UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO
School of Environment, Enterprise and Development
Bruce Fayne
Steffanie Scott
Cameron McCordic
Zhu Qian
Warren Dodd
Jasmin Habib
Carrie Mitchell
John Abraham
Bruce is Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Professor of in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED) at the University of Waterloo. His research interests fall within the broad ambit of sustainable cities, encompassing the three related areas of human migration, urbanization and food security, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and cities of the Global South.
Steffanie Scott is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. She is past president of the Canadian Association for Food Studies (2012-14) and co-chair (2007-11 and 2022-present) of the Food System Roundtable of Waterloo Region. Over her career, Steffanie’s research focused on China, Vietnam, and Canada has critically analyzed avenues for rural development, regenerative food systems, and alternative food networks—especially those that prioritize small-scale and organic farmers. Steffanie’s research and teaching has been inspired by how ‘food systems thinking’ enables a holistic view that integrates many dimensions of socio-ecological resilience. Steffanie is passionate about and committed to community engagement, public education, and action research on food system change and land connection.
Cameron McCordic is an Assistant Professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise, and Development (SEED) at the University of Waterloo. Cameron’s research interests focus on sustainable urban development, urban food security, and social vulnerability within cities. In particular, Cameron is interested in the systems that give rise to sustainable development and compounding vulnerability within cities. In pursuit of this research focus, Cameron has collaborated with communities, private enterprises, municipal leaders and academics to find innovative research methods that can be used to investigate urban issues through a community-based research framework.
Zhu Qian is an Associate Professor in the School of Planning, University of Waterloo, Canada. His primary research interests lie in urban land use reform, urbanization and resettlement, and planning in urban-rural interface in Chinese cities. He has published widely on these topics, including a recent book Property Rights and Urban Transformation in China (Edward Elgar, 2022).
Warren Dodd is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo. His research uses an interdisciplinary and mixed methods approach with the aim of understanding and addressing the social and ecological determinants of global health and development. In particular, he is interested in how factors such as poverty, migration, food security, and climate change interact and shape health and development outcomes. He conducts research in close collaboration with community partners and organizations with the goal of co-producing information to support decision-making and action.
Jasmin Habib holds a PhD in Anthropology and an MA in International Peace Studies. Her research publications focus on the politics of empire and the practices of decolonization with primary interest in the experiences of war-affected refugees now living in Israel, Palestine, Canada and the United States; indigenous practices and relations of autonomy in North America; and the architecture of consent for contemporary state violence (systemic and direct).
John Abraham is a Continuing Lecturer in the International Development Program at St. Paul’s University College and the School of Environment Enterprise and Development at the University of Waterloo and a Fellow of the Balsillie School of International Affairs. His teaching and research spans the areas of religion, political economy, environment, social innovation and decolonization.
Helena Shilomboleni is an Assistant Professor in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability and the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. She is also a Fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo. Her research areas of expertise are agriculture and food security, climate smart agriculture, scaling innovations in smallholder farming systems, and food systems sustainability, and has applied research experience working with small-scale farmers and practitioners in East and Southern Africa. She previously held a Post-doctoral Fellowship with the formerly Consultative Group of International Agriculture Research based in Nairobi, Kenya, and a Professional Development Award with Canada’s International Development Research Center in Ottawa. Her research and work also enabled her to engage different policy networks, including Global Affairs Canada and the Namibian Permanent Mission to the United Nations.