Research

My research program focuses on the intersections of international relations, environmental politics, and critical security studies. I use interpretive and quantitative methods to examine questions in four overlapping research clusters:

  1. Arctic Politics and Northern Governance
  2. Climate Change and Security
  3. Indigeneity and Inter-National Politics
  4. North American Security and Defence

My scholarly work has several objectives. It challenges conventional understandings of the links between climate change, domestic politics, and human, national, and global security; improves our understanding of the processes through which security issues are socially constructed; examines the unequal distribution of security, environmental well being, and prospects for survival among different societal groups, including Indigenous peoples; and explores lessons, challenges, and opportunities for improving security and governance in the North Atlantic region and the circumpolar Arctic. I regularly collaborate with colleagues across institutional, disciplinary, and national boundaries to produce high-quality scholarship and facilitate knowledge mobilization for academic, government, and general audiences. I have participated in multiple expert working groups, testified before two committees of the Parliament of Canada, and frequently provide public commentary and expert analysis on these topics. I received the 2023 Social Sciences Early Career Research Excellence Award from the University of Victoria in recognition of my work.

Arctic Politics and Northern Governance

The first cluster of my research program examines security, climate change, resource extraction, Canadian foreign policy, Indigenous peoples, and regional governance in the circumpolar Arctic. I have co-edited two books on Arctic politics – Breaking Through: Understanding Sovereignty and Security in the Circumpolar Arctic (University of Toronto Press, 2021) and One Arctic: The Arctic Council and Circumpolar Governance (CFPF, 2017). I am Co-Lead for the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network (NAADSN), through which I collaborate with an international network of colleagues, supervise research assistants, organize and participate in academic events, and present research to audiences including government and military officials.

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Climate Change and Security

The second cluster of my research program examines the politics of climate change and security in Canada, the Arctic, and the North Atlantic region. I have leadership roles in three federally-funded research networks related to this field of study: I am Lead for Climate Change and Environment with the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network (NAADSN); Co-Lead for Climate Change and Security with the Réseau d’analyse stratégique (RAS); and Co-Director for Climate Change and NATO with the Canadian Defence and Security Network (CDSN). I have published widely on a variety of topics related to this cluster, including: climate security threats in Canada; youth climate activism; energy extraction and contentious environmental politics; environmental change and security theory; the state of the field of climate security research in Canada; and climate change and security and defence policy in Canada, the United States, and NATO. I serve on the NATO Research Task Group on the Effects of Climate Change on Security, and am a founding member of the Climate Security Association of Canada (CSAC).

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Indigeneity and International Politics

The third cluster of my research examines indigeneity and international relations in two ways: empirical dimensions of the relationships between Indigenous peoples and the practices of sovereign states, and incorporating Indigenous political thought into International Relations theory. I am particularly interested in Indigenous peoples’ vulnerabilities to climate-related security threats; tensions between state and Indigenous practices and discourses of sovereignty and security; and transnational and cross-border interactions between Indigenous peoples and governments. I am co-investigator (with Dr. Leah Sarson) for a SSHRC Insight Development Grant on Indigenous governance and natural resource extraction that examines how Indigenous actors use para-diplomacy to both attract and resist transnational investment in non-renewable resource extraction in the North American Arctic. I am also involved in professional activities to support knowledge production and mobilization at the intersections of International Relations and Indigenous politics, including an early-career workshop I organized in 2019, and panels related to indigeneity and IR at the International Studies Association and Canadian Political Science Association annual conferences.

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        North American Security and Defence


        The fourth cluster of my research program examines security and defence issues in North America and the North Atlantic community across sub-national, national, and regional scales. I employ Buzan, Wæver, and de Wilde’s (1998) theory of securitization and Karl Deutsch’s (1957) theory of security communities to explore intersections between security and defence policy, social values, and political culture in Canada and the United States; human security in NATO and the North Atlantic region; and energy and environmental policy challenges and the Canada-US relationship. I am particularly interested in the implications of the Trump presidency for Canada-US relations and Canadian national security, and of right-wing populism for climate and energy policies, and the application of human security analysis to conventional and unconventional security issues. Much of my research related to the Arctic, climate change, and Indigenous peoples also overlaps with this cluster, which seeks to connect insights on these topics to broader public conversations about security in Canada, the United States, and their allies.

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