People

Eric Abitbol is Senior Consultant, Shareholder, Environment, Security & Conflict Transformation Practice Leader at Universalia. Specializing in Israeli-Palestinian relations, his recent work analyses the discursive practices of Israeli and Palestinian water practitioners, assessing hydropolitical peacebuilding, hydrohegemony and hydrohegemonic residues. He is currently sharing the leadership of a collaborative North-South research project intent on assessing the effects of Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment (PCIA).  

Anna-Liisa Aunio is Coordinator of Environmental Studies in the Department of Sociology at Dawson College. Her research over the past several years focuses on understanding the sociological drivers of environmental issues, particularly in relation to climate change and food systems.  She is currently the Principal Investigator for the Food Justice and Sustainability project at Dawson, which focuses on mapping the food system for Montreal’s 33 boroughs, building and carrying out community food organizations needs and assets assessments for five neighborhoods, and hosting dialogues to support collaborative research and action to guide food policy in Montreal.

Piero Genovesi gained a Masters degree in 1989 and a PhD in 1993 in Animal Ecology at the University of Rome, carrying on research on carnivore ecology. He is Senior Scientist with the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Italy (formerly INFS - Italian Wildlife Institute), focusing on carnivore conservation and alien species. He has worked closely with several international institutions (such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Migratory Species, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and the European Environmental Agency) to develop guidelines and policies on the management of alien species. Since 2009 Piero chairs the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (www.issg.org). He has led several international research programs, is a co-author of the European Strategy on Invasive Alien Species, and has authored books and papers published in various journals including Nature, Science, PLoS ONE, PNAS.

Christopher Gore is Professor at Ryerson University, Department of Politics and Public Administration. He is also a faculty associate of two graduate programs and one research centre: Environmental Applied Science and Management, Immigration and Settlement Studies, and the Centre for Studies of Food Security. His broad research interests relate to the politics and policy of environmental and urban issues in North America and Sub-Saharan Africa, and the role of technology in influencing policy debates and outcomes. He is interested in how different forms of knowledge influence policy and decision-making systems, and how different interests from different scales interact in these systems.

William V. Kennedy has over 30 years of experience in environment, transport and banking in Europe, North America and the developing world. From 2003 thru 2006 he served as Executive Director of NAFTA’s North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) and is currently serving as an Environmental Advisor to the US Millennium Challenge Corporation and as Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Concordia University in Montreal. Until 2003, he was Head of the Environmental Policy and Strategy Unit of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London and has held senior posts with the Dutch ministries of Environment and Foreign Affairs, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

Shane Mulligan is the owner of Radicle Consulting, a firm specialized in renewable energy, co-op development and project management.  His research interests are energy policy and energy security, global environmental politics, biofuels and food security.  With a PhD from the University of Cambridge, Dr. Mulligan has taught at Concordia University and the University of Victoria.

Tonia Ruppenthal earned her Doctorate in Business Administration, Management from Jacobs University Bremen, Germany. In addition to her PhD, she holds a Master and Bachelor in Economics and Public Administration.

Dr. Ruppenthal joined Fulda University of Applied Science, Germany as Professor in Management, Business Administration and Economics in 2013. In 2014 and 2015, she was appointed Program Director of the MSc Program ”International Food Business and Consumer Studies” and of the MSc European Joint Degree Program ”Sustainable Food Systems“. These two purely English spoken programs are characterized by multidisciplinary approaches at the interface between agriculture, food business and consumer science within an international and a sustainable context. The goal of these programs is to qualify students to take on professional tasks in national and international enterprises in the food business as well as food certification organizations. She has taught as guest lecture at ISARA-Lyon, France. Her research focuses on innovation, sustainable management and assessment in the food industry, attempts to lasting measurement of performance indicators for the food sector as well as ecological certification and bio labelling. One particular interest lies on spirituality linked to leadership and sustainability.

Prior to her academic career, she worked in Germany for the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, in the healthcare industry for one of the largest health insurance companies as well as for the Federal Employment Agency.

Peter Stoett (Ph.D., Queens University) is the founder of the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre, where he served as Director until the summer of 2017, when he left Concordia to become Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. During his time at Concordia, he served as chair and beloved professor in the Department of Political Science, as well as providing his vision and inspiration to the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre.

