed her to apply the skills and knowledge gained through her studies while she continues to learn from the relationships she is building with Indigenous students and communities.

Stephanie Awotwi-Pratt

MA Alumna

Stephanie Awotwi-Pratt is a Black Canadian researcher and student in the Power, Conflict and Ideas stream. With previous degrees in Microbiology, English, and Gender and Women’s Studies at UBC Okanagan, her master’s research merges a range of disciplines and fields. Stephanie focuses on reproductive health care and racism in Obstetrics and Gynecology in British Columbia. Stephanie’s SSHRC CGSM-funded master’s research seeks to understand how Black Canadian women living in B.C. resist racism and medical violence in reproductive healthcare settings. Stephanie’s research interacts with multiple fields, including Black feminist theory, reproductive justice, the effects of historically rooted legacies of medical violence, and contemporary examples of discrimination in patient interactions with medical care providers.

Morgan Marshall

MA Student 

Morgan Marshall is a master’s student in the Power, Conflict, and Ideas stream, working under the supervision of Dr. Jessica Stites Mor. Morgan has previously completed an undergraduate degree from UBC Okanagan with a major in History & a minor in Art History and Visual Culture. She is currently researching South Asian women working as ayahs within the British Empire from 1759 to 1947. More specifically, Morgan is investigating the convergence of colonialism, domestic relations, and the construction of family in the colonial household through the perspective of the subaltern. She strives to reconstruct the exclusionary nature of British colonial history that perpetuates an idealized white colonizer narrative, by bringing to light ayahs’ meaningful impact on the British family. Morgan’s research is quite interdisciplinary, as she blends social history research theories and methodologies with an art historical analysis.

Ange-Aimee Quesnel

MA Alumna

Since graduating from UBCO’s Interdisciplinary Studies’ master’s program, specializing in Power, Conflict, and Ideas, Ange embarked on a professional journey at Landmark Resource Management Ltd. Initially starting as a Project Coordinator, her role involved facilitating relationships between Indigenous communities and industry partners in the fields of mining and forestry. Her expertise in working in interdisciplinary spaces, coupled with her academic background in gender studies, enabled her to navigate the intricate dynamics of industry relations effectively. Over time, her responsibilities grew and she evolved into a Project Manager. Currently, she handles a diverse range of files which encapsulate areas such as Gender-based analysis, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting, and Indigenous partnerships. Additionally, she is involved in negotiating Indigenous agreements, underlining her commitment to fostering harmonious and mutually beneficial relationships between all stakeholders.

Leandro Biondo

PhD Student

Leandro M. Biondo is a meteorologist and forest science master who worked for two years with green buildings, then 10 years with environmental and science institutions of the Brazilian government where he became a public forest and geospatial information specialist. Leandro has contributed to spatial databases and big data analysis on projects for Indigenous and traditional peoples, rural properties, land and tenure management, biodiversity research, and One Health activities. Leandro’s climate and transportation research is part of an interdisciplinary project funded by the Climate Action and Awareness Fund. Through his associations with Brazil’s National Institute for the Atlantic Forest and Brazilian Forest Services, Leandro will study climate and territorial changes in the Americas, particularly impacts on populations and biodiversity in Brazilian and Canadian forests.

luis cadavid

MSc Student 

Luis Cadavid is a father, entrepreneur, farmer and writer. He completed his BA in Classical Civilizations in Syracuse University, his MSc in Management at Imperial College and has had the opportunity to further his education at the London Business School. He is also on the Board of a non-profit that is dedicated to the agricultural education in Ecuador, LA CASA (Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Agriculture), which is currently doing a 12-hectare permaculture project in the highlands of Ecuador. During the past ten years, Luis’ focus in the agricultural industry has been sustainable production, product development and efficient supply chains. As a business owner he is a fervent believer of sustainable business that’s environmentally conscious. Luis is interested in food safety, supply chain efficiency and sustainable agricultural production.

Madeline Donald

PhD Student 

Madeline was born an uninvited guest on Coast Miwok territory and raised a traveler. Delighted to be living with this place now, her PhD research is about current and potential ethnoecological engagement with non-indigenous plants in riparian restoration efforts in the Okanagan watershed. This research takes place with the Land of the Syilx (Okanagan) peoples and in a context of settler colonial dispossession, violence, and ecologically dismissive infrastructure. The ethnoecological relations of interest in riparian restoration run parallel to and interweave with the reconciliation and (re)building of Indigenous and non-Indigenous human and Land relations. Living with narcolepsy, Madeline actively questions and counters temporally inaccessible expectations for academic labour.

Stephenie hendricks

PhD Student

I’m a “mature” international (U.S.) PhD student focused on documenting environmental health and environmental justice movements. Using Scholarly Personal Narrative text with podcast episodes, these elements are included in modules for an Open Education Resource (OER) curriculum for post secondary students. I am very excited about supporting young adults to understand the intersections of health, environment and justice, especially as these themes gain increased relevancy in their lives with the advancement of climate change.

Cole Hooper

MSc Student

Cole is attending UBCO to pursue his MSc in the Sustainability theme. His research background is in wildlife biology and physiology. He graduated in 2019 from Thompson Rivers University with a BSc in Animal Biology, and an honours thesis on rattlesnake stress physiology. Taking lessons from his past work, he is now shifting towards a focus on management-specific research. Under the supervision of Dr. Lael Parrott, Cole’s research project focuses on informing a climbing management plan for the Skaha Bluffs Provincial Park. This project is in collaboration with BC Parks and the Penticton Indian Band. As an avid climber and biologist himself, he hopes to help bring balance to the state of conservation and recreation in the park and surrounding area.

Ian turner

PhD Student

Ian Turner is a PhD student in the Food Systems PRISM Lab at UBCO. Ian previously attended the University of Toronto, graduating with a bachelor’s degree majoring in Animal Physiology and Genome Biology. Ian has pursued research opportunities covering many disciplines, ranging from large mammal ecology and physiology, to food systems sustainability. Ian joined the PRISM lab in 2018 to aid in the development of the Canadian Agrifood Life Cycle Data Centre (CALDC). He subsequently enrolled in a Biology MSc in the PRISM Lab, before transitioning to the IGS – Sustainability PhD program. Ian’s research is focused on environmental and animal welfare benchmarking and optimization of the Canadian egg industry using machine learning techniques.