our RESEARCHers 

PETER ANDRÉE

Full Professor, Carleton University, Political Science

Peter Andrée is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Carleton University, with cross-appointments in Geography and Environmental Studies and the Institute of Political Economy. His research focuses on the politics of agriculture, food, and the environment, using community-based participatory and mixed-methods research. He is the Director of the Carleton Center for Community Innovation (3ci) and co-director of the “Living Relationships” research partnership, which explores decolonizing food system sustainability transitions in Aotearoa and Canada. Prof. Andrée co-hosts the ecopolitics podcast series and has co-edited several food system governance and sovereignty books.

Dr. Elie Azar

Associate Professor, Carleton University, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Dr. Elie Azar is a Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Buildings and Communities and an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His research integrates techniques from various disciplines to advance a sustainable, resilient, and people-oriented built environment. These disciplines include building energy modeling and design, occupant behaviour and comfort, and urban energy planning. Dr. Azar has authored over 100 scientific articles, four books, and various intergovernmental reports. He has received numerous academic and professional awards and was featured on the “World’s Top 2% Scientists” list by Stanford University and Elsevier in 2022. Dr. Azar is an alumnus of École Polytechnique de Montréal (BEng) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (MSc and PhD).

PATRICIA BALLAMINGIE

Full Professor, Carleton University, Geography & Environmental Studies / Institute of Political Economy

Full Professor Patricia Ballamingie specializes in food systems governance, alternative housing, and community-campus engagement. She holds a B.A. Honours (1992) in Economics and Geography from Queen’s University, an M.E.S. (1995) in Environmental Studies from York University, and a Ph.D. (2006) in Geography from Carleton University. Currently, she is involved in several major research projects, including the SSHRC Partnership Grant: Food Learning and Growing (FLOW) Partnership, the SSHRC/CMHC Partnership Grant: A Safe and Affordable Place to Call Home, and the SSHRC Insight Grant: Participatory Food Governance. Professor Ballamingie also serves on the Advisory Committee for the UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity, and Sustainability Studies.

andrew (Andy) crosby

Postdoctoral researcher, Carleton University, Geography & Environmental Studies

Andrew (Andy) Crosby is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Carleton University, situated on unceded Algonquin land. He holds a Ph.D. from Carleton's Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Andy’s research focuses on policing and housing justice, including topics like settler colonialism, housing financialization, and tenant resistance. He is author of Resisting Eviction: Domicide and the Financialization of Rental Housing (winner of the 2024 Canadian Sociology Book Award), and co-author of Policing Indigenous Movements: Dissent and the Security State (winner of the 2019 Surveillance Studies Network Book Award). Collaborating with Dr. David Hugill, his postdoctoral work leads the Housing Finance node in a CMHC-SSHRC-funded project analyzing the National Housing Strategy.

CHIARA DEL GAUDIO

Associate Professor, Carleton University, School of Industrial Design

Chiara Del Gaudio is a designer, researcher, and educator in Design, currently an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator at Carleton University’s School of Industrial Design. Her work focuses on political design, power and conflict within design processes, participatory and collaborative design approaches and explores the possibilities for design processes for self-determination. She has been part of the Participatory Design Community since 2014, having edited special issues on Participatory Design and organized the Participatory Design Conference in 2020. Chiara's writing has been published in CoDesign, The International Journal of Design, and Urban Design International, among other venues, as well as in edited collections.

STEPHEN FAI

Full Professor, Carleton University, Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism

Stephen Fai is a full Professor and former Director of the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism at Carleton University. He currently serves as the Director of the Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS). With a professional degree in architecture and a PhD in Religious Studies, his research spans analogue, hybrid, and digital representation in architecture, heritage conservation, and medical science. His expertise includes the development of digital twins and urban information interoperability

STEPHAN GRUBER

Full Professor, Carleton University, Geography and Environmental Studies 

Stephan Gruber is a professor of physical geography specializing in mountain and polar environments. His research focuses on permafrost and related phenomena, aiming to predict ice loss in the ground and associated hazards. He engages in interdisciplinary research combining field observation and computer simulation, collaborating with government, industry, and academic groups. Formerly Canada Research Chair in Climate Change Impacts/Adaptation in Northern Canada, he directs NSERC CREATE LEAP and NSERC PermafrostNet programs. Stephan has also contributed to major climate change reports and served as co-editor-in-chief of The Cryosphere.

