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:
- Arctic Politics and Northern Governance
- Climate Change and Security
- Indigeneity and Inter-National Politics
- 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.
Select Relevant Publications
- 2023. “Understanding Discourses of Arctic In/Security.” In Research Methods in Critical Security Studies: An Introduction, 2nd ed. Eds. Mark B. Salter, Can E. Mutlu, and Philippe M. Frowd, 192-201. London: Routledge.
- 2022. “The New Arctic Geopolitics,” RUSI Commentary. Royal United Services Institute. May 5. https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/new-arctic-geopolitics.
- 2022. “As war upends the global order, Canada must urgently look to the Arctic,” CIGIOnline. Centre for International Governance Innovation. March 4. https://www.cigionline.org/articles/ as-war-upends-the-global-order-canada-must-urgently-look-to-the-arctic/.
- 2021. Breaking Through: Understanding Sovereignty and Security in the Circumpolar Arctic. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. (with P. Whitney Lackenbauer)
- Included in The Hill Times “100 Best Books in 2021.” https://www.hilltimes.com/2021/12/20/the-hill-times-100-best-books-in-2021/290981.
- 2020. “Assessing Security Governance in the Arctic.” In Handbook on Arctic Security, eds. Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, Mark Lanteigne, and Horatio Sam-Aggrey, 43-56. London: Routledge. (with Andrew Chater and Leah Sarson)
- 2020. “Cities and Human Security in a Warming Arctic.” In Climate Change and Security: Searching for a Paradigm Shift, eds. Lassi Heininen and Heather Exner-Pirot, 61-89. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
- 2019. “Arctic Break Up: Climate change, geopolitics, and the fragmenting Arctic security region.” Arctic Yearbook 2019: Redefining Arctic Security, 1-17.
- Reprinted: 2021. “Arctic Break Up: Climate change, geopolitics, and the fragmenting Arctic security region.” In Selected Articles of Calotte Academy – A Travelling Northern Symposium on Science and Politics, eds. Lassi Heininen and Jussi Huotari, 578-595. Rovaniemi: Lapland University Press.
- 2017. One Arctic: The Arctic Council and Circumpolar Governance. Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Resources Committee and Centre for Foreign Policy and Federalism. (with P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Heather Nicol)
- 2017. “Constructing Arctic Security: An Inter-Disciplinary Approach to Understanding Security in the Barents Region.” Polar Record 53 (1): 52-66. (with Kamrul Hossain, Gerald Zojer, José Miguel Roncero, and Michael Sheehan)
- 2016. “Securing Sustainability: The Case for Critical Environmental Security in the Arctic.” Polar Record 52 (6): 660-671.
- 2016. “Articulating the Arctic: Contrasting State and Inuit Maps of the Canadian North.” Polar Record 52 (6): 630-644. (with Mia Bennett, Rudolf Riedlsperger, and Alberic Botella)
- 2016. “Thinking Critically About Security and the Arctic in the Anthropocene.” The Arctic Institute: Center for Circumpolar Security Studies. https://www.thearcticinstitute.org/thinking-critically-security-arctic-anthropocene/.
- 2014. “Arctic.” In Handbook on Governance and Security, ed. Jim Sperling, 123-147. Northampton: Edward Elgar. (with Andrew Chater)
- 2012. “For Whom, From What? Canada’s Arctic Policy and the Narrowing of Human Security.” International Journal 67 (1): 219-240.
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).
Select Related Publications
- Forthcoming 2024. “Overlooking Nature: The Arctic, Climate Change, and Environmental Diplomacy in the Study of Canadian Foreign Policy.” Canadian Foreign Policy Journal (with Gabriella Gricius)
- Forthcoming 2024. “Human Security, Climate Change, and the Role of the Canadian Armed Forces: British Columbia, 2021.” Canadian Military Journal, Special Issue on “Climate Change and Security.”
- 2023. “Degrees of Optimism: A Study of Youth Climate Activists in British Columbia.” BC Studies: The British Columbian Quarterly 219: 71-98 (with Aly Tkachenko)
- 2023. “Climate Insecurity and Canadian Defence.” In Canadian Defence Policy in Theory and Practice, 2nd edition, eds. Thomas Juneau and Philippe Lagassé, 51-73. New York: Palgrave.
- 2023. “Canada must stop treating climate disasters like unexpected humanitarian crises. The Conversation. November 12. (with Yvonne Su). https://theconversation.com/canada-must-stop-treating-climate-disasters-like-unexpected-humanitarian-crises-216153.
- 2023. “Climate-Disasters and Human Insecurity: British Columbia 2021.” In Evolving Human Security: Frameworks and Considerations for Canada’s Military, eds. Shannon Lewis-Simpson and Sarah Jane Meharg, 140-142. Kingston: Canadian Defence Academy. (with Peter Kikkert)
- 2022. “Climate change is increasing the strain on Canadian Armed Forces for emergency response,” The Hill Times. May 30. https://www.hilltimes.com/2022/05/30/climate-change-is-increasing-the-strain-on-canadian-armed-forces-for-emergency-response/363668.
