OUR TEAM
Lilian Dart (she/her)
Research Assistant
Lilian is working towards her PhD in Human Geography at the University of Toronto. She studies social movements, grassroots activism, and the protection of green space against urban sprawl. Lilian’s academic background is in biology and sustainability studies and has been involved in an array of research with previous work focusing on harm reduction, housing/homelessness policy, community-based land conservation, environmental volunteers, ticks and Lyme disease, and citizen science. Her interdisciplinary background enables her to approach her research holistically, drawing from different fields and methodologies.
At the Research for Social Change Lab (RSCL), Lilian is a research assistant. She is working to develop a cross-sectoral roadmap for addressing homelessness in Peterborough, based on the two community housing forums that RSCL co-organized in May 2023 and February 2024. Lilian lives in Toronto but visits her hometown of Peterborough often. To rest, she loves cooking, hiking, paddling, and exploring her neighbourhood. She is also currently learning how to garden.
Samantha Blondeau (they/them)
Graduate Research Assistant
Sam holds an M.A. in Criminology from Ontario Tech University and a B.A. (Hons.) in Sociology and Child and Youth Studies with a specialization in Criminology and Sociolegal Studies from Trent University. In fall 2023, Sam began their PhD in Trent’s Interdisciplinary Social Research program.
Sam brings over 10 years of front-line experience working in the homelessness /mental health sectors in Nogojiwananong/ Peterborough. Their current research is looking at the effects of the O.S.S.A on the life course trajectories of the street involved youth the act targeted. Other interests include youth rights, social policy and the effects of the criminalization of homelessness, and her research is informed by her lived experience as a self-described street kid in the 1990s in Peterborough, Ontario. At the Social Change Lab, she is co-leading the Building From Experience project.
Sam is also a mother, sister, daughter, aunt and friend amongst the other roles she plays in the community. She wants to pursue her PhD, become a professor and continue to engage in meaningful community action-based research.
Collin Chepeka (he/they)
Lab Manager
Collin is a current PhD candidate in Philosophy at Queen’s University while living in their hometown of Peterborough. Collin’s background is in moral, feminist and political philosophy. Their current research focuses on the political structures behind settler colonialism, fascism and far-right political movements. Collin examines these political structures from a decolonial perspective, incorporating insights from Indigenous and other racialized peoples into their work.
At the Research for Social Change Lab, Collin is responsible for managing both administrative tasks as well as the overall communications strategy for the work done there. Collin is a dedicated member of the Peterborough community, with connections to both the music and the 2SLGBTQIA+ scene. Collin is hoping to give back to the community that raised them by making connections with active community groups and building bridges with those that are neglected.
Sarah Cullingham (she/her)
Doctoral Research Assistant
Sarah is working towards her PhD at the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies (Trent University). With a background in Women’s Studies, Environmental Studies, and Social Planning she conducts research in pursuit of enhancing practices of collective care, embodied autonomy, and liberated futures, focusing on the ways that people use and access drugs.
At the Research for Social Change Lab, Sarah supports the Making the Shift (MtS) Youth Homelessness Data and Infrastructure Audit project. A self-described recovering bureaucrat, Sarah is passionate about collaborative learning and knowledge production processes. In addition to her academic work, Sarah serves on the Board of the Electric City Culture Council (EC3), is an active member of the Peterborough Drug Strategy (PDS), and a volunteer with Food Not Bombs.
Maxime Goulet-Langlois
Doctoral Research Assistant
Maxime is a former popular educator and nonprofit practitioner that has acquired experience working with people struggling with injustices such as homelessness, colonialism and lack of access to educational resources. He is presently pursuing a PhD in the Department for Integrated Studiesin Education at McGill University (located on unceded Kanien’Keha:Ka territory). His research focuses on the influence of entrepreneurial and philanthropic dynamics on the capacity building infrastructures (i.e., practitioner networks and associations, communities of practice, workshops, conferences, webinars, databases, publications, etc.) offering professional development opportunities in the third sector. Inspired by the rich history of social struggles and praxis, his work aims at providing insights through the comparison between various approaches (or socio-technical configurations (e.g., human-centered design vs. activist research)) to social problem diagnosis and solution design. Maxime also teaches program evaluation at HEC Montreal. In his parallel lives, he fosters a passion for impossible book making.
