A message from Elizabeth Church, Vice-President Academic

This year, we have 12 new faculty members and one new librarian joining the Mount community. We are very excited to have these new colleagues at the University; our students, as well as faculty and staff, will benefit from their expertise, research, energy and enthusiasm.

Below you will find brief bios for each of our new faculty members and our new librarian. I encourage you to reach out and meet them.

Please join me in welcoming them to the Mount.

New faculty and librarian (2016-2017)

Dr. Robert Bajko
Dr. Bajko joined the Department of Communication Studies on July 1, 2016. He has a PhD in Communication and Culture, jointly offered by York University and Ryerson University, as well as Masters degrees in Technology Management, Business Administration, and Education. Prior to his appointment, he worked at Ryerson as Lecturer and Internship Coordinator in the School of Professional Communication. Dr. Bajko’s research focuses on the impact of digital technology on communication within organizations as well as the use of gamification in education and non-education settings. He has also published in a number of peer reviewed conferences and journals such as HCI International, Information Systems Education Journal, Journal of Information Systems Applied Research and others.

Prof. Jennifer Brady
Prof. Brady will join the Department of Applied Human Nutrition in January 2017. She is currently completing her PhD in Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen’s University. She holds a Master of Health Science in Nutrition Communication and an undergraduate degree in Women’s Studies. In her research, she brings a feminist perspective to food studies. Her PhD dissertation is titled ‘Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Study of Dietetics’ Professionalization Project.’

Dr. Bo Na Kim
Dr. Kim will join the Department of Business and Tourism on January 1, 2017 and will teach in the area of Tourism. She completed her PhD in Hotel & Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She has experience working in the tourism industry in Korea, and her research interests include pilgrimage, religious tourism, tourism experience, tourist well-being, and hospitality management.

Dr. Ha Ny Kim
Dr. Kim will join the Department of Business and Tourism in the fall of 2016 and will teach primarily in the area of Tourism. She received a PhD in Tourism from the University of Florida, completing a dissertation on brand extension for destinations. Dr. Kim was most recently a postdoctoral researcher at the Eric Friedham Tourism Institute at the University of Florida. She also has five years of public service experience as a researcher for the Korean Culture and Tourism Institute (KCTI) under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Her research interests include destination management, marketing, and branding, as well as tourist behaviour.

Dr. Christine Lackner
Dr. Lackner was appointed to the Department of Psychology on July 1, 2015 and assumed her role on July 1, 2016. Dr. Lackner holds a PhD in Behavioural Neuroscience from Brock University. In her PhD dissertation, she examined the varieties of attentional control that are important for healthy adolescent development and how these might be influenced by common genetic polymorphisms. In her current research, she studies the electrophysiological and genetic correlates of adolescent self-regulation in typically-developing adolescents and those with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Ms. Lindsey MacCallum
Ms. MacCallum joined the Libraryin July as a Librarian I specializing in archives. She holds a Master of Librarianship from the University of Sheffield. Ms. MacCallum has worked in a number of academic libraries and archives, most recently serving as the Instruction and Education Services Librarian at the University of Prince Edward Island, where she oversaw the Kindred Spaces Project, a digital collection of publications and memorabilia related to Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Dr. KelleyAnne Malinen
Dr. Malinen joined the Department of Sociology and Anthropology on July 1, 2016. She completed her PhD at Laval, and most recently was an Assistant Professor at Dalhousie in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology. Her research focuses on women-to-women sexual assault, and she is a member of the Provincial Committee on Training for the Nova Scotia Sexual Violence Strategy.

Prof. Christine McLean
Prof. McLean joined the Department of Child and Youth Study on July 1, 2016. She has extensive professional experience in the area of early childhood education, including as a Child Care Services Program Consultant for the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Child, Youth and Family Services. She is currently completing her PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology and Education at OISE, University of Toronto; in her dissertation research, she is focusing on the co-construction of pedagogical documentation between adults and children.

Dr. Ian Reilly
Dr. Ian Reilly joined the Department of Communication Studies on July 1, 2016. He holds a PhD in Literary Studies from the University of Guelph, where his dissertation was on satirical fake news and the politics of the fifth estate, and holds a Master of Arts in English from the University of Ottawa. In his research, Dr. Reilly explores the intersections of political discourse, humour, political economy, media activism, and civic engagement.

Dr. Saud Al Taj
Dr. Taj will join the Department of Business and Tourism in January 2017. He holds a PhD and MSc in Management from the University of Glasgow, as well as an MBA from Iqra University in Pakistan. Dr. Taj most recently worked as an Assistant Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University in London. His teaching and research interests span a range of topics in the areas of strategic human resources and organizational behaviour, including employer branding and employee engagement.

Prof. Shane Theunissen
Prof. Theunissen joined the Department of Child and Youth Study on July 1, 2016. He has taught at the Mount as a part-time instructor and is an Adjunct Professor at Saint Mary’s University. He has significant professional experience as a classroom teacher in an alternate education setting for youth in care and as a classroom teacher and curriculum coordinator in First Nations communities. Prof. Theunissen is currently completing his PhD in International Development Studies at Saint Mary’s University; the focus of his dissertation is on Indigenous education and development.

Dr. Kyly Whitfield
Dr. Whitfield joined the Department of Applied Human Nutrition on July 1, 2016. She completed her PhD in Human Nutrition at the University of British Columbia and her MSc in Human Health and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Guelph. Dr. Whitfield’s research area is international community nutrition, with a specific interest in micronutrient deficiencies in ‘the first 1,000 days’, the period from conception through the first two years of life. In her PhD research, she developed and tested the efficacy of thiamin-fortified fish sauce as a means of combating infantile beriberi in rural Cambodia. [more on Dr. Whitfield]

Dr. Zachary Zimmer
Dr. Zimmer joined the Department of Family Studies and Gerontology on July 1, 2016 as the Canada Research Chair (CRC Tier I) in Global Aging and Community. Previously, he held academic and research positions at the University of California, San Francisco, the University of Utah, the Population Council, and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. In his research, Dr. Zimmer has focused on demographic phenomena, both in Canada and internationally, related to population aging, including the well-being of older people who are experiencing the impact of reduction in family size, changes in socio-economic development, shifting migration patterns, and declining early mortality rates/better health and longevity outcomes. [more on Dr. Zimmer]