- 2021. “Climate Change and Security in Canada.” International Journal 76 (2): 183-203.
- Reviewed by Leanne Smythe, H-Diplo Article Review 1109- “Climate Change and Security in Canada” (May 17, 2022). https://networks.h-net.org/node/28443/discussions/ 10243619/h-diplo-article-review-1109-climate-change-and-security-canada.
- 2021. “What would it mean to treat climate change like a security threat?” CIGIOnline. Centre for International Governance Innovation. August 4. https://www.cigionline.org/articles/what-would-it-mean-to-treat-climate-as-a-security-risk/.
- 2014. “Naturally Insecure: Critical Environmental Security and Critical Security Studies in Canada.” Critical Studies on Security 2 (1): 81-104.
- 2013. “Risking Rupture: Integral Accidents and In/Security in Canada’s Bitumen Sands.” Journal of Canadian Studies 47 (3): 169-199.
- 2012. “Insecurities of Non-Dominance: Re-Theorizing Human Security and Environmental Change in Developed States.” In Natural Resources and Social Conflict: Towards Critical Environmental Security, eds. Matthew A. Schnurr and Larry A. Swatuk, 63-82. New York: Palgrave.
- 2009. “The Essential Condition: A Stable Environment, Global Security, and Sustainable Peace.” The Pearson Papers 12: 91-114.
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.
Select Recent Publications
- 2024. “(De)securitization, Independence, and Normal Politics in Kalaallit Nunaat and Inuit Nunangat.” In Greenland in Arctic Security: Entangled (De)Securitization Dynamics Under Climatic Thaw and Geopolitical Freeze, eds. Marc Jacobsen, Ulrik Pram Gad, and Ole Wæver, 283-309. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. (with Nicholas Andrews and Joe Crowther)
- 2020. “Indigenous Peoples.” In Handbook on Arctic Security, eds. Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, Marc Lanteigne, and Horatio Sam-Aggrey, 363-376. London: Routledge.
- 2020. Improving the Canadian Armed Forces’ Recruitment and Retention of Indigenous People: Best Practices from the New Zealand Defence Force. Policy Brief. North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network. September 8. (with Jayde Lavoie and Jill Barclay)
- 2019. “First Nations, LNG Canada, and the Politics of Anti-Pipeline Protests.” LNG Series. June. Calgary: Canadian Global Affairs Institute. (with P. Whitney Lackenbauer)
- 2018. “Damaging Environments: Land, Settler Colonialism, and Security for Indigenous Peoples.” Environment and Society 9 (1), Special Issue on “Indigenous Resurgence, Decolonization, and Movements for Environmental Justice”: 107-124.
- Reprinted: 2022. “Damaging Environments: Land, Settler Colonialism, and Security for Indigenous Peoples.” In Indigenous Resurgence, Decolonization, and Movements for Environmental Justice, ed. Jaskiran Dhillon, 109-126. New York: Berghahn Books.
- 2018. “Colonialism, Statehood, and Sámi in Norden and the Norwegian High North.” In Human and Societal Security in the Circumpolar Arctic: Local and Indigenous Communities, eds. Kamrul Hossain, José Roncero Martín, and Anna Petrétei, 100-121. Leiden: Brill.
- 2016. “Arctic In/Security and Indigenous Peoples: Comparing Inuit in Canada and Sámi in Norway.” Security Dialogue 47 (6): 461-480.
- 2016. “Environment, Identity, Autonomy: Inuit Perspectives on Arctic Security.” In Understanding the Many Faces of Human Security: Perspectives of Northern Indigenous Peoples, eds. Kamrul Hossain and Anna Petrétei, 35-55. Leiden and Boston: Brill.
- 2012. “Turtle Island Blues: Climate Change and Failed Indigenous Securitization in the Canadian Arctic.” Working Papers on Arctic Security No. 2. Toronto: Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program: 1-27.
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.
Select Relevant Publications
- 2023. “Security Cultures and Social Change in Canada and the United States Since 9/11.” In The Legacy of 911: Views from North America, eds. Andrea Charron, Alex Moens, and Stéphane Roussel, 171-196. Montreal-Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
- 2023. “NATO and Human Security: Broad or Narrow?” In Evolving Human Security: Frameworks and Considerations for Canada’s Military, eds. Shannon Lewis-Simpson and Sarah Jane Meharg, 136-139. Kingston: Canadian Defence Academy.
- 2023. “When Great Power Fails: Russia, Ukraine, and the New Arctic Geopolitics.” Kingston Consortium for International Security Conference Proceedings, 2022, eds. Michael Lynch and Harold Coombs, 95-108. Carlisle: US Army War College Press.
- 2021. “Youth Anxiety and Pathological Security-Seeking in Turbulent Times.” In Teaching International Relations in a Time of Disruption, eds. Heather A. Smith and David Hornsby, 143-168. Cham: Palgrave.
- 2021. International Perspectives on Human Security. Canadian Defence Academy Research Paper. Kingston: Canadian Defence Academy. (with Gabriella Gricius and Demyan Plakhov)
- 2020. “Democracy, Donald Trump, and the Canada-U.S. Security Community.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 53 (4): 800-820.