Dr. Stoett's main areas of expertise include international relations and law, global environmental politics, and human rights; he is especially interested in critical perspectives on the many nuanced intersections between these themes. Current research focuses on transnational environmental crime, marine pollution prevention, climate justice, and Canadian-American environmental relations. He has also worked extensively on biodiversity conservation, and genocide and war crimes prevention and punishment.

Dr. Stoett has written, co-written and co-edited more than 10 books and more than 55 peer reviewed articles, chapters in edited books, and occasional papers. He has conducted research in Europe (including the Balkans), eastern, southern and western Africa, central America and Asia, and has worked closely with many institutions including the United Nations (UN), the Canadian government and the Hague Institute for Global Justice.

Owen Temby (Ph.D. Carleton, 2012) is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. His research program involves the study of foreign and domestic environmental policy and management in the Canada and the United States. 

Scott Vaughan is International Chief Advisor to the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. Prior to joining IISD, he was Canada’s federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development for five years.  Previously, he was the Director of the Department of Sustainable Development of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C.; a Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; the Head of Economics at the NAFTA Environment Commission; and Counsellor at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. He held various positions with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), including initiating both the UNEP Financial Initiative and UNEP’s work on trade issues.

Wouter Veening studied political science, economics and social psychology at the University of Amsterdam. After working as policy adviser at the Dutch Ministry of the Environment, he became policy director at the Netherlands Committee for IUCN/World Conservation Union, where he dealt with the environmental policies of multilateral finance and donor institutions, such as the World Bank, IMF, the Global Environment Facility and the European Union.
As co-founder and President of the Institute for Environmental Security (2003) in The Hague, he now focuses on the policy and legal responses to security risks emanating from environmental degradation in key regions of the world.

Anders is working with environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of production and consumption activities. He has a specific focus on applying Planetary (and regional) boundaries in LCA to allow "absolute environmental sustainability assessment". The goal of an absolute assessment is to evaluate whether environmental impacts of an anthropogenic activity are low enough to be considered environmentally sustainable, and if not, how to set “science-based targets” to achieve this objective. This type of assessment considers climate change, but also other widespread issues, such as land use, water scarcity and perturbations of the natural nitrogen- and phosphorous cycles. Moreover, Anders is studying the uptake and use of methods for absolute environmental sustainability assessment by business through corporate sustainability disclosure. He also collaborates with several companies and LCA consultants on the use of these methods for corporate decision making and disclosure, and is working with Dr. Shannon Lloyd in the Department of Management at Concordia University.

The title of Anders' thesis project is Science-based targets for corporate environmental sustainability: The case of organizational Life Cycle Assessment.

For more information, contact Anders. 

Emma Bider is a PhD student in social and cultural analysis at Concordia. She has a master’s degree in anthropology from Carleton University. Her master’s thesis combined ethnomusicology and  anthropology to analyze how drumming evoked a notion of home and cultural identity for Tuareg women living in Europe. Her current research examines how climate change mitigation strategies affect individuals' relationships to forest environments. She is pursuing this research in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Katja Neves. ​

The title of Emma's thesis is The meaning of forests: How climate change mitigation strategies affect local relationships to forests in Switzerland.

Contact Emma.

Debdeep's research investigates how behavioral and relational variables can improve sustainability performance in a multi-tier setting. He is also working on projects related to the diffusion of corporate environmental practices using institutional theory as an interpretive lens. He is pursuing this research in the Department of Supply Chain and Business Technology Management at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Shannon Lloyd. ​

The title of Debdeep's thesis is Sustainability improvement in multi-tier supply chain: An Agency theory perspective.

Contact Debdeep.

Arun Dayanadan is currently studying how elevated predation risk affects mate selection and offspring behaviour in Trinidadian guppies. He is pursuing this research in the Department of Biology under the supervision of Dr. Grant Brown. He has also recently done some work in India at the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, where he worked on a global analysis of COVID-19 cases as they relate to environmental variables.

Elahe Fakoor is developing a life cycle assessment (LCA) based framework for assessing the potential environmental impacts of novel surface engineering solutions. Her research is funded by the Green Surface Engineering for Advanced Manufacturing (Green-SEAM) Network. The enhanced processes and coating systems developed by Green-SEAM are expected to deliver environmental benefits, but may also create additional environmental challenges. Due to the lack of comprehensive data during early R&D, rigorous LCA is often not possible. The goal of this project is to provide researchers with an LCA-based screening tool that identifies the potential environmental benefits and concerns of various surface engineering candidates early in their development. Elahe is pursuing this research in the Construction Engineering at the École de Technologie Supérieure under the supervision of Drs. Shannon Lloyd (Concordia), Annie Levasseur, and Mourad Ben Amor.

