PhD students
Katie Chong
Katie’s research interests are rooted in the relationships between human, environment, and community health, and draw on her experience in the health and global health sciences. Under the supervision of professor Nil Basu, her thesis focuses on designing human health and ecological risk assessment approaches that prioritize the perspectives and contexts of Indigenous rightsholders and advance multidisciplinary collaboration. This work is part of a larger project co-led by the Kanien'keháka Nation of Kanesatake aiming to advance new environmental assessment methods to be adapted for, lead by, and ultimately benefit the communities in which they are used.
Revathi Sahajpal
Revathi obtained her Bachelor’s in Nutritional Sciences from Panjab University, India in 2015 and her Masters in Human Nutrition from McGill University in 2019. Post her master’s she joined professor Treena Delormier’s and professor Brittany Jock’s Indigenous Food Circle in Winter 2020 for pursuing her doctoral studies. Revathi’s doctoral project is a part of a cross Canada research study looking at the nutrition, health, and environment of First Nations Children and Youth between the ages of 3 to 19 called the Food, Environment, Health, and Nutrition of First Nations Children and Youth (FEHNCY) study. Revathi believes that food holds much more meaning than diet and nutrition, it is associated with history, relationships, culture, and sense of community that makes it an integral part of identity. In her Ph.D. she aims to understand First Nations food environment as an experience that shapes food access through community engagement and building relationships with participating First Nations.
Mathilde Lapointe St-Pierre
Since 2020, Mathilde Lapointe St-Pierre has been a full-time Wildlife Biologist at the Nunavik Research Centre (NRC), under Makivik Corporation, in Kuujjuaq. She leads multiple research projects, including her Ph.D. work on Atlantic walruses, as well as studies on beaver range expansion and Arctic charr monitoring. Her work focuses on integrating Inuit perspectives and traditional knowledge into scientific research, ensuring that Nunavimmiut priorities and insights are central to conservation and wildlife management efforts. Her Ph.D. research, supervised by Murray Humphries and Kyle Elliott, examines walrus habitat use and foraging behavior in the Hudson Strait. Atlantic walrus have been a significant part of Inuit culture and traditional activities for generations. To inform her research, Mathilde conducted interviews with local experts from communities in the Hudson Strait, gathering invaluable insights into walrus ecology and climate change. Using biologgers, her project explores how shifting sea ice conditions affect walrus movement and habitat use. She is also investigating walrus meat quality to help ensure food safety for Inuit communities. This community-based project is guided by Inuit knowledge and carried out in collaboration with local hunters.
Elizabeth Hernández-Castellanos
Elizabeth holds an M.Sc. in Human Nutrition (mother-child orientation) and a B.Sc. in Nutrition from the Universidad de Guadalajara in México. She has worked on research projects related to Nutrition Status in pregnant adolescents and Food Security in communities of Food Banks in Jalisco, México. Her interests include malnutrition in all its forms, including obesity, undernutrition, and the health effects of climate change, the synergy of epidemics that share underlying societal drivers. Elizabeth's current work focuses on participatory community-based interventions towards a positive impact on feeding practices and women's health in México under the supervision of Professor Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez.
Krystel Haydamous
Krystel holds a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics from Notre Dame University, Lebanon, and a Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics from Université de Moncton, Canada. She worked as a clinical dietitian and lecturer for eight years in Lebanon, where she gained extensive experience in nutrition counseling, dietary education, and public health initiatives. Currently, Krystel is pursuing a PhD in Human Nutrition at McGill University under the supervision of Professor Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez. Her doctoral research is centered on cultural food insecurity among Levantine immigrants in Canada, with a specific focus on understanding the sociocultural, economic, and environmental factors that influence their dietary habits. She aims to explore how adherence to traditional diets impacts nutritional health and well-being within immigrant communities. Through her work, she aspires to inform policies and programs that promote food security and cultural integration in diverse populations.
Nicole Shaw 
Nicole graduated with a B.Sc. in Food Science from the University of Guelph. Her academic background, coupled with her passion for addressing food security challenges in her community, inspired her to join Dr. Melgar-Quiñonez’s Global Food Security Research Group at McGill in 2023. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Human Nutrition. Nicole’s research focuses on the nexus between women’s empowerment, food security, and water security among marisquerias—women who harvest shellfish in the mangrove communities of Northeastern Brazil. Her work is conducted in collaboration with the Federal University of Sergipe in Brazil, where she has built strong connections with local researchers and communities. She also works closely with Dr. Treena Delormier in McGill’s Indigenous Food Lab, contributing to interdisciplinary efforts to address food security challenges in diverse contexts.
