Meet our staff and Research Assistants
Our staff and research assistants are drawn from our project partners
Project staff
Research Assistants
Bethany Rochester Beth Rochester is a first year Master of Journalism student at UBC. She completed her undergraduate in psychology at King’s College London where she interned as a content and digital producer for Sashkeys Media. She is interested in the intersection between psychology and business. Ollie Nicholas Ollie is a second-year masters of journalism student at the University of British Columbia, specializing in audio journalism. He has long been interested in innovations in journalism, setting up his own website Dropout in 2017 to experiment with different forms of online storytelling. Catherine Zhu Catherine is a first-year student in the UBC Master of Journalism program, and a graduate of the UBC Bachelor of Media Studies program.
Since she was young, she has had an immense passion for writing, building community, and amplifying the needs of those with quieter voices through storytelling. Read more Sara Esayas Sara Esayas is an MA student in the Communication & Culture joint program at X University & York University. She received her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Toronto where she completed a double major in Political Science and Book & Media Studies with a minor in French. Sara’s research interests include: audience studies & media ethnographies, cultural studies, journalism & news, political communication and race, ethnicity & media. For the Explanatory Journalism and Uptake Project, Sara is working alongside Dr. Frauke Zeller, researching the news coverage and framing of BIPOC communities in North American print news media. Read moreStuart Duncan Stuart is a PhD student in the Media and Design Innovation program at Toronto Met University, and his research focuses broadly on the field of computational social science concentrating on the social impacts of artificial intelligence and online algorithms, with a particular focus on its impacts in the field of journalism. Stuart also has a Master of Arts in Communication and Culture from Toronto Met University and a Bachelor of Arts in Computing and Information Science from the University of Guelph. As part of his research at the Explanatory Journalism and Uptake Project, he uses computational processes to analyze online content with the goal of measuring the characteristics of online deliberation in explanatory journalism. Professionally he has worked in media and journalism for almost two decades, most of that with the CBC where he is a producer on CBC News’ national social media team. He has also worked as an instructor at George Brown College and Toronto Met's RTA School of Media. Read moreCalvin Hillis Calvin is a Media Design Innovation PhD Candidate at Toronto Metropolitan University. His research is engaged with new-media technologies, specifically Augmented Reality. Calvin's work is highlighted by academic publications and creative work features in art galleries. Calvin's technical digital marketing specialist work is focused on search-engine-optimization. Justine Woods Justine Woods (she/her) is a PhD student in the Media and Design Innovation program at TMU. She holds a Master of Design in Interdisciplinary Art, Media and Design from OCAD University and a Bachelor of Design in Fashion Design from TMU. Justine’s research and design practice centres fashion and garment-making as a practice-based method of inquiry towards re-stitching alternative worlds that celebrate and mobilize Indigenous resurgence. Her work prioritizes all of the relationships that make up her identity as a Penetanguishene Aabitaawikwe; an identity she has inherited from her family and her Aabitaawizininiwag ancestors. Justine is a member of what is presently known as the Georgian Bay Métis Community and is a descendant of the St. Onge and Berger-Beaudoin families. Read moreAnthony Milton Anthony is a second-year Masters of Journalism student at TMU. As a research assistant on the XJO Project, he is involved in surveying Conversation Canada authors and analyzing their responses. Anthony is also a contributor to the XJO Project Blog. Outside of the project, his work revolves around magazine feature writing, data journalism, and politics. Anthony’s major research project uses ARC GIS to plot 15 years of political donations data across detailed maps of Canada, showing how and where Canada’s political parties make their money. Read moreJuliana Pandurević Juliana Pandurević is a student at the School of Journalism at TMU. She has a background in linguistics and foreign literature. She is currently working as a research assistant for Dr. Nicole Blanchett and moderating the XJO Explanatory Journalism Podcast. Juliana also works for Bell Media Radio. She was the recipient of the Canadian Turning Points Writing Scholarship. Outside of her TMU studies, Juliana works with WWII veterans from her native country of Serbia, compiling her interviews with them into a book. Read moreSoraya Lecourt Soraya is a second-year student in Journalism at T.M.U. She is a multilingual and independent person who demonstrates a passion for Information and Communication Networks with the ability to take initiative. Coordinating events and media always have been a strong skill for her. She began in the first European artistic agency, Lecourt learned to work with discretion for great artists. She continues to explore her skills for L’OREAL in organizing their International Trade Show in Paris. She decided to work in Radio with the first European Radio Broadcaster where she experienced the technical area of advertising. Lecourt has a rich experience of cultures thanks to her several trips across the world, from Australia to America, via Russia or Europe. Read moreArjun Srinivas Arjun Srinivas is a PhD Candidate at Queensland University of Technology’s Digital Media Research Centre. His research investigates the role that recommender systems of leading social media platforms play in the curation of news and other critical information. He has also worked as a data journalist with The Hindustan Times, a leading media entity in India. As part of the GJIL, Arjun is studying the global distribution, engagement and impact of explanatory journalism platforms like The Conversation. Read moreAnthony Bejjani Anthony Bejjani is a second-year J.D. student at the University of Ottawa in the French Common Law Program. Anthony is also completing his Bachelor of Commerce at the Telfer School of Management as part of the Baccalaureate in Commercial Sciences (BCom) and Juris Doctor (JD) combined program. He is mainly interested in business and tech law. Felicia Chiappetta Felicia is a first year MJ student who has a research background in neuroscience behaviour on social media. She is also interested in journalistic behaviour both online and offline, and is a science communications enthusiast. In her spare time, Felicia dances professionally and plays the piano. Désirée Estephan-Saliba Désirée Estephan-Saliba is a second-year J.D. student at the University of Ottawa in the French Common Law Program. Désirée is also completing her Bachelor of Commerce at the Telfer School of Management as part of the Baccalaureate in Commercial Sciences (BCom) and Juris Doctor (JD) combined program. Lui Xia Lee Lui Xia Lee is a second year Master of Arts student in the University of British Columbia’s department of history. She is also a research and editorial assistant for Dr. Heidi Tworek as well as the Media Relations Assistant at UBC Media Relations. Her research is focused on news coverage of national language and education policies in Malaysia from 1957 to 1969. She has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Carleton University. Nathan Lucky Nathan Lucky holds a BA (Hons.) from the University of British Columbia (Okanagan) in history and an MA in history from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver). He focuses on Jewish and non-Jewish media responses to the Holocaust, Jewish organizations, and public relations. Lisa Ren Lisa Ren is an upcoming second-year MA student at the University of British Columbia’s Department of History and received her BA in International Relations at UBC. She is interested in looking at the history of media and communication infrastructures in post-socialist China, and the implications of political and economic developments on the globalization of Chinese media. Her research is currently focused on Xinhua News Agency and global media, specifically on the transformation of Xinhua into a world news agency from 1978 to 1989. She is also currently the assistant at the Centre for Chinese Research at UBC and also a recent awardee of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s (SSHRC) CGS-M Award. Isabelle Santerre Isabelle Santerre is a research assistant at the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Law, Technology and Society. She is currently a law student at the University of Ottawa. Louise Stahl Louise Stahl is a research assistant at the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Law, Technology and Society. She is currently a PhD student at the Department of Communication at the same institution. |