Welcome to the Department of Political Science. I am the new Department Chair and excited to take on this role. I joined UTM in 2012 as an assistant professor of Political Science and Geography. Today I am an associate professor shared between the two departments. My area of research is wildlife conservation policy, Canada-US transboundary environmental policy, and natural resource (oil/fracking) policy. My teaching is joint between Political Science and Geography. I currently teach an online environmental policy course (JPE251) and a senior research paper seminar (POL401Y).

Our department has 1,143 students, 16 tenure stream faculty, 12 sessional and adjunct faculty, and 4 staff members as well as dozens of teaching assistants. We offer courses across the discipline from International Relations to Political Theory to Canadian Politics. As Chair, I hope to expand our offerings in experiential learning, grow the faculty compliment in comparative politics and urban politics, work closely with student clubs to host engaging events and speakers, and strengthen our curriculum with a commitment to diversity.

Since you are already on our department website, I encourage you take a look around! Check out our new faculty, like Martha Balaguera who studies grassroots and collective action in Mexico. Or our more senior faculty, like Steven Bernstein who researches climate change and global governance. Peruse our course catalogue. Check out the student club PSLA and their website. And, finally, feel free to follow us on Twitter at @UTM_POL and stay up-to-date with our news and events.