Sophie Emberley-Korkmaz
Sophie graduated with a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from Queen’s University and a M.Sc. in Natural Resource Sciences from McGill University. Her master’s research examined the potential of alternative ecotoxicology tests, such as fish cell lines, to replace traditional animal testing. Now, as a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Dr. Niladri Basu, she is shifting her focus to community-based applications of these alternative methods through a collaborative project co-led by the Kanien'keháka Nation of Kanesatake. Her work explores the development of field-based non-animal ecotoxicity test methods that go toward advancing environmental risk assessments, with the aim for methods to be more relevant, and better capture, community perspectives.
MSc Students
Ferial Hamdi
Ferial is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at McGill School of Human Nutrition under the supervisor of Brittany Jock. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Sciences from Azad University, Tehran, where her passion for working with quantitative methods and recognizing the significance of social and behavioral approaches in research in partnership with marginalized populations took root. Ferial is actively engaged in several studies, including FEHNCY. Her thesis focuses on characterizing the food environments of First Nations' communities in Canada through latent class analysis.
Shabnam Hosseini
Shabnam holds Bachelor’s in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (Iran). In 2019, she obtained her Master of Business Administration from Tehran Business School (Iran). Shabnam has almost eight years of research experience in Iran, developing and implementing surveys, and working as a nutritionist at hospitals and her own office in Iran. She is currently pursuing her MSc at the School of Human Nutrition, McGill University under the supervisor of Professor Grace Marquis. Her research uses a mixed-methods approach to explore and understand neglected micronutrient deficiencies among women in rural Eastern Region of Ghana. She is eager to work in international institutions and help improve the well-being of women.
Mikaela Borgeaud LeBlanc
Mikaela completed her B. Sc. in life sciences with a specialization in animal biology at Mcgill University. Under the supervision of Murray Humphries, she is now completing her master's degree studying moose calving behaviour in the Cree territory of Eeyou Istchee in Northern Quebec. In this region, moose are a key subsistence species and impacts of forestry-related and natural disturbances on moose behaviour led to a collaborative co-knowledge production project named “Moose habitat quality in Eeyou Istchee Under the Adapted Forestry Regime”. Camera and GPS collars were attached to moose located via helicopter and are being used to record 20-second videos and GPS locations of cow-moose which help describe calving behaviours, including date-of-calving, space use and habitat selection.
Ekua Manful
Ekua is currently pursuing her master’s degree at the School of Human Nutrition supervised by Professor Treena Delormier. She holds an MBA in Marketing and a BSc in Nutrition & Food Science from the University of Ghana. With extensive experience at Nestlé as a nutritionist, Ekua is passionate about influencing good food choices in socioeconomically diverse communities. She aims to provide nutritional interventions that improve well-being using local and culturally relevant healthy foods without financial strain. Her research focuses on ‘Assessing Kahnawà:ke schools' readiness to revitalize primary prevention of Type 2 Diabetes’. Ekua has excelled in roles such as consumer education, training sales teams, and promoting healthier eating in the food industry. Her voluntary work and commitment to public education highlight her dedication to empowering communities with knowledge-based nutritional choices. She aspires to lead in implementing nutritional solutions globally, especially in Indigenous communities and her home country.
Caroline Hunziker
Caroline is a Registered Dietitian and has been a member of the Ordre des diététistes-nutritionnistes du Québec (ODNQ) since 2023. She holds a Bachelor’s in Nutritional Sciences with a Dietetics Major from McGill University. Throughout her bachelor’s degree, Caroline has participated in various volunteering initiatives and community-based work, where she developed a strong interest in health equity and the social determinants of health. Currently, Caroline works as a clinical nutritionist at the Villa Medica Rehabilitation Hospital while pursuing her Master’s in Human Nutrition at McGill University, supervised by Professor Treena Delormier. Caroline’s work focuses on cultural safety practices within dietetics education and training offered at McGill, specifically regarding the Indigenous Peoples of Quebec.
