Members

Chair

Tariq Al-Idrissi

Tariq Al-idrissi is the Associate Vice President of IT at Trent University.  In addition to his role at Trent, Tariq is a member of the CUCCIO Cybersecurity Benchmarking Committee and is a member of the Ontario Education Collaborative Marketplace (OECM) Customer Council.  Tariq has served as; a member of the CANARIE CIO Advisory Group, the Chair of the Canadian University Council of Chief Information Officers (CUCCIO), a member of the Compute Canada Cybersecurity Task Force and as Chair of the Ontario University Council of Chief Information Officers (OUCCIO).  In 2019, Tariq was the only Canadian CIO selected to the Educause IT Issues Panel.

Tariq’s career has spanned the last twenty years in higher education.  He holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce Degree and a Master of Science in Management Degree from Lakehead University.   While for the past twenty years, Tariq's experience has been primarily based in IT and educational technologies, he has also taught as a Sessional Lecturer for the Faculty of Business at Lakehead University for over ten years. 

Vice-Chair

Dawn Lavell-Harvard

Dr. Dawn Lavell Harvard, Ph.D., is a proud member of the Wikwemikong First Nation, the first Aboriginal Trudeau Scholar, and has worked to advance the rights of Aboriginal women as the President of the Ontario Native Women's Association for 11 years.

Dawn has recently taken on the role as Director for First Peoples House of Learning at Trent University since October 2016. Dawn was elected President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada at the 41st Annual General Assembly, July 11, 2015 in Montreal, Quebec and was Vice-President for almost 3 years.

Dawn is a full-time mother of three girls. Following in the footsteps of her mother Jeannette Corbiere Lavell, a noted advocate for Indigenous women’s rights, since joining the Board of the Ontario Native Women Association as a youth director back in 1994, Ms. Harvard has been working toward the empowerment of Aboriginal women and their families.  She was co-editor of the original volume on Indigenous Mothering entitled “Until Our Hearts Are on the Ground: Aboriginal Mothering, Oppression, Resistance and Rebirth”, she has also released a book along with Kim Anderson, entitled “Mothers of the Nations”, and she has recently co-edited a book with Jennifer Brant entitled “Forever Loved:  Exposing the Hidden Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada”.

Members

Amina Malik

Amina Malik is an Associate Professor of Human Resource Management in the School of Business at Trent University in Oshawa, Canada. She holds a PhD in HRM from York University, and an MBA from Ryerson University. Her research interests include talent management, cultural minorities’ socialization in the workplace, strategic human resource management, and other emerging issues in human resource management. Her research has been published in journals such as Human Resource Management Review, Human Resource Management, Career Development International, Personnel Review, and European Business Review, among others.

Ashish Tharoor

My name is Ashish Tharoor, a 4th year International student, studying Political studies and Business Administration. I have had the honor to work with the Trent International Students Association (TISA) serving as their president from 2018-2020. I currently sit on the anti-racism task force as the representative of TISA. In addition, I currently serve as the chair of the International Student Council. I believe that this task force is essential to achieving dialogue and data which is key to eradicating systemic racism at Trent. Each and every step taken forward towards a safe and equitable campus cannot be taken lightly. I hope the recommendations we create will progress and further enhance the education system. We must create a system where students, faculty, and staff are heard and recognized. No one should be silenced and we must continue to amplify the voices of each individual throughout our campus.

Danielle Adderley

My name is Danielle Adderley. I’m a student studying Business Administration with a specialization in Economics, and the President and founder of the Trent Association of Black Students Association.  I am currently representing the TCSA on the anti-racism task force. This work is important to me because it is essential that as a university, we take all the necessary steps to combat racism on our campus. We must continue to do the work to become an anti-racist University and ensure each and every student feels safe when pursuing an education at Trent University.

