J Sparks
Project Manager of START-Ed
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
University of Guelph
Dr. Sparks is a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Guelph with funding from the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer (ONCAT). Dr. Sparks has a PhD in Higher Education from the University of Toronto. Their research expertise include: first-generation students, transfer & student mobility, student services, post-secondary student parents, & family (parent) involvement in relation to student success. Dr. Sparks’ dissertation research has expanded scholarly understandings of the familial supports that contribute to student success in Ontario’s colleges. Dr. Sparks’ research on parent involvement in education is featured in the Canadian Journal for New Scholars in Education, Renewal: A Journal for Waldorf Education, and in The Conversation. Dr. Sparks joined the START-Ed team in 2023.
Addison Kornel
Senior Partnership Coordinator for START-Ed
PhD Student
University of Guelph
Addison is a PhD student in the Sociology program at the University of Guelph. He earned his MA in Criminology in 2023 from the University of Windsor where he specialized in housing research. He completed a BAH in Sociology in 2021.
Addison’s role is Senior Partnership Coordinator, where he leverages his experience in project-building for non-profit organizations to foster meaningful partnership involvement in the project. Addison is currently studying home ownership in Canada. His research centers on the salience of the home ownership ideal among Canadians and the factors associated with it.
Christine Mishra
Senior Coordinator of Academic Partners
PhD Student
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Christine is a PhD student at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, where her research focuses on the transferable skill development in Higher Education. She completed her masters at the University of Guelph in 2022, focusing on similar topics. Prior to graduate school she was a high school teacher in Regina, Saskatchewan for 7 years, and an Outdoor Educator for the Grand River Conservation Authority near Guelph. She has extensive volunteer board, committee, and event management experience.
Christine was the Project Manager for the Student Transitions, Access & Research on Tertiary Education partnership development project for two years. She is now the senior coordinator of academic partners for the SSHRC partnership grant application which is the next phase of START-Ed’s work, and continues to support START-Ed in a variety of ways. She has also contributed to the recent Apprenticeship reports as a research assistant.
Paige Saunders
Indigenous Partner Liaison
MA Student
Univeristy of Guelph
Paige Saunders is a graduate student in the department of Sociology and Anthropology. She is in the Public Issues Anthropology stream with a specialization in Cultural Revitalization. Paige is currently working with the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation on Cultural Revitalization in their community. She uses Indigenous methodologies within her work.
Paige is mixed Cree-Métis on her father’s side, with heritage to Red River Manitoba, Batoche, Duck Lake and Marcelin Saskatchewan. She currently lives in Guelph, Ontario, on the treaty lands of the Mississauga of the Credit First Nation, Between the Lakes Treaty and the Dish with One Spoon covenant land.
Paige will be focusing on the Indigenous lens throughout this partnership. She will be working alongside different Indigenous organizations and partners to ensure they are being consulted and engaged throughout this project.
Terry Yip
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Nipissing University
Dr. Yip joined the Centre for Access to Higher Education and Employment as a postdoctoral research fellow in 2021. He obtained his PhD in Economics at McMaster in 2018. His main research area is in labour economics and public finance, especially topics intersecting career/family choice and income tax policy. He has published on topics related to occupation choices, family planning, and income dynamics.
Dr. Yip has worked extensively with confidential microdata from Statistics Canada and will use this expertise to contribute to this project, through the Research Data Centre at Nipissing University.
Avery Beall
Project Facilitator
Nipissing University & Statistics Canada
Statistical Assistant at Nipissing University’s Research Data Centre
Avery Beall completed his Master of Arts in Sociology at Nipissing University in 2021. Avery currently works with Dr. Zarifa as a research assistant and project facilitator, where he facilitates communication between stakeholders, and completes literature reviews on research projects related to higher education, labour market outcomes, and student achievement. Avery is also an Analyst at Statistics Canada, working in the Centre for Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion Statistics on projects related to gender equality and equity, intersectionality, and disaggregated data.
