Message from the Associate Dean
Faculty of Community Services (FCS) researchers regularly respond to some of the world’s most pressing problems by generating new knowledge and advancing evidence-based practices. Through their work in cutting-edge labs, collaborations with community partners, and local and international partnerships, our researchers consistently provide innovative, practical contributions that will move us toward a better future. As associate dean, I have the privilege of supporting our researchers at all stages of their academic careers by providing a range of FCS initiatives to foster research, creative, and scholarly work and by working closely with the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation (OVPRI).
FCS includes a diverse and talented interdisciplinary group of creators, researchers, practitioners, scholars, designers, and planners, along with teams of dedicated and highly proficient staff members, as well as outstanding students. As a faculty, we continue to advance work on strategic research priorities, improve the student experience, and promote equity, diversity, and inclusion. We regularly work in partnership with community groups, policymakers, and service providers to develop knowledge and tools needed for evidence-informed decisions. By addressing real-world issues — and translating knowledge into action — we help create strong communities that support health, social wellbeing and inclusion.
My personal commitment to developing and supporting graduate studies within the faculty is tied to my dedication to research activities that promote and nurture scientific inquiry, foster artistic and creative expression, and sustain an informed, socially just, democratic society. Our graduate programs help students build a knowledge base of effective and innovative policies and practices that are driven by practical research within a complex and ever-changing global context. We are building our graduate programs on the solid foundation of a prodigious community of students, researchers, teaching faculty, community partners and alumni. Our graduate students are transformed by their learning experiences, and upon graduation they are exceptionally well prepared to meet these challenges as they take their positions as future leaders in community, government and academia.
Learn more about our university’s major research strengths and read the university’s (PDF file) Strategic Research Plan.
- Jennifer Martin, Associate Dean, Scholarly, Research and Creative (SRC) Activity
About Jennifer Martin
While fulfilling her role as associate dean, Jennifer Martin has maintained her own research portfolio while building the faculty’s capacity to support research. Martin is an international leader in research involving online child sexual abuse images and over the last decade has explored the effects of the images on young people, practitioners and law enforcement. Her research is supported through numerous external grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Public Health Agency of Canada, Public Safety Canada, Justice Canada, and the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. Building on her 20 years of professional experience as a clinical practitioner specializing in child sexual abuse, her cross-sectoral, multi-disciplinary research has resulted in policy and practice changes in Canada and internationally. Most recently her work has focused on internet child exploitation and child sex trafficking. She has published her findings widely in high-impact journals and regularly acts as an expert consultant for government (Canada, UK, Ontario), professional and community organizations.