David Firang

Dr. David Firang is Assistant Professor at Dept. of Social Work at Trent University, Ontario, Canada. His research interest is in child welfare, immigrant transnationalism, housing, community development, and social policy issues.  Prior to joining Trent University, Dr. Firang was Assistant Professor (Ltd) at University of Windsor’s School Social Work. At University of Windsor, Dr. Firang was a Curriculum Leader in Social Policy and Community Development courses in the MSW for Working Professionals Program. Dr. Firang also spent several years in community social work practice. He has worked in the field of child welfare in the Adolescent Specialty Team at the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto for more than 13 years - conducting child protection investigations, developing and implementing service plans for children and their families, as well as preparing and attending family court to advocate for the children and families that he worked with. He has also worked at the Access and Equity Division at the City of Toronto assisting immigrant community groups to obtain grants to manage their community programs.

Dr. Firang has received a number of competitive research awards and grants from the likes of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Internal, SSHRC), Theall Research  Grant, and Symons Research Foundation Grant. He has written several journal articles with the popular ones among his publications including Do Black Lives Matter amid COVID 19 pandemic; The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on international students in Canada; Joining the call to incorporate Environmental Sustainability into the Canadian Social Work Profession; Exploring the influence of transnationalism on the immigrant integration process; and Exploring housing careers among immigrants in Canada.

Further, over the last 15 years, Dr. Firang has played active leadership role in racialized and equity-seeking communities, especially the African community in Toronto and the Ghanaian Methodist community in North America.

Denise Handlarski

Dr. Denise Handlarski is an Assistant Professor at the Trent School of Education. Her research includes anti-Black racism, critical race theory, and gender studies, pedagogies of social justice, and sex education. Also a rabbi, Denise is a member of the Trent Multi-Faith Network and does programming with Trent Spiritual Affairs. 

Glennice Burns

Glennice Burns is the AVP International at Trent University.  She brings to Trent 30 years of progressively senior roles in university administration, including international, registrarial, recruitment and admissions, leading a series of strategic initiatives to greatly enhance international and domestic enrolment across the spectrum of recruitment and retention.

A collaborative leader deeply committed to a high quality academic experience, Glennice is committed to the development of global citizenship among current students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members.

Kenzu Abdella

Kenzu Abdella is a full professor of mathematics at Trent University in Canada. He received his PhD from Western University in London, Canada. His research interests include mathematical modeling, numerical analysis, differential equations, fluid dynamics with special focus in atmospheric and oceanic flows. Professor Abdella served as the chair of the Mathematics Department as well as the director of the Applied Modelling Graduate program at Trent University. He has international experience as a visiting professor in several universities in the Middle East and Africa.  He has published extensively in many areas of Applied and computational mathematics.

Professor Abdella is originally from Ethiopia and works on various projects related to higher education there. Locally, Professor Abdella served as the president of the Kawartha Muslim Religious Association which serves the Muslim population of Peterborough and promotes greater awareness and understanding of Islam in Peterborough and the Kawartha region.

Kevin Maina

Kevin Maina is the Administrative Assistant in the Office of the President. He holds BAH in International Development Studies and Environmental Resources Studies from Trent University. Prior to his current role, he was avidly involved with both Trent and the Peterborough community through the Community Movements Conference and various positions in peer support and academic skills.

Nadine Changfoot

Nadine Changfoot is Associate Professor in Political Studies, Executive Member of the Trent Centre for Aging and Society and Teaching Fellow at Trent University, Senior Research Associate with Re•Vision: The Centre of Art and Social Justice, Research lead of Aging Vitalities, Management Team Member of the research partnership Bodies in Translation: Activist Art, Technology and Access to Life, and Board Member of EC3, the Peterborough Arts & Culture Council). She engages in feminist, participatory and arts-based research, partnering with arts, environmental, disability, aging, healthcare, and Nishinaabeg communities for influence, capacity-building, and new possibilities. She has published widely in philosophy, political science, disability, aging, health, engaged scholarship, methodology, community development, and social justice. An activist artist-scholar, Nadine creates for self-expression and to make space for brave conversations, reimagining disability and aging.

Nathan R. G. Barnett

Nathan R. G. Barnett (he/him) is the current VP of University Affairs for the Trent Durham Student Association, where he works advocating for and with students. Nathan is looking forward to working with the Anti-Racism Task Force to put meaningful action towards addressing systemic racism at Trent. 

