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Laura Cascario, Ph.D. – AI + Society Technoship Fellow
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Gurleen Bhandal, Ph.D. – AI + Society Technoship Fellow
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Michelle Rodrigues, Ph.D. – AI + Society Technoship Fellow
Alex Trebek Postdoctoral Fellows
Alex Trebek Postdoctoral Fellows pursue an innovative research program focused on aspects of one of the three major Smart Changes for a Better World research projects.
Blair Peruniak, Ph.D. - AI for Healthy Humans and Environments Project
Dr. Blair Peruniak is an Alex Trebek Postdoctoral Fellow in AI and Environmental Justice at University of Ottawa AI + Society Initiative.
Dr. Blair Peruniak received his DPhil. from the University of Oxford (2019) where he was a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre. His research focused on politics of asylum and the prospects of democratic institutions of migration governance in liberal states.
As an Alex Trebek Postdoctoral Fellow on AI and Environmental Justice, he will notably examine the emerging role of AI technologies in temporary labour practices within Canada’s agri-food sector with an emphasis on the political and human rights implications of new surveillance technologies for migrant labourers.
Lauren Touchant, PhD - Water Law and Governance Project
Dr. Touchant is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Centre for Environmental Law and Global Sustainability and the Centre on Governance, and the recipient of the Alex Trebek Scholarship. She is also a 2016-2019 Vanier Scholar. Her thesis focused on how municipalities elaborate policy instruments within municipal networks in environmental and energy governance in Canada and the United States. She explored three primary networks: Partners for Climate Protection, managed by the Canadian Federation of Municipalities; Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiatives; and QUEST Canada. Lauren's research interests are: climate, environmental, and energy policy and governance, the Arctic, and emergency preparedness and disaster management.
Nessan Akemakou, Ph.D. - Project : Water Law and Governance
Nessan Akemakou is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Ottawa's Public Law Centre, under the supervision of Professor Marie-France Fortin. His research project is entitled "The Blue Economy: An Innovative Concept for Irrigating Public Policies ? A Cross-Study of the Blue Economy Strategies of the African Union (AU) and Canada". The latter is funded by the Alex Trebek Dialogue Forum.
Nessan holds a law degree (LL.B), a master's degree in political science (M.A), a master's degree in international relations (M.A) and a doctorate in political science (Ph.D) from the Université Toulouse 1 Capitole (France). His thesis, "The existence of an 'authoritarian peace' in Africa? An antithetical reflection to democratic peace theory" was defended in July 2019. In it, he explores, among other things, the causes of fratricidal wars in Africa, which are legion. They are linked to the weakness of post-colonial states, authoritarianism, inequitable sharing of political power, economic resources and natural resources, including water. Access to blue gold is indeed a cause of belligerence between nomadic and sedentary populations in regions plagued by desertification and increasing drought. Through a case study, Nessan proposes ways to improve governance and limit these conflicts by taking more into consideration the endogenous socio-cultural characteristics.
Nessan is also the president of L'Afrique des Idées (ADI), a think tank that aims to contribute to the public debate in Africa through the production of analyses and the organization of popularization conferences both in France and Africa.
Email : nakemako@uottawa.ca
Linkedin : Nessan Akemakou
Rafael Aguirre, Ph.D. Changing Orders Project
Alex Trebek Postdoctoral Fellow
Changing Orders: Shaping the Future and Securing Rights in a World in Transformation