Alexandra Pulchny
Research Assistant
McMaster University
PhD Student
Alexandra completed her master’s degree at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia (‘20). Her research interests explore diversity and inclusion practices in educational institutions, and preparation for such practices in teacher education programs. She has contributed to multiple research projects as a research assistant on topics involving Indigenous content in teacher education, diversity in education, and labour and employment studies.
Alexandra is working on this project as a research assistant to Dr. Robson and will be actively involved in literature review and data analysis.
Anthony Moots
Research Assistant
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Doctor of Education (EdD) Student
Anthony completed his undergraduate degree in Physics and Computer Science at the University of Toronto, and then his Master of Business Administration at the Rotman School of Management. Anthony is a co-founder of a small software company in the residential construction industry. There, he manages operations across his team, focusing on inter- and intra-departmental processes. He has also spent time in the financial services sector in compliance and enterprise risk management.
Anthony’s research is on understanding students’ transition from education into the skilled trades workforce using demographic data analysis of the TDSB, PSIS and ELMLP datasets.
Trisha Einmann
Research Assistant
PhD Candidate
University of Guelph
Trisha is a PhD Candidate in Sociology at the University of Guelph specializing in Work and Organization. She earned her MA in Sociology in 2019 where she specialized in Global Agro-Food Systems, Communities, and Rural Change. She completed a BAH in Environmental Governance with a minor in Psychology in 2016.
Trisha’s current research examines trends and changing patterns of work and employment in comparative contexts, with a focus on labour markets, gender and work, and education for work. Her approach centers around the dialectical relationship between the configurations of gender, class, race, and ethnicity. Trisha’s interdisciplinary background encourages a multifaceted approach to understanding and addressing complex social issues including gender differences in the mental health of PhD graduates; immigration, education, and unequal labor market outcomes; and the postsecondary pathways and labour market outcomes of adult learners.
Alain Carlson
Research Assistant
PhD Student
Nipissing University
Alain is an Education PhD Candidate at Nipissing University. Alain’s doctoral research examines underemployment, knowledge/skills mismatch, and job satisfaction in Canadian university graduates through quantitative analysis of data from Statistics Canada’s National Graduates Survey and the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform. He is interested in establishing a better understanding of employment outcomes among disadvantaged and marginalized university graduates, and in determining how barriers can be addressed in order for these graduates to obtain employment outcomes commensurate with their knowledge, skills, and experience.
Anna Renee Henry
Research Assistant
MA Student
University of Guelph
Anna is an MA student in Sociology at the University of Guelph. In 2023, she completed a B.A. in Social Development Studies at the University of Waterloo, with Minors in Sociology and Psychology. She was the 2023 recipient of the Alumni Gold Medal for academic achievement, representing the Faculty of Arts. She is currently a member of two research teams, working with Dr. David Walters studying school-to-work transitions from higher education, and with Dr. Sharon Roberts in the Anthropomorphic Research Group. She is the co-author of two chapters in Furscience: A Decade of Psychological Research on the Furry Fandom (2023).
Her current research focuses on disability and stigma, particularly mental illness. Her master’s thesis will examine TikTok videos of people with OCD, with a view to understanding how they contribute to the discourse around disability, stigma, and the vital work of destigmatization. Her undergraduate thesis studied the relationship between undergraduate students’ formal education on OCD, their ability to recognize highly stigmatized subtypes of OCD, and the presence of stigmatizing attitudes surrounding it. She is currently working on a draft paper on that research to be submitted for peer-review.
Recent Researchers
Emmanuel Rohn
Research Affiliate
PhD Student
University of Guelph
Emerson LaCroix
Research Affiliate
PHD Candidate
University of Waterloo
Yeana Kim
Research Affiliate
MA Student
University of Guelph
Donia Zeng
Research Affiliate
Undergraduate Student
University of Guelph
