Sexual and gender minority group members of sports clubs
Completed projects in this area have included:
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Interviews with members of queer recreational sports clubs. This work was completed in cooperation with the Windsor Rainbow Sports Club and funded by the SSHRC Partnership Engage program.
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Interviews with SGM members of recreational sports clubs, which was funded by the WE Spark Health Institute Igniting Discovery program.
Ongoing projects in this area include:
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The creation of the Ontario Rainbow Sports Network, a partnership between academic researchers and queer recreational sports clubs.
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A review of published research on participation in sport by SGM youth.
Sexual health information needs in sexual and gender minority youth and young adults
With support from the SSHRC Partnership Engage program and in cooperation with Trans Wellness Ontario, we are investigating how and where trans, two-spirit, and non-binary people get information about sex and how best to get information about sex and sexual wellbeing back to them. If you'd like to participate, click here.
Research Overview
The art of drag
In 2025, we published a set of interviews conducted by graduate students and RAs with local drag performers. Findings from our study were shared at a drag show we co-produced with Trans Wellness Ontario and local drag performers. Current projects in this area include a synthesis of research published on drag from 2015 to 2025, funded by a SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis grant.
Resilience in relation to sex, sexuality, and gender identity
Ongoing projects include:
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A survey of 2S/TNB adults who report a history of child abuse.
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A survey of cis women with endometriosis.
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A survey and interviews with 2STNB individuals who have endometriosis.
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Analysis of archival data on contributors to resilience in HIV+ and HIV- gay men
Archived Projects
Projects described here have been completed and no new data is being collected at this time. Prospective graduate or undergraduate students who are interested in doing research on these topics are advised to apply to other labs.
Representations of sex and sexuality in the media
Past projects in this area have included representations of "great sex" in lifestyle magazines; depictions of sexual scripts and orgasms in contemporary romance novels; Final Girls and victims in Slasher movies; representations of sexually explicit behaviour in Sex and the City, The L Word and their revivals; and sexual behaviours and communication in YA novels aimed at LGBTQ+ readers .
Academic Lab Safety
Despite the regular occurrence of accidents resulting in personal injuries, property damage, and even deaths, little is known about the causes or impact of academic lab accidents. In collaboration with Dr. Trant (Chemistry/Biochemistry), we wrote a review on the subject that was published in Nature Chemistry and was downloaded 25,000+ times in the first two months of its publication.
Read a CBC interview about the article.
Mental Health and Wellbeing in Science Students
This work was started as part of the Sci of Relief program in the Faculty of Sciences in collaboration with Dr. Chris Houser (Earth and Environmental Sciences) and Dr. Dora Cavallo-Medved (Biomedical Sciences). Projects in this area include a survey administered to students, faculty and staff about levels of and contributors to stress, use of support programs, and ideas for improvements to the Faculty.
The Imposter Phenomenon
This work was initiated by a transdisciplinary team from FAHSS, Science, and HK including Ms. Michelle Bondy and Dr. Dora Medved-Cavallo. In October 2019, we surveyed students, staff, and faculty about their experiences of the Impostor Phenomenon in academic settings. We received over 1400+ responses from students and 150+ from staff and faculty. This survey generated over 800 descriptions of how participants felt in those moments. Data from this project supported the delivery of 15+ workshops by our team to undergraduate and graduate students on campus as well as staff and faculty.
This work was funded by a Centred on Learning and Innovation Fund (CLIF) grant from the Centre for Teaching and Learning.
Nurse Mental Health and Wellbeing during COVID
With collaborators in nursing, we interviewed 36 nurses in May and June of 2020 to understand their experiences working in hospitals during the initial wave of COVID. We re-interviewed 19 of those nurses a year later. Based on their reports, as well as a survey completed by our group in December 2020 about use of programming, we created a simulation-based training program designed to boost resilience in senior nursing students. This project was supported by grants from the WE Spark Igniting Discovery program and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.