Mitchell Huguenin

Mitchell is a descendant of the Drummond Island Métis, who migrated to Penetanguishene following the War of 1812 and established one of Canada’s earliest Métis settlements. 

In his role as the Indigenous Pedagogy Designer at Trent’s Centre for Teaching and Learning, Mitchell supports faculty in understanding Indigenous pedagogical approaches and advises in the development of wise practices for incorporating Indigenous Knowledge in curriculum design and instruction. 

Mitchell is also a part-time faculty member in the university’s Indigenous Studies department and is a general education professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Durham College.

Moriah Hillyer

Moriah Hillyer is an Afro Indigenous student studying Sociology and Indigenous Studies with a specialization in Social Justice and Equity Studies here at Trent University. She is Métis from the Great Lakes, originally Drummond Island and currently lives along Lake Huron. She is currently the External Relations Coordination for the Trent University Native Association (TUNA), where she works with and advocates for Indigenous Students on and off Campus. Moriah is also currently a Research and Resource Coordinator for the Indigenous Student Alliance of Ontario (ISAO). Her hope for the taskforce is to have impactful, honest conversations that will lead to Trent being a safer, more inclusive school for all students.

Raul Ponce-Hernandez

Raul Ponce-Hernandez is an Associate Professor, Trent School of the Environment, Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program and Applications of Modelling and Quantitative Methods Graduate Program at Trent UniversityAssociate Professor, Trent School of the Environment, Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program and Applications of Modelling and Quantitative Methods Graduate Program at Trent University.

Born and raised in Mexico City. Educated at Universidad Autonoma Chapingo, Mexico (Agronomic Engineering) M.Sc. in Soils Science at Colegio de Postgraduados, Mexico and at University of Oxford (U.K.). Doctorate (D.Phil) at University of Oxford, U.K. Technical Expert, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy. Associate Professor, Trent School of the Environment, Trent University.  Member of Scientific Working Group of the Clean Development Mechanism. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Bonn, Germany.

Sandra Klemet-N'Guessan

Sandra Klemet-N'Guessan is a PhD candidate in the Environmental & Life Sciences program. When she does not study the role that fish and insect larvae play in the cycling of nutrients, she enjoys serving the Trent community through her role as the President of the Trent Graduate Students' Association (TGSA) and other activities. Lately, she has been particularly interested in issues related to EDI and has strove to address them through TGSA initiatives, communication pieces (e.g. Am I a Black ecologist?), and events participation (e.g. Moderator for the Anti-Black Racism and Discrimination in Research Systems event organized at the Joint Annual SSHRC-NSERC Leaders Meeting). As a member of the ARTF, Sandra is ready to bring ideas into actions to make Trent University a more diverse and equitable institution.

Shaoling Wang

With a Ph.D.  in Chinese Linguistics and Pedagogy, MA in Linguistics and BA in English, Shaoling taught in many leading universities including Harvard University, Wellesley College and University of Hawai'i in the US. and University of Toronto (Scarborough campus) in Canada prior to joining Trent University. 

In 2009, Dr. Wang was awarded Excellence in Teaching at Trent University.   

Her main research interests are teaching Chinese as a Second/Foreign language, comparison of English and Chinese modalities multi-technology in language teaching, curriculum design and films. Since 2017, Dr. Wang has organized and hosted language and Linguistics festivals, symposiums and live radio shows to promote language teaching and learning and inter-cultural communications. 

Shaoling has been actively involved in the community organizations and events. She has served on the Board of Peterborough ReFrame Film Festival which focuses on provocative documentary films surrounding issues on human rights, global and environmental matters or personal life stories.   

In addition to her teaching profession, as a licensed Zumba instructor, Shaoling has helped with the Zumba performance in the annual Multicultural Day celebration organized by the New Canadian Centre on July 1st. And as a translator and interpreter in English and Chinese, she has helped with social and medical cases in Peterborough.

Tara Harrington