Student Researchers

Dr. Barry is always looking for excellent students who share her passion for critical examination of collaborative, cross-cultural, and inter-governmental planning. She is particularly interesting in working with students who are interested in exploring Indigenous peoples’ experiences of urban and regional planning and who are raising questions about the possibilities decolonization and reconciliation. She is also excited to work with students who want to do theoretically grounded work on questions related to community engagement and the changing role of the planner.

A sample of her current and former students is provided below.

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Current Students

(under construction)

Joelle McNeil is currently pursuing a PhD in Planning from the University of Waterloo. Joelle holds a BA in Sociology from McGill University, an MA in Sociology from McMaster University, and an MPl from Ryerson University. Her PhD dissertation will explore the relationships between planning consultants and the Indigenous communities that hire them to support a variety of planning needs. Specifically, the research will examine how these relationships navigate the parallel traditions of mainstream and Indigenous planning.

 

Former Students

(under construction)

Lise Gibbons holds a Master’s of City Planning from the University of Manitoba, graduating in 2016. Her thesis explored community land trusts as an affordable homeownership option for Indigenous people living in urban centres. She now works as a project coordinator at Boulevard Group Development Co. Ltd. in Abbotsford, BC.

Alex Hallbom holds a Master’s of City Planning from the University of Manitoba, graduating in 2019. His capstone project explored First Nation-municipal intergovernmental relations arising out of planning and servicing TLE settlement lands. He now works as Land Use Planning Coordinator at Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, a First Nation in Yukon Territory.

Jeff Hanson holds a Master’s of City Planning from the University of Manitoba, graduating in 2018. His thesis used collaborative planning theory to explore the development of skateparks in the Calgary. After graduation, he worked as the Skatepark Master Planning Initiative Lead at van der Zalm + Associates, one of the firms he consulted during his research. He continues to work in the planning field, sub-contracting for various consulting firms.

Rakvinder Hayer holds a Master’s of City Planning from the University of Manitoba, graduating in 2015. His thesis was a case study of collaborative placemaking with new immigrant communities. He now works as a Planner for the City of Winnipeg.

Madeleine Koch holds a Master’s of City Planning from the University of Manitoba, graduating in 2016. Her thesis explored the planning relationships between First Nations and local governments in Manitoba, and the degree to which planning practice upholds treaty principles and modern reconciliation frameworks. In 2016, she was one of two winners of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning’s “Donald Schon Award for Excellence in Learning from Practice”. She now works as a planner at the City of Nanaimo.

Conor Smith holds a Master's of City Planning from the University of Manitba, graduating in October of 2018. His thesis, titled Toward a New Conversation: Agonism and the Emancipatory Limits of Planning Practice, seeks to explore the role of politics in planning practice in an effort to reimagine planning ethics along the lines of agonistic pluralism. To inform his research, Conor conducted a discourse analysis on interview data collected from practicing planners in the city of Winnipeg. He now works as an Associate Planner at Narratives Inc.

Sonikile Tembo holds a Master’s of City Planning from the University of Manitoba, graduating in 2018. Her thesis analyzed reconciliation through the long range planning documents of Canada's big cities. She now works as a Community Planner at City of Brandon, MB.