AV俱乐部

Where are you from? What did you do before coming to AV俱乐部?

I am originally from the north shore of Nova Scotia, but have lived in a number of places including central Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Taiwan and England. Prior to coming to AV俱乐部 I spent six years in Chicago doing a JD and a PhD at Northwestern University.

What drew you to the School of Information Management and AV俱乐部?

I was drawn to SIM because, as an information school in a faculty of management, it offers a unique interdisciplinary atmosphere. AV俱乐部 is one of Canada鈥檚 best universities, and best places to work. It also didn鈥檛 hurt that it is located in one of my favourite places on Earth.

What are your research and teaching interests?

My research interests focus mostly on issues relating to innovation policy, intellectual property law and legal informatics. I approach these issues from a data-driven, information science perspective, with particular interests in both network analytics and natural language processing.

My teaching interests are inspired by my research. I鈥檓 excited to teach classes of substantive interest to our information school students, like information policy, as well as more methods-oriented classes like Introduction to Data Science that will help give students the skills they need to be successful in the 21st century workplace.

What were your first impressions of the School/Faculty/AV俱乐部?

I was initially impressed with the collegiality and 鈥渟mall town鈥� feel here at AV俱乐部. People all seem genuinely friendly, eager to help and curious about what one another are doing.

What鈥檚 your favourite thing (so far) about working here?

So far, I鈥檓 very excited by the freedom to focus my research interests in the interdisciplinary way that I want to. My work spans multiple disciplinary areas, like law and information science. SIM鈥檚 interdisciplinary nature means I don鈥檛 have to forgo any area of interest to fit myself within a constrained disciplinary box. I鈥檓 instead free to work in a variety of areas that are all relevant in their own way to SIM, and the Faculty of Management more broadly.

Tell me about something you鈥檝e accomplished.

During my time at Northwestern Law, I was elected editor-in-chief of the Northwestern University Law Review, one of the oldest and most well established legal publications in the United States, with over 110 years of continuous publication. The editor-in-chief role has been occupied by some truly inspirational individuals, so to have my peers express their confidence in my research and management capabilities was very humbling.

What advice would you give to a new faculty or staff member?

As a new faculty member, I feel that I should probably be on the other end of the advice giving/receiving relationship. Nonetheless, something I鈥檓 going to try to do is connect on a personal level with my students. I want them to feel that I鈥檓 available not just as an instructor, but also as an advisor. I鈥檓 keen to help them succeed to the extent that I鈥檓 able to do so.

What鈥檚 something most people here don鈥檛 know about you?

I used to work as a professional juggler, actor and entertainer. I performed on four continents for audiences as diverse as second-graders and heads of state. I still juggle from time-to-time, so if you鈥檙e ever at the Dalplex and you see a guy absorbed in throwing and catching lots of things, there鈥檚 a good chance it鈥檚 me trying to get in some practice.