Our Current Research Assistants
Angeline Letourneau
Angeline Letourneau (she/they) is a Ph.D. candidate of Environmental Sociology in the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology at the University of Alberta in Amiskwaciwâskahikan / ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Edmonton). Angeline has a background in environmental studies and has extensive work experience in both industry and non-profit organizations in Canada and Germany. Her key areas of research include gender in energy and agri-food systems, queer ecology, social impact assessment, and social media and identity. She continually strives to utilize anticolonial and intersectional feminist lenses and prioritizes social change in all of her work.
Keahna Margeson
Keahna Margeson is an Interdisciplinary PhD student at Dalhousie University studying social license for nature based coastal adaptation. She has a B.S. and M.S. in Sociology and spent two and a half years working in a contracted social science research support position for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development in Duluth, Minnesota. Keahna has a strong background in social science theories and methodologies, specifically focusing on governmental and community relationships with common pool resources. During her time with the EPA, Keahna gained experiencing working in an aquatic research lab on interdisciplinary research teams that focused on translational science and assessment, coproduction of knowledge, and community and stakeholder engagement and participation. Keahna's PhD research will use Social Impact Assessment to understand human dimensions, including social acceptance, of nature-based infrastructure in Nova Scotia. Her key areas of interest include social ecological systems, boundary work, translational science, and social and health impact assessment.
Lyle Porter
Lyle is a Masters of Marine Management candidate at Dalhousie University, located in Mi’kma’ki. With a BSc. in Biology (Queen’s), his interests lie in environmental policy and the Canadian green energy transition. He looks to explore how various ecological and social factors inform current offshore impact assessment practice in Canada. Furthermore, in an international sense, Lyle strives to situate current Canadian offshore impact assessment practices to those employed globally, with particular interest around the possible future of offshore wind development in Atlantic Canada.
Leah Fusco
Leah (she/her) is a postdoctoral researcher with interests in energy development and just energy transitions, environmental policy and planning, impact assessment, climate justice, and equitable blue economies. She received a PhD in human geography from the University of Toronto, where she conducted research on environmental assessment and review processes related to offshore oil development and fracking in Newfoundland and Labrador, including community participation and opposition to project proposals. She has continued with postdoctoral work that takes an international comparative approach to look at the use of offshore energy strategic environmental assessments. She is particularly interested in how different forms of impact assessments can be used in the context of just and equitable energy transition planning and is currently studying the use of offshore regional assessments for oil and wind in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Gardenio Pimentel da Silva
Gardenio is finishing a master’s degree in Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University. he has a background in Environmental Engineering and he’s been conducting research on IA for over 4 years. His work is published in more than 13 papers across international journals. Gardenio is interested in how projects affect the environment and the lives of people. He’s also passionate about renewable energy developments. Gardenio’s work at Dalhousie University involves the exploration of social impact assessment methods applied to license hydroelectric dams in Canada. He has also worked in Brazil and studied impact assessment under the context of planning large-scale solar photovoltaic plants to increase renewable energy in the country.
Julia Ornaff
Julia joined the Institute of the Environment at the University of Ottawa (UOttawa) in 2020. She has a background in Political Philosophy (M Phil, La Sorbonne). Julia’s research investigates adaptive governance models and the emergence of a resilient normative culture. Her PhD research focuses on the epistemological and political value of participation in impact assessments. Before joining UOttawa, Julia presented her research at numerous venues: the Global Risk Forum Davos, International Disaster Risk Conference 2012 and 2014; the 14th annual joint conference of the AHE (Association for Heterodox Economics); IIPPE (International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy); FAPE (French Association for Political Economy) 2012; and the 7th annual congress of the RIODD, Énergie, Environnement et mutations sociales, 2012.