SOPR Students

What are your research interests? I am interested in understanding how the climate emergencies impact 2SLGTBQIA+ communities and how climate policies can be transformed to integrate Queer knowledge and practices of resistance. This builds on my previous research looking at the mental health impacts of the climate emergencies on youth activists and my professional experience in the climate mitigation and adaptation sectors. I also have a keen interest in arts-based methodologies having used poetry and visual arts in my past research and writing.

Why did you choose the SOPR program? I chose the SOPR program because of the emphasis on praxis and bridging research, policy, and community organizing and arts-based innovative methods. As a climate justice scholar and activist, I was also drawn to the grounding of the program in the pillars, particularly those of decolonization, Indigenous knowledge systems, community-engaged scholarship, and social justice praxis and the dedication to true transformational change.

What are your research interests? I am interested in the ways communities collaborate and organize themselves to transform systems to prevent and end homelessness. This builds on my ongoing professional work in the national and international movement around youth homelessness prevention.

Why did you choose the SOPR program? I was looking for an interdisciplinary program grounded in social justice that would create an opportunity to deepen my knowledge of theory and research methodologies/methods, while actively and reflexively putting it into practice.

Aimee Copping is a non-profit arts educator and electronic music advocate. She's the creator of Blackball, a unique electronic music teaching program for children and youth in underserved communities, now entering its tenth year. In collaboration with prison music program Pros and Cons, Aimee established a dedicated music production space inside the walls of Grand Valley Institution for Women and produced two albums of original material written and performed by imprisoned women.

Aimee is the founder and lead of SongLine, a songwriting mentorship program for trans youth, and the co-creator of asuperher00pera, an original operetta created with Guelph elementary students. Aimee is a regular collaborator with Girls' Rock Camp Guelph and Silence Sounds. She has held board and committee seats with ARCH Guelph and the Upper Grand District School Board and, most recently, was appointed to an Ontario Arts Council's Music Creation jury.

What are your research interests? I am interested in understanding what it means to decolonize spaces with healing and belonging as part of the process. My intention with this work is to counter colonial approaches that gave rise to social, ecological and economic inequities and offer a new lens to view community development, urban planning, and public health.

Why did you choose the SOPR program? I chose the program because of its interdisciplinary nature and critical and innovative focus, and its centering of decolonizing approaches, Indigenous knowledge systems, methodological innovation, and community-engaged scholarship. This enables a nuanced engagement with the interlinking of structural barriers and social change.