Jessica Itiaba
Parent-Researcher
Hi, my name is Jess (they/them). I am a newish parent passionate about community mobilization and empowerment with a background in wellbeing. Coming into this role I keep the next generation(s) in mind while trying to stay grounded in what is accessible and possible. In the past, I worked in partnership with Nourish Project supporting food programs and advocacy along with working with the YWCA programs that supported women and their children facing adversity and violence (START and Crossroads shelter). I have studied social service work, mental health and physical health through college, university and continued educational opportunities in somatic body work and yoga/fitness. I hope to continue to learn from others and adapt to the ever-evolving reality that is parenthood and community development.
David Knezevic (he/him)
Doctoral Research Assistant
David is a social worker and a Ph.D. student at Trent University. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in social work at King’s University College at Western University. David brings 10+ years of experience in community health, child welfare, children’s mental health, youth justice, public education, public health, and family violence. His research interests include youth homelessness prevention via intersectoral service collaboration, social work with complex needs/street-involved youth, and individual/family development during the transition to adulthood.
Current projects include operating a youth homelessness prevention program in Oxford County, Ontario, and co-chairing the YIT Worker Learning Network. At the Social Change Lab, David is working on the “Making the Shift: Data, Digital and Governance Infrastructure” project. As a LivEx scholar, David’s motivation is to partner with communities intersectorally to co-create effective, tailored and innovative solutions to prevent youth homelessness.
In his spare time, David enjoys a broad range of music, reading and writing, going outdoors, backroad convertible drives, photography, video games and playing cards with friends.
Joey Lavictoire
Research Assistant
Bio coming soon!
Thamer Linklater (they/them)
Graduate Research Assistant
Thamer Linklater is a recent graduate of the Masters in Sustainability program at Trent University. They are Cree from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba and a survivor of the Millennial Scoop. The focus of their research is on the child welfare system and its impacts on the Indigenous peoples in Canada. Their other research interests include Indigenous issues and methodologies, allyship, community research, participatory research, and literature. They hope to improve the child welfare system so that other Indigenous children are able to grow up in their communities, surrounded by their families. When not engaged in research, Thamer enjoys reading, drinking coffee, writing poetry, and painting.
Marisa Mackenzie (she/her)
Research Assistant
Marisa Mackenzie is a trans woman who has lived experience of homelessness, food insecurity, poverty, and discrimination. She enjoys her work with the Building From Experience team. She hopes to make a difference in her community and beyond, to help everyone to strive for change, grow, and flourish.
Mary Anne Martin (she/her)
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Mary Anne has been engaging in equity-focused, community-based food research and advocacy in Peterborough for over 10 years and in her home region of Durham for over 5 years. Since finishing her PhD at Trent's Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies in 2018, she has collaborated on research on the social economy of food, the effects of the global pandemic on food access in Peterborough, and initiatives to jointly address the needs of local food consumers and producers. Her research interests include household food insecurity, social divisions of caring labour, the wellbeing of food systems, and the impacts of community-based food initiatives. With a keen interest in the impact that policies and programs have on people's day-to-day lives, she is excited to focus at the lab on a human rights review of the Coordinated Access system for addressing homelessness. Mary Anne's happy place is puttering in her garden.
Jessa McAuliffe (they/them)
Doctoral Research Assistant
Jessa is a genderqueer trans legal professional and a Ph.D. student in Canadian Studies at Trent. Their research focuses on challenges for trans* access to civil justice in Ontario by exploring trans* marginalization as it relates to socio-legal barriers more broadly, and Canadian civil law in particular.
At the Social Change Lab, Jessa is a research assistant for the Data Justice for Youth in Care project. They are beyond excited to join the lab to engage in collaborative work that seeks to drive social change for marginalized communities. Drawing from their own experiences, they support the mission of ending poverty and precarious housing for young people.
Faith Mottahedi (she/her)
Doctoral Research Assistant
Faith is a PhD student in Trent's Interdisciplinary Social Research program. Her research interests include the factors which contribute to youth homelessness in Canada. In particular, she is looking at how various interlocking institutions intersect to pipeline youth from the child welfare system to the youth legal system into homelessness. She is also interested in understanding how the use of digital data and algorithmic management contributes to upholding and perpetuating systems of oppression.
At the Research for Social Change lab, Faith is working on the Data Justice for Youth project. She is also a registered psychotherapist (qualifying) and outside of her research with the lab, she is passionate about mental health, making paper art, exploring used book stores, and drinking lots of coffee.
Dr. Naomi Nichols (she/her)
Principal Investigator and Lab Director
Naomi is the Canada Research Chair in Community-Partnered Social Justice and an Associate Professor in Trent University’s Sociology Department. Prior to starting at Trent in 2020, Naomi was an Associate Professor at McGill University in the Faculty of Education. Before this, she was a Post-doctoral Fellow with the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness.