Ana Maria Maldonado
My name is Ana Maria Maldonado, and I’m from Monterrey, Mexico. I graduated with a B.A. in Nutrition and Wellness from the Tec de Monterrey, and I am currently in my first year of the MSc. Human Nutrition (Thesis). I am part of Dr. Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez’s laboratory research group, where my thesis project focuses on food insecurity and obesity in Mexican school-aged children. The aim of my study is to evaluate the association of food insecurity with overweight and obesity in children (aged 5-11 years) in Mexico through a retrospective longitudinal study, utilizing National Health and Nutrition Survey Data (ENSANUT) from 2020-2023. Additionally, I aim to determine whether the consumption of ultra-processed foods mediates this relationship.
Samantha Delisle
Samantha graduated McGill with a B.Sc. in (Hons) Environmental Biology in 2024. She has been working in the Northern Wildlife Knowledges Lab since 2022 on various co-developed community projects, where she also discovered a passion for community-led work. She is currently completing her MSc thesis supervised by Professor Murray Humphris by working with the coastal Cree communities of Eeyou Istchee in Northern Quebec to document and understand biodiversity in the Eeyou Marine Region of James Bay, a priority identified by the communities in 2019. She will be utilizing camera traps, audio recorders and participatory maps to paint a better picture of species diversity in time and space in this understudied area.
Reanna Newsome
Reanna, an M.Sc. student in Murray Humphries’ lab, is from Whitehorse, Yukon, where she has worked as a wildlife technician since 2021. She received her B.Sc. in Wildlife and Fisheries from the University of Northern British Columbia. Her research focuses on the Yukon North Slope, a critical summer range for the Porcupine Caribou Herd and an area currently undergoing significant changes like shrubification, increased moose abundance, and shifting predation opportunities for wolves. The goal of her project is to address questions raised by Gwich’in and Inuvialuit communities regarding sustenance and livelihood surrounding the Porcupine Caribou Herd. To answer this, Reanna is studying wolf pack size, diet, and behavioral shifts, and comparing her findings with historical data to assess changes in predator-prey dynamics. Reanna is keen to continue giving back to the community she grew up in, and hopes her project can contribute towards knowledge, conservation and management initiatives on the North Slope.
Nicole Stafiej
Nicole is a second-generation settler of Polish descent interested in supporting place-based and Indigenous-led research for restoring Indigenous food sovereignty. She completed her BSc in biology and natural history at McGill University in 2023 and is now pursuing a MSc with The Northern Wildlife Knowledges Lab. Under the supervision of Murray Humphries (McGill) and Dominique Henri (ECCC), Nicole is working with the Aqquimavvik Society, an Inuit-led organization in Arviat, Nunavut, to mobilize knowledge on nutrition and traditional goose preparation within the community. This is part of a larger project led by the Aqquimavvik Society looking at the potential of a coordinated goose harvest to advance community food sovereignty.
Alumni
Jolian Wong
Jolian graduated with a B.Sc. in dietetics in 2019 at McGill University. Since, she has gained experience working in clinical nutrition and foodservice management. She has also completed master's thesis under the supervision of professor Jock which focused on the application of knowledge from research findings with First Nations communities to inform policies and programs. After completing her master's, she now continues to work with professor Jock as a research assistant.
Patrick Gibeau
Patrick is a master’s student supervised by Murray Humphries. He is currently living in Whitehorse to help generate knowledge on the Summer Range of the Porcupine Caribou herd located in the Northern Yukon. This area is ecologically, nutritionally, and culturally important to the Inuvialuit and Gwich’in people, and it faces uncertain ecosystem trajectories in the era of climate change. Northern communities are concerned with climate-driven increases in moose abundance and whether their movement into tundra ecosystems will drive a change in predator-prey systems, potentially resulting in adverse consequences for the culturally important Porcupine Caribou Herd. Patrick’s research aims to better understand the mechanisms of ongoing change within the predator-prey relationships of wolves, to help decision-makers understand system shifts and their impacts on wildlife, people, and habitats.
Research Trainees
Gabriela Berrón Cadenas
Gabriela is currently pursuing her Undergraduate degree in Nutrition and Wellness at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico. She attended McGill University for a trimester (Fall 2024) to participate in multiple research projects at CINE under the supervision of professor Treena Delormier; these projects were focused on Indigenous Food Sovereignty and she got to work with MSc students and PhD candidates from McGill University and the Université de Montréal. Her research focused on the traditional foods of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and their composition; she also participated in creating a literature review and assisted a Public Health in Nutrition course during her stay. She is excited to continue her studies in Public Health for her Master’s degree and would like to work in international organizations to promote health, food security, and nutritional education in undermined communities.
