Dr. Wendy Fletcher
Centre Director and Research Associate
Dr. Wendy Fletcher is Director of the Centre for Interreligious Spirituality and Wisdom Practices at Renison University College, University of Waterloo, and Professor of Religious Studies and History. A scholar, educator, university leader, and artist, she previously served as President and Vice-Chancellor of Renison University College (2014–2024) and was made President Emerita from 2026.
Prior to her work at Renison, Wendy held senior academic leadership positions at the Vancouver School of Theology, UBC (2000-2014) and worked as Professor at Huron University (1990-2000). Her research explores the intersections of religion, culture, race, gender, leadership, social change, and healing, with particular attention to the history of race and racism in Canada, Indigenous-settler relations, reconciliation, and the role of spirituality in personal and communal wellbeing.
Her current research includes exploration of the role of higher education in the hate pipeline and the role of agonistic plurality as a necessary element of its interruption, as well as the emerging impacts of populism as a pseudo-religious discourse- a mode of engagement which actively limits societal thriving, as it undermines functional democracy and populates public discourse with new moral vocabularies of hate. As well, based on research earlier in her career, Wendy continues to explore the role of gender in healing practice and community empowerment.
Widely published and internationally recognized, Dr. Fletcher is co-author of A Space for Race: Decoding Racism, Multiculturalism and Post-Colonialism in the Quest for Belonging in Canada and Beyond and has contributed extensively to scholarship on religion, social transformation, women’s leadership, colonialism, and peacebuilding. Her work has taken her to more than forty countries as a speaker, researcher, and educational leader. Alongside her academic work, she is an exhibiting artist whose creative practice explores trauma, healing, spirituality, and intercultural understanding.
Dr. Eric H. Andrianasolo
Research Associate
Dr. Eric H. Andrianasolo is a medicinal chemist and chemical engineer specializing in natural products chemistry, marine biotechnology, and drug discovery. He holds a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from Oregon State University, where he studied bioactive compounds from Madagascar marine algae and cyanobacteria, as well as advanced degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar.
With over 20 years of academic and industrial research experience, Dr. Andrianasolo has worked extensively on the isolation and characterization of bioactive compounds from marine and terrestrial organisms, contributing to the development of anticancer agents and securing multiple U.S. and international patents. His research has been published widely in peer-reviewed journals, and he serves as a reviewer for Marine Drugs and the Journal of Natural Products.
Currently a Research Associate at Centre for Interreligious Spirituality and Wisdom Practices, Renison University College at the University of Waterloo, Dr. Andrianasolo draws on historic and current folk wisdom in relation to plants used in Madagascar for medicinal and agricultural practices toward finding their chemical composition in relation to current science. Drawing on plants from Madagascar, he collaborates on finding bioactive molecules that act as anticancer, antimicrobial or antiviral which can be developed as lead pharmaceuticals in the future, as well as those which add to planetary wellbeing in addressing agricultural and industrial needs. Throughout his career, he has combined expertise in chemistry, biotechnology, and industrial process development, while mentoring students internationally and advancing innovation in natural product research.
Dr. Alanaise Ferguson
Research Associate
Dr. Ferguson is an Associate Professor at UBCO. She is an Indigenous scientist-practitioner and educator in Counselling Psychology. Her work aims to decolonize mental health practices by addressing serious manifestations of colonial violence such as gangs and gender-based violence. As one of very few Indigenous Registered Psychologists in British Columbia, she maintains active service within several Indigenous communities.
Her early accomplishments in creating educational opportunities in Indigenous psychology emerged in part from her work redeveloping the First Nations and Aboriginal Counselling Program at Brandon University, and writing curriculum for the Justice Institute of BC and the University of British Columbia. Bridging psychology and Indigenous studies while prioritizing the mental health needs identified by Indigenous communities requires the scholarship of an experienced practitioner with vision in the academy. As a serious scholar-practitioner, she produces work considered meaningful to psychological practice in the areas of identity reclamation, collective healing and restitution from damaging colonial processes, including Indian residential schools. Her work attracted the attention of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, where she served as advisory for child and youth mental health, 2009-2012.
