Research Fellows

Alex MacIsaac

Alex is the Research Manager in Democracy & Technology at the . His work focuses on technology's influence on Canadian democracy and civic engagement, digital platform governance, prosocial design, mitigating digital information threats, and enhancing digital media literacy. He currently leads the Samara Centre's , and previously led the from 2022-2025.

Alex is a graduate of McMaster University鈥檚 Master of Public Policy in Digital Society program, where his research focused on digital privacy law, digital democracy, and the spread of dis- and misinformation online, all within a Canadian context. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Communications, Leadership, and Culture from the University of Prince Edward Island. Through holding previous working roles in research, communications, public affairs, and municipal government, Alex has had experience working within both the non-profit sector and public service.

Beyond online discourse, Alex is passionate about issues surrounding equity within public education, digital literacy, and youth engagement.

Dr. Claudine Bonner

(she/her) is the in Racial justice and African Diaspora migration in the Atlantic Region at Mount Allison University and an Associate Professor in Sociology. She served as the inaugural Vice Provost of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Acadia University. Claudine is a scholar of the 20th century with a specialization in Black Canadian history.

Her research and teaching interests focus on African Diaspora (im)migration and settlement in the Atlantic world, Black Canadian labour history, and diversity and equity in education.聽Her recent publication "The Black Press: A Shadowed Canadian Tradition" is a collection of essays co-edited with Drs. Nina Reid-Maroney and Boulou Ebanda de B b猫ri. This collection, spanning the period from the 1850s to the early twentieth century, is the first in the field to bring together original historical and Communication Studies research that position pioneering Canadian Black journalists as effective intellectual activists. Her current research explores early twentieth century African-Caribbean migration networks, centering Atlantic Canada.

Trina Roache聽

Trina Roache is a proud member of the Glooscap Mi鈥檏maw community in a region of Mi鈥檏ma鈥檏i we now call Nova Scotia. She鈥檚 an award-winning video journalist and assistant professor at the School of Journalism at the University of King鈥檚 College in Kjipuktuk (Halifax). Trina brings over two decades of experience working for CBC,聽APTN National News,聽补苍诲听APTN Investigates聽to her current role as an educator. She weaves a Mi鈥檏maw perspective into both her journalism and the classroom, teaching vital courses that envision a decolonized media, like Reporting in Mi鈥檏ma鈥檏i and Indigenous Peoples and Media. With an MA in History from 海角社区app University, Trina鈥檚 academic research has centred the Mi鈥檏maw connection to traditional homelands as a way to reframe colonial narratives and unsilence the voices of L鈥檔u鈥檏, The People.