EDIA Committee | cag-acg

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility

Standing Committee

Dr. Sinead Earley

Co-Chair

Dr. Sinead Earley (she/her) is a critical resource geographer and policy studies scholar in the School of Planning and Sustainability at the University of Northern British Columbia. She has served as elected Councillor on the CAG Executive (2021-2024) and is excited help guide CAG governance towards meaningful, transformative, timely action on equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.

Andrea Rishworth

Co-Chair

Andrea Rishworth is a Research Associate in the Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment at the University of Toronto Missisauga. Her background is in health geography and her research centers on global environmental change, migration and health inequities and gender and health.

Dr. Susan Elliott

Ex-Officio Member

Susan Elliott is a health geographer and University Research Chair in Health Geography at the University of Waterloo, Department of Geography and Environmental Management. She has an active research career, with 250+ publications related to global environment and (public) health. She has also supervised 50+ graduate students and post-doctoral fellows to completion. Elliott has undertaken a range of leadership roles including Director of the Institute of Environment and Health (McMaster), Senior Research Fellow in the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Dean of Social Sciences (McMaster University) and Dean of Health Sciences (University of Waterloo). She sits on several boards including the Canadian Association for Global Health as well as CARTS (the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa). She is the founder and Co-editor in Chief of Wellbeing, Space & Society, as well as the Editor in Chief and medical geography editor for Social Science and Medicine. She has a commitment to impactful research in the area of global public health, and her research is characterized by strong science-policy bridging. See her lab website for more information.

Dr. Emmanuel Kofi Ackom

Dr. Emmanuel Ackom’s work intersects energy transitions, bioenergy, climate action and urbanism with a special interest in marginalized societies. He integrates academic scholarship with 11 years of policy experience from the United Nations (UN) - where he was a Senior Scientist - to promote sustainable communities. He critically examines sustainability challenges and develops solutions that are distributive and fair. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Caroline Barakat

Dr. Caroline Barakat received her PhD in Medical Geography - Environmental Health from McMaster University in 2008. She is an Associate Professor specializing in Environmental Health at Ontario Tech University. Her research interests lie in exploring links between environments and health, health across the life course, spatial patterns of health and health care, environmental epidemiology, and population health. Dr. Barakat has also contributed to environmental health equity research and the social and environmental determinants of adolescent health.

Dr. Barakat served as the Chair of the Geography of Health and Health Care Specialty Group (GHHCSG), Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG). In 2016, she was elected for a two-year term starting on July 1, 2016. In this role, she managed all the group’s activities including organizing and disseminating bi-annual newsletters, managing the Group’s finances and reporting to the CAG, maintaining communications and disseminating relevant information to members (n=98), implementing a project to track the career trajectory of members, holding annual meetings with the membership body, and organizing sessions for the 2018 International Geographical Union (IGU) Regional Conference - CAG Annual Meeting – National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) Annual Conference, August 6 – 10, Laval, Quebec City

Dr. Craig Coburn

Dr. Craig Coburn is a broadly trained physical geographer with research interests fundamental aspects of remote sensing science. Dr. Coburn is Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Lethbridge. He has served the CAG for decades through the Western Division serving as President and Secretary/Treasurer and as an elected Councillor on the CAG Executive. Dr. Coburn is committed to forwarding the goals of the EDI committee to ensure that all geographers have an opportunity to engage in our discipline by creating an environment that respects diversity and inclusion.

Dr. Jaimy Fischer

Jaimy Fischer (Ph.D.) has training in GIScience, healthy cities, urban transportation and mobility, and community-engaged research. Within all these areas, she works to centre principles of equity and inclusion. As a Michif (Red River Métis) person and researcher, Jaimy has a strong passion for social justice and equitable mobility, and for decolonizing and Indigenizing practices within institutions and disciplines such as planning, education, and GIScience. Jaimy has extensive experience conducting and teaching GIS & sociospatial equity analyses, particularly in the context of urban planning and intervention research. Their PhD research investigated equity in spatial data and interventions aimed at supporting bicycling for transport, and current research focuses on transport reconciliation, equity in spatial accessibility to daily needs, and urban trails as pathways for Indigenous health and inclusion.

Dr. Sheika Henry

Sheika Henry is an interdisciplinary Geographer who uses Geographic Information Systems, remote sensing and stakeholder engagement methods to address socio-environmental and climate change issues to aid in the building of resilience capacity development and sustainability of key resources. She obtained a PhD in Geography from the Federal University of Parana in Brazil and conducted Postdoctoral Research at the University of Moncton in New Brunswick, Canada. Sheika has worked as an Instructor at The University of Winnipeg and as Assistant Professor at Brandon University (where she is currently employed). Sheika is a champion for EDI initiatives and the disintegration of systemic barriers in education in general.

Asma Khanani

Asma Khanani uses her creative background to explore relationships between health, identity and place. Her research and creative work draws heavily on relationship, storytelling and connection to place, and her approach encourages decolonizing approaches to research marginalized and gendered experiences of displacement and resettlement. Asma’s current research seeks to narrate and humanize displaced women’s experiences by detailing the relationships between place-making, creativity and resiliency. She is a health geographer and PhD candidate at the University of Western Ontario.

Sohail Majoka

Sohail Majoka(he/his) received his B.A and M.Sc. from University of the Punjab, Lahore. Where he specialized in Human Geography and his areas of interest are Political and Economic Geography. He served as Lecturer Geography at Forman Christian College (A Chartered University) Lahore for 13 years and was part of Pakistan Geographical Association there as well. After immigration to Canada, he is associated with University Canada West and Alexander College, Vancouver as geography sessional faculty ,his research interests are ,Socio-political dynamics of religious minorities situation in South Asia and Canadian cultural diversity and challenges to new immigrants.

Yihang Zhang

Yihang Zhang is currently pursuing a master's degree in Nature Resources and Environmental Studies at the University of Northern British Columbia. Her research explores the possibilities of virtual tourism and its opportunities to enhance both visit experiences and accessibility in Tumbler Ridge, northern BC. Before moving to Canada, Yihang worked in technology as a User Experience and Operations Manager with accessibility in mind. As a professional woman with minor disabilities, she has actively championed diversity and equity, demonstrating a solid commitment to fostering an environment that values and respects all individuals.