With parliament set to resume next week, Western University experts are available to provide insight on policy areas of significance including AI regulation, Bill C-18, climate change and sustainability, cyber security, immigration and social inequality, planning and development, public opinion and foreign interference.
Artificial Intelligence and Regulation
Cristián Bravo
Associate Professor, Statistical and Actuarial Sciences; Canada Research Chair in Banking and Insurance Analytics
Areas of expertise: AI regulation in financial and credit markets, financial technology (fintech), AI and data science, banking and financial institutions.
Luke Stark
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information and Media Studies
Areas of expertise: Historical, social, and ethical impacts of computing and artificial intelligence technologies, particularly those mediating social and emotional expression.
Bill C-18
Kaitlynn Mendes
Associate Professor, Sociology, Canada Research Chair in Inequality and Gender
Areas of expertise: Impact of C-18 on journalism, social media and its uses, social media and online harms.
Anabel Quan-Haase
Professor, Faculty of Information and Media Studies
Areas of expertise: Tech companies and their responses to Bill C-18, internet studies, social media, scholarly digital communication and computer-mediated communication.
Climate Change and Sustainability
Tima Bansal
Professor, General Management, Sustainability & Strategy, Ivey School of Business
Areas of expertise: Clean economy, business sustainability, business strategy and sustainability, sustainable development, international business.
Katrina Moser
Associate Professor and Chair, Geography and Environment
Areas of expertise: Impact of climate change in Canada, role of climate change and extreme weather events, climate warming impact on water resources, environmental change in the Canadian Rockies.
Cyber Security
Aleksander Essex
Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Areas of expertise: Cyber security threats and mitigation, information and data privacy; director Whisper Lab, the Western Information Security and Privacy Research Laboratory.
Immigration and Social Inequality
Kate Choi
Associate Professor, Sociology; Director, Centre for Research on Social Inequality
Areas of expertise: Immigrant and refugee health, inequality, immigration, family life, population changes, racial and socioeconomic disparities.
Vicki Esses
Professor, Psychology; Director, Centre for Research on Migration and Ethnic Relations
Areas of expertise: Welcoming communities and immigration, migration and irregular border crossings, refugee flows, immigration and cultural diversity, ethnic relations.
Planning and Development
Godwin Arku
Professor, Geography & Environment
Areas of expertise: Urban systems and planning, economic development policy, immigrant integration, transformation of urban systems in a changing global environment.
Alexander Wray
PhD Candidate, Geography & Environment
Areas of expertise: Public transportation and transportation planning, development and urban planning; project coordinator, ParkSeek Canada, Human Environments Analysis Lab.
Public Opinion
Evelyne Brie
Assistant Professor, Political Science
Areas of expertise: Voter attitudes and public opinion, electoral behaviour and statistical methods, female voter turnout from historical data, regional identity in explaining political divides. Speaks French.
Laura Stephenson
Professor, Political Science
Areas of expertise: Foreign interference, political behaviour, shift in the dimensions of political debate, voter attitudes and public opinion, electoral engagement with politics.
MEDIA CONTACT: Justin Zadorsky, Media Relations Officer, Western University, 226.377.1673 (mobile), jzadorsk@uwo.ca.