The title of Elahe's thesis is Development of an LCA-based framework to assess potential environmental impacts and benefits of surface engineering innovative solutions at early research and development stages.

Contact Elahe: elahe.fakoor.1 AT ens.etsmtl.ca

Sherif Goubran is a PhD. candidate in the Individualized Program (INDI) at Concordia University, a Vanier Scholar, and a Concordia Public Scholar. He is conducting interdisciplinary within the fields of design, building engineering and real-estate finance. His PhD research investigates the alignment between sustainable building practices and global Sustainable Development Goals. His research focus includes building sustainability and sustainability assessment, sustainability in architectural design and behavioral approaches in design. Sherif completed a MASc in building engineering in 2016 with a focus on energy efficiency in commercial buildings. Before that, he completed a BSc in Architecture at the American University in Cairo (AUC-Egypt). Today, he is actively engaged in several research laboratories, centres and groups where he teaches and conducts research in design, engineering, architecture and business. He is also involved in several sustainability initiatives and projects at Concordia on the student as well as the administrative levels. Sherif is working under the supervision of Professors Carmela Cucuzzella, Bruno Lee, and Thomas Walker.

The title of Sherif''s thesis is Our Buildings have Credentials... Now what? Green buildings and the Sustainable Development Goals in Canada.

Contact Sherif.

Marie Gagné is the recipient of a postdoctoral fellowship awarded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec--Société et culture (FRQSC). She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto. Her broad research interests include questions of land access, agricultural development, natural resource management, and food security. She is the author of award-winning chapters in edited volumes and peer-reviewed articles, including a manuscript in the Canadian Journal of African Studies (forthcoming in 2021). She also has extensive professional experience in conducting research for rural development policy and has produced several reports for Canadian NGOs. She is an executive board member of the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID). Her current research project, conducted with Dr. Amy Poteete in the Department of Political Science, examines the significance of opposition to large-scale land deals for electoral democracy and citizenship in rural Senegal. In particular, the study investigates if protests against land projects entail a renegotiation of power relations between rulers and subjects. Marie is working under the supervision of Professor Amy Poteete.

The title of Marie''s project is Protests against Large-Scale Land Acquisitions, Electoral Democracy, and the Emergence of Rural Citizenship in Senegal.

Contact Marie at marie.gagneATmail.concordia.ca.

(MSc Candidate)

Kayleigh is broadly interested in the relationships between landscape structure, biodiveristy and ecosystem functions. Her research will focuses on urban forest diversity and how urban tree functional diversity is distributed within Montreal’s public and private green spaces, drawing links between functional traits and ecosystem functions that are linked to ecosystem services. Understanding these links will allow us to ask broader questions about the provision of ecosystem services within the urban landscape and how it may shift between private and publicly managed spaces. Kayleigh is working in the Department of Biology at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Carly Ziter. The title of her thesis project is Assessing the contribution of public and private green space to urban forest diversity in Montreal: Do patterns of functional diversity result in a more multi-functional landscape?

Contact Kayleigh.

(MSc Student)

Emily’s research examines how urban sprawl can affect the delivery of multiple ecosystem services like temperature, air quality, and provision of green space. She will be teaming up with a research group from the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment who are examining socio-economic correlates of urban sprawl. We are hoping to shed some light on how urban sprawl is occurring in Montreal and what effects this has on the Montreal community both physically and socially. Emily is doing this work under the supervision of Dr. Carly Ziter in the Department of Biology at Concordia University.

The title of Emily's thesis project is Exploring the relationship between urban sprawl and multiple ecosystem services in Montreal.

Contact Emily.

(PhD candidate)

Rubens is investigating how knowledge about water management is produced in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, focusing on the metropolitan areas of São Paulo and Belo Horizonte by comparing initiatives inside and outside participatory institutions governing water. The overarching argument is that knowledge production about water management follows distinct patterns inside and outside participatory institutions. In formal participatory institutions, Rubens argues that state control over the participatory design and access to resources, clash of values between stakeholders, and a limited scope of issues discussed hinders knowledge production about water management and it has minimal impact on formulating solutions to environmental problems related to water management. On the other hand, Rubens observed that initiatives outside participatory institutions has a greater impact on solving environmental problems because they involve dense networks of transdisciplinary backgrounds, there is less control over the scope of issues discussed, and access to resources. Rubens is studying in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Tina Hilgers.

