New Faculty Hires: Fall 2023
This fall, we welcome new members to the Faculty of Community Services (FCS). Some are new to TMU as either tenure-track professors or limited term faculty. Others are familiar faces who have now moved from limited-term into pre-tenure roles. Join us in welcoming them to the FCS community and get to know them better.
Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing
Areas of expertise: Patient communication and safety; Persistent and chronic critical illness; Patient and family centered care; Complex and chronic conditions.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role? I look forward to bringing my passion for patient and family-centered nursing clinical care and community-based research to the classroom. I also look forward to connecting with our nursing students in the undergraduate and graduate programs.
Midwifery Education Program
Areas of expertise: Indigenous midwifery education; Indigenous midwifery; Cultural safety in healthcare provider education programs
What are you most looking forward to in your new role? I am most looking forward to continuing my work on strengthening Indigenous knowledge and practices within the midwifery education program. The growth of Indigenous midwifery is crucial to Indigenous health and well-being and supporting Indigenous students in the midwifery program is an important step towards this goal. Expanding relationships with Indigenous midwives, aspiring Indigenous midwives, Indigenous midwifery organizations and Indigenous communities is something I hope to continue in my new role.
Areas of expertise: Women’s health; Vulnerable populations, immigrants and newcomers; Pregnancy-associated medical conditions; Management of obstetrical emergencies; Enhancing clinical and surgical skills in midwifery; Pregnancy and breast cancer; Diabetes in pregnancy; International clinical trials and prospective and retrospective cohorts studies.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role? I am looking forward to sharing 20 years of experience in obstetrics into the Midwifery Education Program, advocating for racial justice in midwifery and facilitating the integration of new midwives within the healthcare system. I am planning to work hard on research topics related to the impact of midwifery on perinatal outcomes, the contribution of midwifery care on vulnerable populations in Canada and opening the doors to international collaborations in this arena.
School of Child and Youth Care
Areas of expertise: Black youth and families; Child welfare; Anti-Black racism; Structural racism; Qualitative research.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role? I am most looking forward to connecting with the students! Getting to create a space of co-learning among eager and passionate practitioners is the most fulfilling part of teaching.
Areas of expertise: Trauma-informed care; Early childhood education; Advocacy for young children; Culturally responsive practices for effective and inclusive learning experiences.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role? I look forward to connecting with the diverse student body. I strongly believe in collaborative learning, and having diverse knowledge and experiences in the classroom will further strengthen the teaching and learning experience.
School of Disability Studies
Areas of expertise: Mad Studies; Queer and trans madness and disability; Social justice education in health care and social services; 2SLGBTQ+ experiences of social services and health care; Gender-based violence and violence against disabled, queer, trans and non-binary people; Intersectional, anti-racist approaches to understanding gender and sexuality; Community based research and qualitative methods.
What impact do you hope to have on teaching? I teach online classes in disability studies and mad studies, which are areas of study that engage with issues of social justice and social change. My aim is to create learning environments where students’ voices are valued, and connections are made between lived experience and structural power relations. Online teaching gets a bad reputation, but it can be done well and it can reduce barriers for many. There is something very special about co-creating learning spaces with students who are interested in social justice. Engaging in these spaces can change us in lasting ways. I feel lucky that this is part of what I get to do in my profession.
School of Nutrition
Areas of expertise: Social and cultural dimensions of food; Gender and food security; Food systems and equity.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role? I love teaching at TMU, and I look forward to interacting with students in person and discussing the many interesting approaches and topics surrounding food. In particular, I hope to raise awareness of the importance of an equity perspective in addressing the many challenges associated with food. I also aim to create authentic assignments that hold meaning for students, encouraging and empowering them. Additionally, I'm excited about taking a more active role in my department, particularly in contributing to the advancement of research, practices, and policies related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Areas of expertise: Pediatric nutrition; Nutritional epidemiology; Research methods; Eating behaviours; School outcomes; School food programs.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role? In my new role as a tenure track faculty in TMU’s School of Nutrition, I am looking forward to pairing my roles as an educator and researcher. I plan to continue my collaborative research with the practice-based research network called TARGet Kids! and hope to build new relationships with researchers at TMU. I love mentoring students and I look forward to supervising TMU undergraduate and graduate students in pediatric nutrition research projects. My new position offers an incredible opportunity to support students aspiring to be registered dietitians or nutrition scientists, and encouraging students who want to conduct research in their future positions. In the long term at TMU, I hope my research will pave the way for tailored nutrition interventions that foster healthy development and learning trajectories in school.
School of Urban and Regional Planning
Areas of expertise: Data analytics; Mobility; Land-use.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role? I'm looking forward to engaging my students as persons and hopefully to inspire them to explore how education and knowledge go beyond the pragmatic. I also hope to myself be impacted in this role to deepen my passion for discovery and engagement.
Areas of expertise: Geospatial urban analytics; Walkability and active living; Geographic information systems.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role? I am excited to engage with the TMU community, especially with students, and anticipate the new inspirations that will emerge for both research and teaching. I look forward to forging collaborative networks within and beyond TMU, and actively contributing to building healthier, safer, and more equitable cities.
