Schedule
Below is the schedule for the International EDI-AR Conference 2026 on Thursday, May 7, 2026.
View the PDF version: Conference schedule 2026
| Time | Programming |
|---|---|
| 8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. | Registration and breakfast |
| 8:31 a.m. - 8:55 a.m. | Welcome |
| 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. | Plenary - Environmental Sustainability |
| Dr. Shegufa Shetranjiwalla-Merchant - Assistant Professor, School of Science and the Environment, Grenfell Campus | |
| Jamie Jackman - Program Coordinator, Community Connections & Education, Pye Centre for Northern Boreal Food Systems, Labrador Campus | |
| Dr. Katleen Robert - Associate Professor, School of Ocean Technology, Marine Institute | |
| 10:05 a.m. - 11:05 a.m. | CONCURRENT SESSION A |
| Session 1 | Institutional Capacity for Equitable and Sustainable Systems Change (Presentation) |
| Julie-Christine Cotton - Co-Constructing Inclusive Research Environments: A Practical Tool for Accessible and Sustainable Research Teams | |
| Jessica Canning & Josheil Boparai (Virtual) - Sustaining Equity: How Student-Led Curriculum Innovation Creates Long-Term Institutional Capacity for Inclusive Medical Training | |
| Session 2 | Community Building for Climate Justice and Belonging (Workshop) |
| Didan Wedderburn - Third Places for Climate Justice and Belonging: Strengthening Migration Resilience Through Inclusive Community Spaces | |
| Session 3 | Sustainable Policy and Practice for Just Societies (Presentation) |
| Sherri Christian, Valerie Booth, Mark D. Berry - Improving Equitable Hiring to Increase Diversity | |
| Hilding Neilson - Outer Space is Part of the Land: Moving Towards a More Sustainable Space Future Through Indigenous Methods | |
| 11:10 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. | Lunch |
| 12:15 p.m. - 12:45 a.m. | Toby Rowe & Nikhilesh Paliath - Student Driven System Change for an Environmentally Sustainable Campus, Sustainability and Climate Action Office, Memorial University |
| 12:50 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. | CONCURRENT SESSION B |
| Session 4 | Ethical Research at the Intersection of EDI-AR and Environmental Sustainability (Presentation) |
| Kassandra Drodge & Jude Benoit - Telling the Transition: Weaving Data and Stories for Climate Resilience | |
| Mina Nazarian Samani - Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Equitable Environmental Sustainability | |
| Amin Etminan - Reframing Intelligence in Engineering Education: Ethical Implications for Equity, Collective Problem-Solving, and Sustainability | |
| Session 5 | Community Building for Climate Justice and Belonging (Presentation) |
| Amber Bishop (Virtual) - Arrival to the Classroom: Breaking Down Systemic Policy Issues for internationally Trained Educators Amidst a Teacher Shortage Crisis | |
| Andrina Cockerham - Sounding Climate Care: Music, Protest, and Belonging in St. John's Climate Movements | |
| Karen Mighty - Building Equitable and Sustainable Communities Through Equity and Cultural Humility | |
| 2:05 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. | Nutrition break |
| 2:35 p.m. - 3:20 p.m. | CONCURRENT SESSION C |
| Session 6 | Sustainability Education and Climate Justice Training (Workshop) |
| Kira Whittaker - Climate Action Planning | |
| Session 7 | Institutional Capacity for Equitable and Sustainable Systems Change (Presentation) |
| Jeanne Boudreau & Julie-Christine Cotton - EDI in Research: Measures Developed by Canadian Universities | |
| Renee Snook - "I have received a neutral to warm response from both teachers and classmates": Gender-Diverse Individuals' Experiences in the Education Systems | |
| 3:20 p.m. - 3:40 p.m. | Lindsay O' Grady - Day's Reflection |
| 3:41 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | Closing remarks |
Presenter Bios
Julie-Christine Cotton Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in Addiction Services at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the Université de Sherbrooke. Her work focuses on the development and adaptation of practices in sociocultural diverse contexts, drawing on anti-oppressive, trans-affirmative, and neuro-affirmative perspectives. She is interested in the realities of equity-deserving groups, particularly LGBTQ+ individuals and neurodivergent people, as well as in how care, services, and institutional practices can better align with their strengths and needs. Drawing on both her research and experiential knowledge as a queer and neurodivergent person, her recent work examines EDI-related tools and resources in Canadian universities, with a particular focus on the accessibility of those tools and resources in research teams and environments.
