Christoper Ennew
Chef Christopher was born and raised in the east end of Toronto and describes his personal focus on the importance of local, fresh and quality food. With a career spanning 30 years, he is an entrepreneur and executive chef serving Canada’s largest destination spa, and restaurants throughout Peterborough and Northumberland County. He also believes in giving back to the community through his involvement with Farms at Work, Sustainable Trent, Trent Food Advisory and more he is currently working with local Chefs in the Peterborough area to revive the Kawartha Culinary Association educating chefs and bringing buying power to the area by working with local farmers. Currently, he is the executive Chef at The Trend, Traill College.
Christopher teaches the workshops Cooking with Chef Christopher: How to Create a Charcuterie Board, Create Appealing Appetizers, Delicious Desserts.
Rosemary Ganley
Rosemary is a Peterborough-based writer and activist and received an honorary doctorate from Trent in 2022. She has played leading roles in the international development field, the feminist movement, and in church reform. An educator with experience in three countries, she currently writes a popular weekly column for the Peterborough Examiner and influences public opinion broadly. With her books, Jamaican Journal: The Story of a Grassroots Canadian Aid Organization and Positive Community: Columns from the Peterborough Examiner 2015-2018, Rosemary distills her years of thought and experience, both personal and political, into gems of reflection, affecting readers of all ages and interests as they move into a global vision for the 21st Century.
Rosemary teaches the workshop Feminist Studies: The Bechdel Principle in Action.
Jiniththa Ganeslaningham
Jiniththa was born and raised in Italy and moved to Canada nine years ago. She is currently pursuing a degree in Political Science with a minor International Development and a specialization in Public Policy. She has spent most of her life working with children and has been an Early Childhood Education assistant for many years. In fact, she has worked with the Peel District School Board, the Canadian Tamil Academy and several daycares. She is fluent in three languages: Italian, Tamil, and English. Her interests include reading, swimming, going for long walks, travelling, and most importantly, trying new foods.
Jiniththa teaches the course Italy: Language, Art, and Cuisine.
Valerie Kent
Valerie (BFA, B.Ed., MFA) is a happily working artist, passionate about creating unique artworks. She has facilitated workshops in France, Italy, and Canada for many years. She is experienced in a number of mediums including acrylic, oil, watercolour, and mixed media. She enjoys working with and encouraging experimentation in the workshops and courses she facilitates. Her own work is a combination of plein air and studio work. Valerie has exhibited in groups and solo exhibitions in France, Italy, Canada, Korea, Japan, China, and Amsterdam. Valerie holds a BFA from Concordia University, a Bachelor of Education from University of Toronto, and an MFA from the University of Iowa.
Valerie teaches the painting courses Watercolours for Beginners and Acrylics for Beginners.
Whitney Lake
A keen interest in the natural world, particularly the relationships that exist between all living things drew Whitney to beekeeping. Honeybees are extraordinary creatures and through teaching others Whitney hopes to instill a deeper understanding and appreciation of these amazing creatures. Whitney completed an Honours Bachelor of Science and a Master of Education at Trent University. In 2014, she founded the "Trent Apiary Club" bringing the first beehives to the Trent Peterborough campus, as well as forming a swarm removal business, "Swarm Sisters" with Leslie Boileau. Whitney manages 90 colonies under the name Lake Reflections Apiary and understands the challenges and excitement in taking those first steps towards your own apiary. She is committed to working in partnership to share information, develop good stewardship and sustainable practices in agriculture.
Whitney teaches the course Basics of Beekeeping, including a trip to the bee yard.
Adelle Purdham
Adelle is a writer, speaker, and parent disability advocate. She holds an Honours degree in French Literature and is a certified teacher. She wrote her memoir Here We Are, Happy (in progress) while completing Humber College's Creative Writing by Correspondence Program. Her current book project is a collection of essays through memoir I Don't Do Disability and Other Lies I've Told Myself. Her essays appear in anthologies including Good Mom on Paper (Book*Hug Press). Adelle has published in The Toronto Star, Brevity, Broadview Magazine, and she is a regular contributor to 3.21: Canada's Down Syndrome Magazine. As the founder of The Write Retreat, she facilitates wellness and workshops for women writers to create. Adelle graduates this spring with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction Writing from the University of King's College. Visit her online at adellepurham.ca.
