Geoff Bardwell

I am an Assistant Professor and the Director of Drug Lab at the School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo. My research is situated in the field of drug policy with a focus on community drug strategies and related public health interventions. Most of my research takes place within smaller urban, rural, remote, Northern, and Indigenous communities. I am a social scientist with training and expertise in qualitative, mixed methods, and community-based research. While some of my research examines harms associated with drug use (e.g., blood-borne infections, overdose), I am equally interested in pleasure, euphoria, and the general culture of drug use. Public health tends to overwhelmingly focus on the negative aspects of drug use and my research and pedagogy offers a critique of this and explores alternative perspectives and experiences, including the benefits of drugs.

I enjoy working in collaboration across disciplines and will a diversity of community partners to more comprehensively understand and shape policy and practice. In addition to my research, I have many years of direct service and policy experience working in the substance use and addictions, housing and homelessness, and HIV/AIDS sectors. These experiences provided me with valuable insights into the daily lives of people who use drugs and inspired me to pursue a career in drug policy research.

Graduate supervision and student opportunities

• Drug use
• Rural health
• Research design
• Epistemology
• Qualitative methodologies
• Knowledge mobilization