BURAK GUNAY

Associate Professor, Carleton University, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department

Dr. Burak Gunay is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carleton University since 2017. His research focuses on data-driven building operation and maintenance (DBOM) to improve energy efficiency in buildings using data mining, machine learning, and building science principles. He has secured over $3 million in research funding, supervised numerous graduate researchers, and received multiple awards for his contributions to building science and engineering. Dr. Gunay teaches courses on Building Science, Green Building Design, and Energy Modelling for Existing Buildings

JACKIE KENNELLY 

Full Professor, Carleton University, Sociology and Anthropology

Jackie Kennelly, Ph.D., is a Professor in Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University her research covers youth cultures, urban sociology, and homelessness. She founded the Centre for Urban Youth Research (CUYR) and organized an international conference on youth homelessness. Her work blends traditional ethnography with innovative methods, influenced by scholars like Bourdieu and Arendt. She is currently the PI of the SSHRC Partnership Development Grant to build on the work begun through a Mitacs-funded grant (with Charlotte Smith, MA student). Working Upstream focuses on the experiences of homeless youth in Ontario schools.

PABLO MENDEZ

Associate Professor, Carleton University, Geography & Environmental Studies

Pablo Mendez researches housing affordability, sustainable transportation, and low-carbon urban transitions at Carleton University. His work employs qualitative and quantitative methods to study barriers to housing access and their influence on metropolitan built environments. Pablo's current project explores the relationship between housing affordability and sustainable transportation in Canadian cities. He is interested in supervising graduate students with skills in data analysis, GIS, and qualitative research, particularly those focused on urban contexts.

LIAM O'BRIEN

Full Professor, Carleton University, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Liam O’Brien, Ph.D., P.Eng. is a full professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carleton University. He is the principal investigator of the Human Building Interaction Lab, which consists of a team of 15 researchers with diverse backgrounds in engineering, architecture, and psychology. He has authored over 200 publications and three books on these topics. He is the Operating Agent of IEA EBC Annex 79: Occupant-Centric Building Design and Operation and the past president of the Canadian chapter of the International Building Performance Simulation Association.

BORIS VUKOVIC

Director, Accessibility Institute and Canadian Accessibility Network

Dr. Boris Vukovic has over 20 years of experience at Carleton University, supporting student success with disabilities through leadership, direct services, faculty development, and research. He researches inclusive teaching practices and disability-related assessments and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses. Boris is the Director of the Accessibility Institute at Carleton University and the National Office for the Canadian Accessibility Network (CAN). He holds adjunct positions at Carleton University and McGill University, focusing his research on accessibility, particularly nonvisible disabilities such as mental health and learning disabilities, with a commitment to participatory and collaborative approaches for real-world impact.

JILL WIGLE

Associate Professor, Carleton University, Geography and Environmental Studies

Jill Wigle is an Associate Professor at Carleton University specializing in geographies of housing, informality, and spatial regulation, with a focus on Mexico City. Her research explores housing, planning, and urban governance issues, emphasizing precarity and equity. Jill holds a Ph.D. and an MSc in Planning from the University of Toronto. Her work investigates informal housing, everyday planning practices, gendered space, and neighbourhood upgrading politics. She is involved in Carleton's research on affordable housing and community land trusts is cross-appointed to the Institute of Political Economy and contributes to the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program

ISOBEL FINDLAY 

University Co-Director, University of Saskatchewan, Community-University Institute for Social Research, CA

Dr. Isobel M. Findlay is a Professor Emerita in the Department of Management and Marketing, Edwards School of Business, and a Fellow in Co-operatives, Diversity, and Sustainable Development at the University of Saskatchewan's Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives. With a Ph.D. from McGill and active involvement in CUISR since 2003, her research focuses on housing and homelessness; Indigenous and associative organizations; equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization; disability policy; sustainable development; social determinants of health; and Indigenous law and justice. She has received the University of Saskatchewan Students' Union Teaching Excellence Award and co-won the Saskatchewan Book Awards Scholarly Writing Award in 2000.