The title of Ruben's thesis is The politics of knowledge production in natural resources management: an analysis about water management in the Brazilian states of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais.

Contact Rubens at rubenslimamoraesATgmail.com

(MSc candidate)

Duane's research focuses on decadal to centennial climate variability patterns, regional hydrology and climate, impacts of global warming, and water management for sustained droughts and floods. He is currently pursuing this research as a MSc student in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Jeannine-Marie St-Jacques.

The title of Duane's thesis is The Influence of the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation on Flood Frequency in Eastern Canada.

Contact Duane.

(MSc Students)

Claire's research uses fossilized pollen from lake-bed sediment to reconstruct decadal to centennial scale forest-vegetation dynamics and climate variability over the last thousand years in southeastern Québec. As pollen is dispersed annually, it can be used as a natural climate proxy and Claire's research uses pollen records to investigate the effects of European colonization as well as anthropogenic climate change on sugar-maple hardwood forest ecosystems. Claire is working in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment at Concordia University under the supervision of Drs. Jeannine-Marie St-Jacques and Matthew Peros.

The title of Claire's thesis is Reconstructing environmental variability over the past millennium in southeastern Québec using high-resolution pollen records from a lake in Mont-Orford National Park.

Contact Claire.

(PhD student)

Alexandre is researching the past climate of the interior of the Gaspésie peninsula using trees, a field called dendroclimatology. In seasonal climates, trees annually put on a ring of growth and one of the main factors affecting this growth is climate.  He is analyzing the ring width and growth patterns of hundreds of trees in the Gaspésie National Park to gain an understanding of the moisture and temperature patterns centuries into the past.  Alexandre spends his summers searching for the oldest trees in the valleys and peaks of the Gaspésie National Park with hopes of helping  the park better understand the paleoclimate in order to better manage their resources and wildlife. He is currently pursuing this research as a MSc student in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Jeannine-Marie St-Jacques.    

The title of Alexandre's thesis is Reconstructions of climate in the Gaspésie using tree-ring proxies.                                            

Contact Alexandre.

(MSc Student)

Parnian is currently working on urban sprawl in Europe. The rapid expansion of urban areas across the planet is highly controversial regarding its detrimental consequences. Urban sprawl refers to dispersed, low-density development. Its current trend is unsustainable because of its many significant environmental consequences. Europe is among the most urbanized geographic regions worldwide, with 74 percent of the population living in urban areas in 2018, and is extensively affected by urban sprawl. One of the policies to prevent urban sprawl is the use of greenbelts. However, some authors have argued that this strategy often does not limit urban sprawl, and in some cases, acts oppositely. Using the method of Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) for calculating the magnitude of urban sprawl, Parnian’s research aims to provide a comprehensive view on the functionality of greenbelts. Her work focuses on 60 European cities, 30 of which have greenbelts, in the years 2006 and 2015. She is pursuing this research in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment under the supervision of Dr. Jochen Jaeger.

The title of Parnian's thesis is Analyzing the effects of greenbelts on urban sprawl in European cities.

Contact Parnian.

(PhD Student)

Kian is developing an integrated hybrid life cycle assessment framework to assess the environmental impact of industrial systems. These models integrate environmentally extended input–output models, which relate monetary transactions to environmental impacts at the economy level, and process-based life cycle assessment models, which model physical inputs (e.g., materials, energy) and outputs (e.g., products, environmental releases) at the process level. The goal of Kian's research is to enable accurate environmental life cycle assessment at the industry and organizational levels. He is pursuing this research as a PhD student in Industrial Engineering (in the Department of Mechanical, Industrial & Aerospace Engineering) at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Shannon Lloyd. ​

The title of Kian's thesis is Integrated hybrid Life Cycle Assessment for sustainable industrial systems.

Contact Kian.

(PhD student)

Keroles' research develops new materials for stereolithography 3D-printing that are photo-stable. Current materials are too sensitive to sunlight that they break apart within months. Keroles is working in the INDI progam under the supervision of Dr. Paula Wood-Adams.

Keroles is also leading the "Waste Not, Want Not" compost collaboration. The collaboration is between students (GISA), faculty (LSRC), and administration (EH&S). The collaboration entails students and faculty organizing an education campaign while the administration improves infrastructure by making compost bins more widespread, and implementing on-site composting.