Naomi’s research interests and activities reflect her collaborations and partnerships with community-based organizations, youth-serving institutions and young people. Her research troubles taken-for-granted institutional and political-economic relations, illuminating how they reproduce and naturalize inequalities. She seeks to make complex institutional processes clear and navigable to people in the hopes of changing how our public systems work and redistributing access to power and opportunity. All of Naomi’s research happens with brilliant collaborators – graduate students, lived experience scholars, researcher-practitioners, community advocates and institutional partners.
Nisarg Patel
Research Assistant
Nisarg, an author and Data Analyst, holds an M.Sc. in Applied Modelling and Quantitative Methods, specializing in Big Data Analytics from Trent University, and a B.E. in Information and Communication Technology. With a background in Project Management and Data Engineering, Nisarg offers a unique perspective to the Social Change Lab.
In his role at the Social Change Lab, Nisarg serves as a Research Assistant for a Social Justice Data Audit for the city of Nogojiwanong/Peterborough. He is enthusiastic about contributing his data skills to collaborative efforts with the Social Change Lab, Trent University, the City of Peterborough, and the New Canadians Centre, aimed at driving social change for marginalized communities.
Outside of work, Nisarg enjoys reading, writing, music, travelling with friends, and playing grand strategy games.
Will Pearson (he/him)
Lab Manager
Will is a long-time resident of Peterborough. He wants to see his community share resources and opportunity more equitably, and he wants to see fewer barriers put in the way of individuals seeking to access to social services. At the Research for Social Change Lab, he handles administrative and project management duties.
Will is also a journalist, and the co-publisher of Peterborough Currents, the city’s first reader-funded online news publication. He’s a fan of tennis, dance music and zines.
Anika Rosen (she/they)
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Anika was born and raised in Peterborough. She is an undergraduate at Trent University, completing her Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Sociology with a minor in English and a specialization in Social Justice & Equity Studies. She is interested in how the division of public and private spheres has impacted policies around homelessness. She is also interested in diagnostic gendered inequalities in ADHD and hopes to continue researching the topic for a thesis.
Anika is working as a research assistant at the Research for Social Change Lab and is involved in a literature review of the Coordinated Access system for addressing homelessness. Outside of work at the lab, she enjoys writing, embroidery, thrifting, and the occasional board game night with friends.
Aron Rosenberg (he/him)
Doctoral Research Assistant
Aron Lee Rosenberg is a high school educator and grad student living in Tio'tia:ke. In 2020, Aron spent a year offline to uncover ways in which his digital existence relates to issues of social and environmental justice. He is currently completing his PhD on how to support the critical digital literacy development of high school students. At the RSCL, he is working on the Data Justice for Youth projects. In his free time, Aron enjoys playing the fiddle, community organizing, and rest. You can find him on Twitter @OsherL.
Luka Stojanovic (he/they)
Doctoral Research Assistant
Luka Stojanovic is a queer, disabled, settler who holds an Honours B.A. with Specialization in Philosophy from the University of Ottawa (2018), an MPhil in Film and Screen Studies from the University of Cambridge (2019), and an M.A. in Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies (2023) from Trent University. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Canadian Studies at Trent University where his work extends critical scholarship on healthcare, aging, and disability politics through participatory, arts-based research examining the practices and perspectives of older adults living with chronic pain.
Ashleigh Swerdfeger (she/her)
Parent Researcher
Ashleigh Swerdfeger holds a Bachelor's in International Development from Trent University. Ashleigh has previous experience helping youth navigate homelessness with A Way Home Canada. She has assisted youth experiencing hidden homelessness. As well, she facilitated groups to gather an understanding of what a safe home looks like for youth and to learn about youths’ knowledge of 211. This was used to help design 211 advertising for youth. Additionally, she co-authored a series of brochures on host homes for youth and potential hosts.
After working with a Way Home Canada, Ashleigh moved on to Nourish, a program ran by the YWCA. Building on previous themes of community development, Ashleigh focused on civic engagement, food security and poverty. She supported workshops for seniors on civic issues and aging. Also, she supported participants through Rentsmart. She designed a story telling workshop series for participants to share their life stories.
Outside of her professional life, Ashleigh is devoted mom of 4 kids, ranging from 11 years, 9 years, 2 years and 9 months. In her spare time, she enjoys reading historical fiction and nonfiction books, as well as listening to podcasts and spending time in nature.