Adelle teaches the workshop The Write Retreat: Creative Nourishment *Writing and Yoga*.
MD Habibur Rahman
Mr. Habib Rahman completed a Master of Managment degree from Trent University in 2022 with distinguished marks. In addition, he has also completed two semesters in Master of Management from Ryerson University, Canada. Before that, he completed an MBA from Jahangirnagar University in Bangladesh, Finance and Banking. He also completed another MBA and a BBA specializing in Marketing. Besides academic credentials, he has substantial industry work experience and university-level teaching experience. He taught MBA and BBA students at ASA University Bangladesh from 2009 to 2014 under the Faculty of Business. In addition, he has taught and trained employees of Domino's Pizza in Canada (multiple stores) since 2014. Moreover, he has published four articles in different journals across the globe. He has been teaching at Trent University since October 2022. Furthermore, he has been teaching at Niagara College Toronto since January 2022. Mr. Rahman has also been performing as a course leader at the same institution. His research interest is Customer Demand, Brand Management, Integrated Marketing Communications, Leadership, HRM, and Market Research.
Habib teaches the course Market Research.
Joe Curry
My real start in financial planning began when I was 15. At the height of the dot.com crash my father, also in the industry, came home from work. He'd just spoken to a client in her mid-70's. She'd called to let him know the great advice he'd given her was allowing her to sleep at night. At an early age I recognized the impact of strong clear advice. I am the co-host of Canada's fastest growing retirement podcast "Your Retirement Planning Simplified" where we offer accessible in-depth retirement planning information. I want to get good financial information to as many people as possible, so they too can sleep soundly at night. But we are also focused on the non-financial aspects of retirement in hopes we can inspire people to have enough purpose to get up in the morning. I'm also the owner and president of Matthews + Associates. We're a leading retirement-focused financial planning company in Peterborough Ontario, Canada. I'm a Certified Financial Planner and a member of the Financial Planning Association of Canada. I've been featured on other top-level financial planning podcasts including "Everyone's Talkin' Money" with Shannah Compton Game, "Your Canadian Retirement Specialist" with Regan Schiller, "What Works Wednesday" with Matt Jarvis, and "Executor Help" with David Edey. I've always believed that true wealth is more than just financial freedom. It's doing the things you love with the people you love and creating future opportunities for the next generation. I keep active by playing hockey and golf and I enjoy travelling, However, I'm most passionate about spending time with my wife Ashley, and our two young sons, Louis and Harry.
Joe teaches the workshop Retire with Confidence: Your Roadmap to Financial Freedom Part 1 and Part 2.
Randall Romaro
Randall has been making photographs for over 45 years, initially in the nature/landscape genre, eventually evolving to run a commercial photography business focused on interior and exterior architectural clients. Since 2015, after closing the business, he focused solely on photographing subjects and projects of personal interest. These consist largely of street and documentary subjects. He has also been active in lecturing about photography, to a wide variety of Ontario camera groups. These presentations sought to stir up and challenge traditional notions of photography, bringing to light the work and importance of master photographers. A recent book publication: Reaching a Higher Level in Photography (2023) has come out of these presentations. I believe the camera's strength is its ability to capture fleeting moments, to stop time and create a sense of curiosity in the viewer. If a still image is to be successful it has to illustrate something missed and something fleeting. Chasing this fleeting moment of uniqueness allows me to better savor life. A father of four children, Randall and his wife Catherine live on a rural property near Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
Randall teaches How to Make Meaningful Photographs
Tom Hurley
Tom Hurley is a Peterborough author and educator with a lifelong interest in language and literature. His career includes extensive interviewing and magazine writing, plus a decade of in-house technical writing, editing, and training program development. Tom has led workshops and delivered courses in English as a second language for the University of Toronto. In recent years he has volunteered as an ESL tutor at Traill College. Tom is the author of the recently published non-fiction book, Interrogoshpere: The Power and Plight of Questions in a Highly Questionable World - a guided tour of the interrogative mood from 17 points of view. When not peddling around town on his red bicycle, he can be spotted demonstrating bad paddling technique on Little Lake.
