Laurier expert alert: World Refugee Day

June 11, 2021
For Immediate Release

Waterloo – World Refugee Day is held annually on June 20. Wilfrid Laurier University has several experts available to speak about refugees, migration and related topics.

Bree Akesson is an associate professor of social work, Canada Research Chair in Global Adversity and Well-Being, associate director of the Centre for Research on Security Practices and research associate with the International Migration Research Centre. She is an expert on war-affected and refugee children and families. She is available to comment on refugee family issues in a variety of international contexts, including Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Uganda. Read more about her work. Contact: bakesson@wlu.ca

Professor Robert McLeman, in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, is an expert on the human dimensions of climate change, including the relationship between the environment and human migration, community adaptation to climatic variability and change, and citizen participation in environmental science. He is available to speak about the impacts of climate change on global migration patterns and the impacts of environmental migration to North America. Read more about his work. Contact: rmcleman@wlu.ca

Kristiina Montero is a professor in the Faculty of Education. Her research has focused on the literacy development of low literacy adolescent refugee newcomers with limited or interrupted education and professional development for teachers who are educating refugee newcomers to Canada. Contact: kmontero@wlu.ca

Edward Shizha is a professor of Youth and Children’s Studies. His research focuses on the programs and services designed to support the needs of immigrants and refugees, especially newcomers from Africa, and challenges associated with accessing those supports in Canada. He also studies education in sub-Saharan Africa and the experiences of African immigrants and refugees in the Canadian education system. Contact: eshizha@wlu.ca

Stacey Wilson-Forsberg, associate professor in Laurier’s Human Rights and Human Diversity program and director of the Tshepo Institute for the Study of Contemporary Africa, is an expert on migration and multiculturalism, with a focus on the experiences of immigrant and refugee youth in Canada. She is currently leading a study on the experiences of African refugee youth as they transition into postsecondary institutions across Canada and another on the impacts of the pandemic on the mental and emotional health of newcomers in North America. She recently partnered with a Waterloo-based organization, Adventure4Change, to study how refugee families are coping during the pandemic and the importance of services offered by community organizations. She has also studied the experiences of Central American and African asylum-seekers in Mexico. Contact: swilsonforsberg@wlu.ca