Jessica Canning & Josheil Boparai are third-year medical students at Memorial University and co-founders of Beyond the Surface, a student-led EDI initiative that publishes monthly newsletters highlighting gaps in medical education surrounding diversity, representation, and health equity. They created Beyond the Surface because they believe that compassionate, equitable healthcare begins with knowledge and the humility to ask whose stories are missing. Throughout their training, they saw how "typical" cases and images in lectures reflected narrow, Eurocentric frameworks of health and disease.
Didan Ashanta Wedderburn is a Cross-Cultural Reinvention Strategist, Certified Resilience Coach, and Social Integration Consultant whose work focuses on belonging, migration resilience, and community-based inclusion. She is the founder of Resilient Foreigner, an initiative that supports foreign professionals navigating identity shifts, career transitions, and social integration. Her work explores how “third places,” informal and inclusive community spaces, can strengthen social cohesion, mental well-being, and equitable participation, particularly for migrants and underrepresented groups.
Sherri Christian, Valerie Booth & Mark D. Berry are all full professors in the Department of Human Biosciences at Memorial University of Newfoundland and were co-lead authors on a peer-reviewed manuscript describing the Departments incorporation of redaction in to faculty hiring procedures as a way to address historic inequalities in faculty recruitment. Dr. Berry is classically trained pharmacologist, hailing from the UK, who joined MUN in 2014, and has served as Head of Department ever since. Both Drs. Booth and Christian’s backgrounds are in biophysics and cell biology respectively, and both initially joined MUN as post-doctoral research associates before securing faculty positions in what is now the Department of Human Biosciences. Drs. Booth and Christian are major driving forces in the establishment and on-going operation of a dedicated Department EDI committee.
Hilding Neilson is an astronomer, and an assistant professor in the Department of Physics & Physical Oceanography at Memorial University. His research focused on the physics of stars and exoplanets, how stars live and die, the search for extraterrestrial life in the Galaxy, and the ethics of space exploration. Dr. Neilson is Mi’kmaw and Settler from Ktaqmkuk and works to build to weave western astronomy and Indigenous knowledges and methodologies to better understand astronomy and the night sky and how to explore the Universe more ethically.
Toby Rowe has been Sustainability Coordinator at Memorial University since the inception of the Sustainability and Climate Action Office in 2007. Prior to coming to Memorial, she worked for over 10 years in the fields of environmental education and habitat conservation, primarily with non-governmental organizations, in British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia. Toby grew up in St. John’s, then attended Queen’s University in Kingston and Concordia University in Montreal. She has a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Graduate Diploma in Ecotoxicology.
Nikhilesh Paliath is an Environmental Professional with 9 years of experience in waste management and recycling projects. He holds a masters degree in Applied Science from Memorial University and undergraduate Engineering degree from National Institute of Technology Calicut, India. He believes in community centered initiatives to sustainability. He’s founding Director for Community Composting Cooperative NL and founding mentor for Green Army – a youth volunteer network in Trivandrum, India. He was member of Sustainability Advisory Committee for Canada Games 2025 and represented youth volunteers of BreakFreeFromPlastic movement at United Nation negotiations on Global Plastic Treaty – INC4 Ottawa in 2024. He’s member of Social Justice Cooperative and led a brand audit and study on household plastics in St John’s in 2020-21. Outside his professional work, he has served on the board of Directors for Friends of Indian Association NL, Newfoundland & Labrador Malayalee Association and Big Steppers NL.
