Research conducted in our lab is inherently interdisciplinary, involving the combined expertise of academics, as well as industrial, government, and community partners. Our research interests span the domains of statistics, computer science, biology, pedagogy & andragogy, and community-engaged learning & scholarship.
If you are interested in joining our research group, please review the list of available positions here.
CLICK FOR A LIST OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS
The Ecological and Public Health Risk Assessment research program looks to develop new methods to better understand ecological and public health risks and to evaluate the impacts of environmental change on human health. This includes research exploring DNA barcoding sampling practices and developing new models to better quantify and understand risk. Recent research has included the use of join-point regression models to improve population modelling, spatial-temporal Poisson Mixtures for health risk assessment, and the development of a novel Agent-Based Model (ABM) known as an environmental-ABM.
The Community-Engaged Software Design research program is an interdisciplinary program co-led by community partners. It explores the use of participatory methods to co-develop software solutions to challenges put forward by the community. This includes, for example, an integrated environment and health monitoring program designed by, with, and for Inuit in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Labrador. The goal of the program is to streamline and incorporate the community’s existing research efforts into a comprehensive strategy for monitoring and responding to environmental and health indicators of climate change.
The Bridging the Digital Divide research program is a five-year interdisciplinary program that includes Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers from the University of Guelph, Inuit Nunangat, and beyond. The goal of the research program is to study the use of wireless mobile mesh technology to bridge the digital divide in Canada.
The Transdisciplinary Pedagogy in Higher Education research program explores methods to improve the delivery of courses while providing students a space to practice and master the skills (both technical and foundational) identified by industry as necessary to succeed in the future Canadian workforce. The Ideas Congress (ICON) Transdisciplinary Classroom is one such result of this research. It brings together students from all years and disciplines to work with and learn from community partners while developing solutions to broad social issues. Through workshops, team building activities, and fostering of knowledge translation and transfer, ICON aims to teach students valuable interpersonal, team, and communication skills, while fostering innovative ideas for today’s most pressing challenges. As part of this research program, we are actively studying the student experience and outcomes related to this novel course design and others like it. For more information about the ICON Classroom, click here.
Dr. Daniel Gillis (he/him) 🏳️🌈 