Contact Keroles.

Visit Keroles' blog.

(PhD Student)

Faisal's research examines how advances in data mining, big data, remote sensor technology, and machine learning algorithms can be applied to improving waste management and circular economy activities at local scales. A survey of current data applications for circular economy will be followed by practical research in living laboratory settings at district and city levels at institutions like Concordia University, public spaces in the city, or municipal waste management contexts. The waste problem requires going beyond an engineering perspective to understand issues of behavioral psychology, design, policy, and how technological, infrastructural and educational initiatives can be limited or bolstered by these factors.
Research projects include:
- Developing computer vision algorithms for smart waste bins and a mobile app to feedback waste sorting instructions to users
- Data mining to build a recommender system for users of a material reuse center.
- Optimizing waste bin placement using occupant and pedestrian sensors and waste bin fill-level sensors

Faisal is working int he INDO program in the Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering at Concordia University under the supervision of Drs. Ursula Eicker, Ketra Schmitt, and Nizar Bouguila

The title of Faisal's thesis project is The role of data in smart waste management and circular economy systems at local scales.

Contact Faisal.

(MSc Candidate)

As urbanization is rapidly changing natural landscapes, with the majority of the world's population living in cities, it is important for those who inhabit these areas to learn how to best promote biodiversity. Therefore, Serena's project aims to determine which local and landscape factors most contribute to native bee communities, be it floral density, nectar volume-concentration ratios, flower color, floral nativity, or amount of impervious surface in the surrounding area. The goal is to help both civilians and urban planners to best design cities to promote native bee diversity. Serena is working in the Department of Biology at Concordia University under the supervision of Drs. Carly Ziter and Jean-Philippe Lessard.

The title of Serena's thesis project is Relative influence of local and landscape variables on native bee communities in urban ecosystems.

Contact Serena.

(PhD Student)

Free ranging and wild animals sometimes experience challenges of physical wellbeing and optimal movement ability, but assessing if they are stressed in these situations can prove difficult. Brogan’s research will be focusing on a population of Japanese macaques on Awaji Island, Japan that are born with very high incidences of limb malformations that cause physical impairment. This circumstance provides a rare opportunity to observe behavioral responses to disabilities. However, fully understanding and quantifying the costs of these disabilities remains a challenge. Fractal Analysis is a non-invasive method for quantifying subtle variations in the complexity of movement behavior patterns and sequences. Using Fractal Analysis, Brogan plans to test the hypothesis that impairment caused by congenital limb malformations will alter the complexity of movement behaviors for disabled monkeys under free-ranging conditions. Studying behaviour in the context of disability can highlight the selective pressures that individuals face and reveal adaptations for behavioural flexibility and environmental tolerances. Brogan is working in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Turner.

The title of Brogan's thesis project is Using fractal analysis to determine if physical impairment in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) alters behavioural movement complexity.

Contact Brogan.

(MA Student)

Today, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas; in the province of Quebec, this number reaches over 80%. While nature connectedness is a strong predictor of pro-environmental behaviours, many people living in cities have limited experience and connection with the natural world and with the ways our food is produced. Andrée's masters' project uses garden-based pedagogy as well as consumer experience theories to create workshops and spaces designed to increase awareness and greater connections with our natural environments.

Andrée's areas of special interest include the fields of environmental communication, memory, sensory and care studies, urban design, and the influence and power of storytelling as a catalyst for the potential for societal change. She is a recipient of a Concordia Sustainability Action Fund Award and the Éric St-Pierre Award. Andrée is pursuing this work in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Elizabeth Miller.  

The title of Andrée's project is mind.heart.mouth. Collective gardening, Design, and Community Care.

Contact Andrée.  

(MEng Student)

Zeynab is developing a method for considering end-of-life and waste management in surface engineering life cycle assessment (LCA). Her research is funded by the Green Surface Engineering for Advanced Manufacturing (Green-SEAM)​ Strategic Network. It is part of a larger project aimed at developing a LCA-based tool for assessing the environmental impacts and benefits of surface engineering solutions during early research and development. Zeynab is conducting this research as a MASc student in Industrial Engineering (in the Department of Mechanical, Industrial & Aerospace Engineering) at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Shannon Lloyd. ​

The title of Zeynab's thesis is Waste management in surface engineering from the viewpoint of Life Cycle Assessment.

Contact Zeynab.