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Researchers

Faculty

Todd Coleman

Todd Coleman is a co-director of SIHE. He has a PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and is an assistant professor in Health Sciences at Laurier. He has worked on local and national community-based research projects with the LGBTQ+ community.

Research Assistants 

Kirstie Taylor

Kirstie Taylor is the lab coordinator for SIHE. She is a graduate of the MA program Community Psychology at Laurier. She has experience in both qualitative and quantitative research that focuses on the inclusion and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people.

Steve Bigioni

Steve Bigioni is a second year master's student in Community Psychology. His research interests include housing and homelessness and LGBTQ refugees and settlement in Canada. 

Doctoral Students 

Lauren Munro

Lauren Munro is a PhD candidate in the Community Psychology program at Wilfrid Laurier University whose personal and professional life is driven by a commitment to social justice. She is an artist and writer who strongly believes in the importance of integrating academia and grassroots activism to create projects that push boundaries and challenge the status quo. Beyond her work on LGBTQ2S+ health, Lauren is a passionate educator and researcher who has collaborated on various projects, cutting across a range of disciplines including Fat Studies, Mad Studies, Disability Studies, and Critical Psychology.

Katie Cook 

Katie Cook is a PhD candidate in Wilfrid Laurier University’s Community Psychology program. Katie’s work looks at how marginalized—e.g. disabled, racialized, fat, queer—bodies are constructed and othered in various social contexts. Currently, Katie’s research is focused on using narrative and arts-based methods to understand the intergenerational effects of weight stigma. Katie is a queer, fat activist who resides in Kitchener, Ontario with their cat Zoey.

Master's Students 

Emily Schmid

Emily Schmid is a second-year MA student in Community Psychology. Her research focuses on the employment experiences of transgender people in Waterloo Region.  

Drew Burchell

Drew Burchell is a second-year Master's student in the Community Psychology program at Laurier. Drew is an advocate in the LGBTQ+ community and does research with and for this community. Their master's thesis focuses on healthcare experiences of non-binary individuals.

Daniel Thompson-Blum

Daniel Thompson-Blum is a first-year MA student in Community Psychology. His research interests include transgender access to healthcare, particularly in the realm of emergency departments.

Samson Tse

Samson Tse is a MA Community Psychology student in the Social Inclusion and Health Equity Research Group. His research interests include looking at health and social inequities at the population and community level. 

Contact Us:

Robb Travers, Research Group Co-Director

E: rtravers@wlu.ca

Todd Coleman, Research Group Co-Director

E: tcoleman@wlu.ca