Student members

Zoya Abbasi is a PhD candidate in Applied Mathematics at the University of Waterloo. Her research focuses on the control and eradication of epidemic diseases using multi-agent systems and complex network theory, with particular emphasis on multilayer models that integrate human mobility, waterborne transmission, and resource constraints. She develops distributed protocols to enable coordinated, time-critical public-health interventions in heterogeneous urban–environmental networks.

Joe Battikh is a senior sustainability expert with over sixteen years of international experience in the private sector. He has a strong interest in developing corporate sustainability through economic, environmental and social development.

Christina Comeau is a PhD candidate in Social and Ecological Sustainability working under the supervision of Dr. Vanessa Schweiwer and Dr. Dan McCarthy.  She is working on trans disciplinary application of complexity science to designing and governing interventions in social and environmental systems that lead to a just and sustainable future.

Clayton Dasilva is currently a PhD student in global governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, University of Waterloo, having also obtained his Master of Arts there in 2012.

Julia Goyal is pursuing a Joint Interdisciplinary PhD at the University of Waterloo between the School of Public Health and Health Systems and Department of Mechatronics and Mechanical Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Ellen MacEachen and Dr. Arash Arami respectively.

Yashine H. Goolam Hossen is a researcher working at the intersection of quantum-inspired modeling, cognitive science, artificial life, and complex systems. His work explores how memory, decision-making, and adaptive behavior can emerge from dynamical systems, including quantum-like models, evolving automata, and biologically inspired computation. He is especially interested in using simulations to connect abstract physical principles with cognition, learning, and artificial life.

Margo Henning is a candidate for a Master of Climate Change at the University of Waterloo. She holds a BA in General Studies, and Post-Baccalaureates in Community Economic Development, Business Administration, and Education. 

Fatemeh Jahanmiri is currently completing her PhD in urban planning at the University of Waterloo under the supervision of Dr. Dawn Parker. Given her background in architecture and her interest in nature-inspired design, she followed her research in the field of complexity exploring the origin of fractal patterns in cities.

Ryan Johnson is a PhD candidate in the Sustainability Management program with the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development. His research explores sustainability transitions and transformations by investigating the development of sustainability reporting frameworks for agriculture, including the specific metrics they include, and their underlying paradigms and philosophies. Curiosity and eclecticism have also inspired Ryan to undertake transdisciplinary research and consulting work in a diversity of other areas, including economic and community development, climate change mitigation and adaption, and nature-based solutions planning.

Jim Jones, PhD Candidate, Social and Ecological Sustainability

The role of narratives in transitions towards sustainability through a social-ecological systems lens; the role of narrative as a tool to understand and work with complexity and 'wicked problems'. The tensions that arise at different spatial and temporal scales in the nexus of land, energy, technology, food and culture. 

Ecological economics, systems thinking and complexity, participatory governance, food systems, sustainability transitions, participatory narrative inquiry, soft systems, complexity intervention

John Lang is currently completing a PhD in applied mathematics at the University of Waterloo under the supervision of Dr. Hans De Sterck. His work entails studying how mathematical modelling of human interaction and decision making over social networks might provide insight into the development and evolution of social movements like the Arab Spring.

Nicholas Palaschuk is a PhD Candidate in the Sustainability Management program at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Nicholas works in the fields of corporate sustainability, environmental behaviour, and sustainability transitions. Nicholas holds both a BSc. in Biology (2015) and MSc.

Alex Petric is a PhD Candidate in Urban Planning at the University of Waterloo, working under the supervision of Dr. Dawn Parker. His previous work includes master’s degrees in Rural Planning & Development (2019) and Applied Mathematics (2016). Prior to his Ph.D. studies, Alex worked in rural research, data analysis, and consultancy positions.

Alex’s research explores how urban environments affect social capital, which refers to the density and quality of social connections and the benefits that flow from them. His studies focus on missing middle housing (higher-density low-rise developments) and their potential community benefits. Alex's work uses agent-based modelling alongside in-field research to study how housing type, housing mix, and social infrastructure affect social capital formation, with an aim to help planning practice to support social capital formation and reduce social isolation among urban residents. Alongside this research, Alex has worked as a Research Assistant for the SSHRC-funded study “Why did the Missing Middle miss the train?” and was part of a team that reached the national semi-finals for the 2022 Map the System competition.

Taylor Roth is an MASc candidate in Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, working under the supervision of Dr. Luis Ricardez-Sandova whose research focuses on using various optimization techniques and computational modelling to improve the sustainability and efficiency of complex chemical engineering systems through process intensification.

Perin Ruttonsha is completing a PhD with the University of Waterloo’s School of Environment, Resources, and Sustainability (SERS), whereby she delineates a regenerative sustainability paradigm as one of balancing among multilayered, social-ecological systems complexities, from local to planetary scales.

Shahab Valaei Sharif is a current Ph.D. student in Urban Planning at the University of Waterloo under the supervision of Dr. Dawn Parker. He holds a master’s degree in Civil Engineering with a major in Construction Engineering and Management from the Sharif University of Technology (2021). He is interested in interdisciplinary research in areas such as land and housing markets, urban infrastructure systems, and healthy cities.

In his previous research projects, he has used simulation and modelling techniques to develop policy analysis tools evaluating the effectiveness of community response and mitigation policies in the face of crises, such as natural disasters and pandemics. His current research mainly focuses on the application of system thinking techniques to solve longer-term urban problems with the final goal of increasing the resilience of cities.

Natalya Siddhantakar is a PhD Candidate in Sustainability Management at the School of Environment, Enterprise, and Development, working under the supervision of Dr. Vanessa Schweizer. Her research interests include just and equitable transition to sustainable low-carbon economic practices, systems thinking, sustainability accounting, and cross-impact balances (CIB) analysis.

Kwaku Owusu Twum is a sustainability management PhD candidate with almost a decade of multidisciplinary research experience at the intersection of digital innovation, spatial planning, climate resilience, and sustainable food systems.

Emily Voigt is a Master’s student in Sustainability Management working under the supervision of Dr. Simron Singh and Dr. Kumaraswamy Ponnambalam.