recognizing research excellence in the Faculty of Social Sciences
December 10, 2026
Goodman Atrium (oral presentations) and Rankin Family Pavilion Atrium (posters)
All are welcome to attend this free event.
The annual Social Sciences Research Colloquium is an opportunity to hear from the faculty recipients of two awards presented each year by the Faculty of Social Sciences: Distinguished Researcher and Early Career Researcher. Typically, the Colloquium features presentations by faculty awardees from the previous year.
The 2026 Research Colloquium will feature 2025 FOSS Distinguished Researcher Julia Baird, Associate Professor of Geography and Tourism Studies and Director of the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, and 2025 FOSS Early Career Researcher Danielle McNabb, Assistant Professor of Political Science.
Student presenters will be announced, as confirmed.
The 2025 Research Colloquium featured 2024 FOSS Distinguished Researcher Julie Ham, Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminology, and 2024 FOSS Early Career Researcher Charlis Raineki, Assistant Professor of Psychology, three student speakers and a student poster fair.
Faculty of Social Sciences Early Career Researcher Charlis Raineki (left), Distinguished Researcher Julie Ham (right) and Acting Dean Dawn Zinga (centre).
Twenty students took part in the first-ever Social Sciences Research Colloquium Poster Fair.
PhD student Erika Savage (left) and master’s students Temilade Adesina (centre) and Mackenzie Rockbrune (right) were selected from a pool of applicants to deliver oral presentations on their research.
Past Social Sciences Research Colloquia
The 2025 Research Colloquium was held on December 5 in the Cairns Atrium. This in-person event featured 2024 FOSS Distinguished Researcher Julie Ham, Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminology, and 2024 FOSS Early Career Researcher Charlis Raineki, Assistant Professor of Psychology. Dr. Ham’s talk was entitled “Hypersexualisation and racialised erotic capital in sex work.” Dr. Raineki’s talk was entitled “Understanding how early environments shape health and disease: A translational approach using prenatal alcohol exposure.”
Joining the faculty speakers were MA candidates Temilade Adesina (Applied Disability Studies) and Mackenzie Rockbrune (Social Justice and Equity Studies) with PhD candidate Erika Savage (Child and Youth Studies). This Colloquium also included a student poster fair that showcased the research of 20 participating students from across FOSS.
Read the Dec. 2025 Brock News article
View a list of student oral presenters, titles and abstracts
View a list of student poster presenters, titles and abstracts.
This virtual event, which happened on December 6, 2024, featured presentations from 2023 FOSS Distinguished Researcher Danielle Sirianni Molnar, Associate Professor of Child and Youth Studies, and 2023 FOSS Early Career Researcher Ann Farrell, Assistant Professor of Child and Youth Studies. Joining them were selected recipients of the FOSS Student Research award: Master’s students Anton Dinh (Psychology) and Kristin Grant (Applied Disability Studies), and PhD candidate Hannah Marlen Lübker (Sustainability Science).
Read the Dec. 2024 Brock News article
View a video of the 2024 Colloquium
This event was part of 60 Research Talks at Brock, celebrating 60 years of impactful research at Brock University.
Faculty presenters included Tony Volk, Professor of Child and Youth Studies and 2022 Distinguished Researcher, and Pascal Lupien, Associate Professor of Political Science and 2022 Early Career Researcher.
Student presenters selected from among recent winners of the FOSS Student Research Award included MA candidates Idris Khan (Geography) and Patrick Segawa (Child and Youth Studies), and undergraduate Megan Vlahiotis (Psychology).
Faculty presenters included Robert Dimand, Professor of Economics and recipient of the 2021 award for Distinguished Researcher, as well as Chelsea Jones and Naomi Andrews, both Assistant Professors in the Department of Child and Youth Studies and recipients of 2021 Early Career Researcher awards.
Student presenters selected from among recent winners of the FOSS Student Research Award included Sulemana Saaka (MA in Political Science), Tannaz Sattar (Master of Sustainability), and Ege Kamber (PhD in Psychology).
The Research Colloquium on December 8, 2021, was held online and live streamed to a virtual audience. Faculty presenters included two recipients of the 2020 Early Career Researcher award (formerly called Untenured Researcher of the Year): Julia Baird (Environmental Sustainability Research Centre; Geography and Tourism Studies) and Jessica Blythe (Environmental Sustainability Research Centre)
Faculty presenters were joined by Jillian Booth (Candidate, Master of Sustainability), Alec Moore (Candidate, MA in Child and Youth Studies) and Niruba Rasuratnam (Candidate, MA in Applied Disability Studies)
Andrea Doucet, Professor of Sociology and recipient of the 2020 award for Distinguished Researcher was unavailable to participate in this event.
The 2020 Research Colloquium included presentations from Distinguished Researcher Mike Pisaric from the (Geography and Tourism Studies), with recipient of the 2019 award for Untenured Researcher of the Year Karen Louise Smith (Communication, Popular Culture Film) and recipient of the 2018 award Nicole Goodman (Political Science).
Faculty presenters were joined by students Appiah Bonsu, Candidate (MA in Critical Sociology), Jessica Falk (Candidate, MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies) and Pulkit Garg (Candidate, MS in Sustainability Science and Society).
The Colloquium held in Sankey Chamber featured presentations by Rebecca Raby (Child and Youth Studies), recipient of the 2018 Distinguished Researcher award, as well as student Research Award winners Russ Martin, MA in Popular Culture, and Aaron Nartey, MA in Geography.
Presenters at the 2019 Research Colloquium: Master’s student in Popular Culture Russ Martin, Professor of Child and Youth Studies Rebecca Raby, and Master’s student in Geography Aaron Nartey.
The 2018 Research Colloquium, held in Sankey Chamber featured presentations from the co-recipients of 2017 awards for Distinguished Researcher, Larry Savage (Labour Studies) and Charles Conteh (Political Science), and Untenured Researchers of the Year, Danielle Sirianni Molnar (Child and Youth Studies) and Caitlin Mahy (Psychology).
About the Awards
The faculty awards recognize members of FOSS who demonstrate consistent records of outstanding research achievements as reflected in the quality and quantity of refereed publications, grant awards and other research activities. The Distinguished Researcher award for tenured faculty considers accomplishments from the past five academic years. The Early Career Researcher (formerly called Untenured Researcher of the Year) award considers accomplishments within the previous academic year. As part of the award, each recipient is invited to deliver a research presentation to the Brock community. More information on these awards, including how to submit a nomination, is available here (Brock faculty/staff login required).
Until 2024, the Faculty of Social Sciences recognized student research that contributed to, and advanced research and scholarship in, the Social Sciences with a Student Research Award. PhD candidates, senior undergraduate and MA students whose programs included a research component were eligible to apply. From 2019 to 2024, Research Colloquia included participation from selected winners of the Student Research Award.