Her work engages Indigenous language in the practice of family and group counselling. This research contributes changes to counselling practices and with Indigenous language revitalization, creating intersectional knowledge not currently produced in either field. Toward these research goals, Dr. Ferguson utilizes a variety of research methodologies: qualitative, mixed-methods, community-engaged, and decolonizing practice. She engages applied research in First Nations Metis and Inuit (FNMI) mental health, healing, and wellbeing, including oral First Nations language documentation and revitalization; intervention evaluation and research in trauma repair and addictions reduction.
Dr. Christopher Stuart Taylor
Research Associate
Christopher Stuart Taylor is the Associate Vice-President of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Anti-Racism (EDI-R) at the University of Waterloo. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of History. He is also the founder and Scientific Director of the University of Waterloo’s Pan-African Initiative for Research (PAIR). He completed his PhD at Western University (Canada) in History and Migration & Ethnic Relations (MER).
His book, Flying Fish in the Great White North: The Autonomous Migration of Black Barbadians, is available from Fernwood Publishing.
He also worked in the Ontario Public Service (OPS) and began his career as a Policy Coordinator Intern in the Deputy Minister's Office at the Ministry of Labour. He was the Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator in the Ministry of the Attorney General's Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility Office; a Senior Policy Advisor at Ontario's Anti-Racism Directorate; and Manager of Social Justice & Change Cluster at the Ontario Correctional Services College.
Dr. Taylor is a proud founding member of the University of Waterloo’s Black Faculty Collective (BFC).
Dr. Arshi Shaikh-Grande
Research Associate
Dr. Arshi Shaikh-Grande is a racialized scholar and an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at Renison University College affiliated with the University of Waterloo, Ontario. During her academic journey, Dr. Shaikh-Grande received SSHRC grants for research projects related to resilience, mental health and supportive housing.
Over the past six years, Dr. Shaikh-Grande changed the direction of her research trajectory with a renewed focus on her ancestral worldview, Tantric spirituality, Goddess traditions, Hindu mythology and cosmologies in Indian subcontinent, inner and outer violence, and healing. Dr. Shaikh-Grande is currently engaged in two research projects titled Inner and Outer Violence, and Healing: A Journey through Remembering, Relocating, Re-existing and Re-cognizing.
Dr. Bonnie Nish
Research Associate
Dr. Bonnie Nish is Executive Director of Word Vancouver and of Pandora’s Collective Outreach Society. She holds a Master of Arts in Education from Simon Fraser University and a PhD in Language and Literacy Education from the University of British Columbia. In addition, she is a Expressive Arts Therapist and serves on the faculty of the Vancouver Expressive Arts Therapy School.
For over two decades, Dr. Nish has facilitated writing and expressive arts workshops across North America, working with diverse populations including youth at Covenant House and the Vancouver Children’s Hospital Eating Disorder Clinic. She has also worked with members of the Parkinson’s Society of BC, and participants at the Brain Wellness Center at UBC.
For ten years, she facilitated monthly writing workshops at Pacifica Rehabilitation Centre, supporting individuals in recovery. Most recently, she has extended her practice to groups and individuals on Vancouver Island who have been impacted by forest fires. Dr. Nish’s research examines how individuals recovering from trauma experience care in relation to healing, with a particular focus on poetic inquiry and life writing. She studied under Dr. Carl Leggo, a leading scholar in the field, and continues to investigate how poetic inquiry can deepen both academic and applied understandings of recovery.
Her publications include Love and Bones (2013), Concussion and Mild TBI: Not Just Another Headline (2016), and Cantata in Two Voices (2018). She is currently developing a new collection of poetry. Dr. Nish resides in Vancouver, British Columbia.