KEVIN FITZMAURICE

Associate Professor, Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies, Trent University, Professor Emeritus, Indigenous Studies, University of Sudbury/Laurentian

Dr. Fitzmaurice has extensive experience in Indigenous research co-leadership, teaching, and university administration. He co-leads several community-driven research projects with the Urban Aboriginal Knowledge Network, the Maamwizing Indigenous Research Institute, and the Centre for Research in Social Justice and Policy. His research and teaching focus on Urban Indigenous Studies, Housing and Homelessness, Indigenous Critical Theory, and Indigenous Research Methods.

SEAN KIDD

Associate Professor, University of Toronto, Psychiatry, CA

Dr. Sean Kidd is a senior scientist at the Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition at CAMH and an associate professor in the University of Toronto's Department of Psychiatry. His research focuses on interventions for severe mental illnesses and homeless youth, including trials of cognitive and critical time interventions for schizophrenia, housing stabilization for homeless youth, digital health interventions, and global health work on climate change and homelessness.

Xavier Leloup

Full Professor, Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Centre Urbanisation Culture Société

Xavier Leloup, Ph.D., is a Professor in urban studies at INRS. Formally trained as a sociologist, his research blends insights from various disciplines of the social sciences to study community and housing. His previous work covered various subjects, as everyday cohabitation at the neighbourhood level, residential segregation, immigration and housing outcomes, population dynamics and intervention in public housing, growing income inequality and the transformation of Canadian cities, and the ‘fight’ against substandard housing in Montréal. More recently, he focuses on how different social and non-market housing models might contribute to the mitigation of the impact of housing insecurity on tenants’ wellbeing using the Canadian Housing Survey. His work mobilizes both quantitative and qualitative methods to conduct applied research in the field of housing and community development. He is the director of Lien social et Politiques, a francophone, multidisciplinary and international journal devoted to address current societal questions through the lenses of social sciences.

KATRINA MILANEY

Full Professor, University of Calgary, Community Health Sciences, CA

Dr. Katrina Milaney, PhD, is the Associate Vice-President (Research) at the University of Calgary, appointed in October 2024. She is a full Professor in Community Rehabilitation & Disability Studies at the Cumming School of Medicine and a Research Fellow in the School of Public Policy. Dr. Milaney’s research focuses on health equity, disability, homelessness, and social policy. She has secured over $40 million in funding, authored numerous government reports, and received several prestigious awards for her impactful work.

BRENDA PARKER 

Associate Professor, University of Illinois Chicago, Urban Planning and Policy, US

Brenda Parker is an Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Her research focuses on urban equity, inclusive community development, and restorative urbanism, exploring topics such as affordable housing, urban politics, and activism. She employs feminist and intersectional approaches to understand power dynamics in cities. Dr. Parker teaches a range of courses at UIC and has received teaching awards for her contributions. She holds a Ph.D. in Human Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is actively involved in research on gendered inequalities in housing and the intersectional experiences of marginalized groups in urban contexts.

 LUC THERIAULT

Full Professor, University of New Brunswick, Sociology, CA

Luc Theriault is a Full Professor of Sociology specializing in organizations and social policies. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, focusing on industrial research and development. Luc's research at UNB explores the Canadian social economy, with a focus on non-profit organizations and social policies such as housing and immigration. He teaches courses in research methods, program evaluation, and sociological theory at UNB.

MARIANNE TOUCHIE

Associate Professor, University of Toronto, Mechanical Engineering, CA

Marianne Touchie, PhD, P.Eng. is an Associate Professor jointly appointed in the Departments of Civil & Mineral Engineering and Mechanical & Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto and Director of the Building Energy and Indoor Environment Lab. Dr. Touchie is one of Canada’s leading authorities on multi-unit residential building performance, particularly in the social housing sector. Her interdisciplinary research program explores the interactions between occupant behaviour, the building enclosure and mechanical systems and how these three factors can be engineered to improve energy performance, indoor environmental quality and occupant wellbeing, including comfort and health. She holds a Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Urban Housing.