Kassandra Drodge is a researcher and community strategist with a diverse educational background from Memorial University and the University of Ottawa. With a focus on sustainable community building and social justice, they have contributed to projects that emphasize data-driven decision-making and innovative strategies for resource management. Their work spans the intersection of policy development, economic diversification, and environmental conservation, ensuring that community voices are central to any project. As a founding member of The Mixed Coast collective, they lead efforts in conducting environmental assessments and developing renewable energy solutions across Newfoundland.
Jude Benoit is a Two-Spirit Mi'kmaq environmentalist from Ktaqmkuk Newfoundland, with family and community ties to both Miawpukek First Nation and Qalipu First Nation. Originally from a coastal fishing family, Jude’s advocacy, research, art, have revolved around protecting marine life, exploring environmental racism, and indigenous sovereignty in renewable energy development. Using a two-eyed seeing approach, Jude’s work explores the intersections of culture, environment, and gender that affect Indigenous youth participation in environmental policy and clean energy.
Mina Nazarian Samani is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her research focuses on sustainable energy harvesting and self-powered sensing technologies, particularly triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) for environmental and ocean-related applications. Her work aims to develop low-cost, environmentally friendly solutions that improve access to energy and support equitable and sustainable technologies.
Amin Etminan is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), Canada. He obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the MUN. His research interests are in computational fluid dynamics, heat transfer enhancement, thermofluid, and energy systems. He is currently working on the application of hybrid renewable energy systems in electricity and hydrogen productions, complex fluid flow, and heat transfer enhancement.
Andrina Cockerham is a graduate student in Ethnomusicology at Memorial University. Her research focuses on environmental protests in St. John’s, exploring how music, movement, and sound bring people together to create spaces of solidarity where communities can process climate anxiety and eco-grief. Her presentation examines how participation in environmental protests can itself be understood as a form of environmental sustainability - fostering group participation, strengthening community engagement, and supporting collective responses to climate anxiety.
Amber Bishop is an PhD candidate in Educational Leadership at Western University, where her research examines the systemic barriers faced by internationally trained and racialized educators seeking certification for the education profession in Canada. She currently serves as Special Advisor to the Advocate – Diversity and Social Belonging with the Office of the New Brunswick Advocate, supporting efforts to strengthen equity, sustainability, and human capital development within the communities of children, youth and vulnerable adults.
Karen Mighty has 20+ years of tenure in Ontario’s Social Service systems working with diverse staff teams and leadership teams growing and learning in commitment towards Ally ship. These experiences have shaped her leadership and strengthened her commitment to equity. As Director of DEI at The George Hull Centre for Children and Families, Karen is honored to serve by equipping others with tools that foster awareness and inclusion. She believes that courageous conversations help to create a culture of belonging where everyone feels seen, heard, and respected--"Inclusion begins when we choose courage and connection."
Kira Whittaker is the Engagement Coordinator for the Climate Collective project, run through the Memorial University Botanical Garden and Geo Centre. Kira has a B.Sc. Hons. from Memorial University, with a strong background in – and passion for – environmental education and public engagement. The Climate Collective is a youth-focused climate solution network that aims to connect youth in Newfoundland and Labrador, and youth in Arctic regions, to networking and opportunities to engage in climate action and adaptation.
Jeanne Boudreau is a candidate for a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a specialization in Human Resources Management at the Université de Sherbrooke. Her interest in equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) began in college, where she conducted research on the evolution of women’s career trajectories. When selecting her first internship at the start of her bachelor’s degree, she naturally gravitated toward a project aligned with her interests, focusing on EDI initiatives and measures across Canadian universities, and more specifically on how these are reflected in research processes and research teams.
Renee Snook will be graduating in May with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) with a double major in English and psychology. This EDI-AR presentation is an adapted version of their psychology honours thesis completed in April 2025. Renee has a passion for research and equity, and will be starting a Master of Arts in Women and Gender Studies in Fall 2026.