Tom teaches Change your Questions, Change your Life: A How-to Workshops on Asking the Right Questions at the Right Time
Eric Samtleben
Eric is a M. Sc candidate in Health Psychology at Trent University. Prior to being a student, he was an elite amateur hockey player pursuing a professional career. After an identity crisis he decided to hang up his skates and reinvent himself. He is now a researcher who examines the psychological factors impacting health behaviours - specifically exercise adherence and performance - to determine how exercise can be used as a vehicle for self-development. He hopes his work can be used to inform exercise-based interventions for a wide range of populations including but not limited to adults, youth, at risk individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders etc. Outside his research, Eric is an avid runner and a member of the Trent Varsity cross country team. He also loves spending time with his family which currently includes his fiancé and a German Shepherd.
Eric teaches Self-Regulation, Self-Actualization, and Well-Being.
David Goyette
David is a guitarist, songwriter, producer, and a frequent donor in support of the local arts community. He is the former Director of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He is the founder of the Toronto Beatles Celebration, the only Beatles event to have been supported by Sir Paul McCartney. He is also the founder and former artistic director of the Orillia Beatles Celebration. His two Beatles-inspired CD's of original music have earned the praise of musicians such as Ronnie Hawkins, Paul Schaffer from the David Letterman show and Beatles producer Sir George Martin. This work has been archived in the National Library of Canada. David has performed as a guitarist at the Band of Brothers jam sessions and with the Peterborough Singers, His "Electric Blues for the Electric City" CD features his acclaimed solo blues guitar work. Both the main stage and the green room at Showplace Performance Centre in Peterborough are named in his honour. He was inducted into the Peterborough Pathway of Fame in 2021 and was named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International in 2023.
David teaches the 8-week course Guitar School for Beginners.
Cara Jordan
Cara has a PhD in Classics from the University of Toronto where she served as a teaching assistant for over six years. While currently working as an academic editor for an online company, she also teaching woodburning and basketmaking workshops at the Art School of Peterborough, The Canadian Canoe Museum, and A Gift of Art in Newcastle. She is not a Trent graduate however she has worked with a number of Trent ESL students to help them improve their writing and language skills as well as their artistic abilities.
Cara teaches the workshops Drawing Animal Portraits and Coiled Basketry and the Introductory Latin course.
Mike Perry
A lawyer and social worker by profession, Mike Perry is a veteran of many campaigns including working locally for the basic income pilot project, creating a peoples’ economy, and fixing long-term care. Mike is an alumnus of the Public Leadership program at Harvard and is completing his Ph.D. in Canadian Studies at Trent. This workshop is based on the Ganz model from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Mike teaches the Storytelling as Leadership for Change workshops.
Francois Roy
François Roy graduated with an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Toronto in 2008 and also holds an Honours BA degree in Modern European and Military history from the University of Alberta. A true all-history expert, he brings a deep background in classical and modern European history and has an encyclopedic knowledge of great events through the march of time. François has excavated in Campania, Italy at the 6th Century BCE site of Roccagloriosa, near the ancient site of Buxentum (600 BCE to 200 BCE), and at the 25th Dynasty site of South Asasif, west bank Luxor, Egypt in 2015. He has lectured at the Life Institute (Ryerson), and Near Eastern Studies U of T colloquiums and at select schools and museums across North America.
Francois teaches the course Wonders of Egypt: The Great Tombs, Temples and Towns of the Pharaohs and the Ancient Egyptian Weekend workshops with Laura Ranieri.
Megan Heft
Megan Heft is an avid birder and ornithologist who loves all things birds. She has her BSc. in Biology (Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI) where she completed her undergraduate thesis on stress physiology in nestling tree swallows. The focus of her current research is the consequences of human activity on birds, with a focus on the effects on their reproduction and survival. In her free time, she enjoys birding, falconry, and spending time in the outdoors.
Megan teaches the workshop Songbirds of Spring: Birdwatching Basics.
Laura Ranieri
Laura Ranieri is an Egyptologist (MA University of Toronto), writer and founder of Ancientegyptalive.com. A passionate and dynamic speaker, she has taught, written, and presented on ancient Egypt subjects across North America. She has also developed and led unique tours to Egypt and North American Museums. Laura has excavated in Egypt at Amarna and South Asasif and in Bulgaria at a classical Greek site. She is passionate about storytelling and bringing the fascinating history of Ancient Egypt Alive to the general public. Visit www.ancientegyptalive.com for more.