Meet The Team

WLN 2.0 Team

Dr. Tara Pride

Tara Pride is an Assistant Professor in the school of Occupational Therapy at Dalhousie University. Growing up in Mi’kma’ki, she is of mixed Mi’kmaw and settler ancestry and member of Sipekne’katik First Nation. Her research program includes working alongside Indigenous occupational therapists across the country to better understand their needs through the creation of an Indigenous Occupational Therapy Collective in Canada. Further, she has also been a part of a research team exploring the experiences of marginalized health professionals across the country and has contributed to numerous manuscripts publishing these results.

As the former Coordinator of the Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship Network, she has a keen interest on working collaboratively with Indigenous post-secondary students to determine mentorship and training needs, particularly for health professions students. Broadly, she is interested in research collaborations with Indigenous Peoples and communities to support community-led and driven research that meets their needs and goals.

Principal Investigator | Dalhousie University

Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo

Principal Investigator | Acadia University

Ashlee Cunsolo is an internationally recognized scholar and leader, who joined Acadia University in 2024 as the Provost and Vice-President Academic. Prior to Acadia, Ashlee was the Founding Vice-Provost of the Labrador Campus of Memorial University and the Founding Dean of the School of Arctic and Subarctic Studies, where she spent eight years working with Indigenous governments and leaders to create a new co-governed Northern Campus in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador. During this time, Ashlee also acquired, created, and oversaw the Pye Centre for Northern Boreal Food Systems, an 80-acre research, education, and experimental farm focused on enhancing and expanding Northern food bases, food security, and food sovereignty in Labrador.

As a leader, Ashlee prioritizes institution-building, increasing EDI-AR and Indigenization throughout programming and policies, building university-community relationships, and creating innovative programs and structures to better meet the needs of students. In 2023, Ashlee received the Angela Hildyard Recognition Award for Emerging Leaders, presented annually by the Senior Women Academic Administrators Canada (SWAAC), in recognition of her influential leadership and her demonstrated ability to create transformational change and advance the mission of higher education in innovative and outstanding ways.

As a researcher, Dr. Cunsolo has been working for almost 20 years on community-based and community-led climate change and health research in the North and internationally. A former Canada Research Chair (Tier II) and an inaugural member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists (of which she is now Member Emeritus), Ashlee is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking work on climate change, mental health, and ecological grief, particularly in Labrador and across the North. She has served on multiple national and international advisory boards and task forces, including serving as the Co-Chair of the Canadian Council of Academies Future of Arctic Research report, an elected member of the Federal Task Force on Northern Post-Secondary Education, a contributing author to two chapters of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report, a Lead Author on Chapters in the Natural Resources Canada and the Health Canada Climate Change Assessment Reports, and a Commissioner for the Lancet Arctic Health Commission.

John G. Paul

Principal Investigator | APCFNC

John Paul is the Executive Director of the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs Secretariat in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Taking direction from the Chiefs through frequent All Chiefs Forums and Executive Chiefs Board of Directors and Co-Chairs Mr. Paul provides policy analysis and strategic advice on a wide range of policy issues facing First Nations in Atlantic Canada and Eastern Quebec. The APC Secretariat’s mandate is to research, analyze and develop alternatives to federal policies affecting its member First Nation communities.

Paul has a Bachelor of Arts in Community Studies from Cape Breton University in 1980 and received his Master of Public Administration in Financial Management from Halifax’s Dalhousie University in 1982. A strong and dedicated advocate for First Nations, Mr. Paul has worked toward positive change for First Nations communities in diverse policy areas for more than 35 years.

Dr. Debbie Martin

Tier II Canada Research Chair, Indigenous Peoples Health and Well-Being, professor at Dalhousie University and a major advocate for Indigenous-led research and Indigenous health, Martin’s research is largely aimed at building opportunities for Indigenous peoples and communities to use research as a tool for their benefit, on their terms.

Through Martin’s contributions with the Wabanaki-Labrador Indigenous Health Research Network (WLN), more research has been shifted into the hands of Indigenous communities and partners by offering both long and short-term funding opportunities for community-led health research.

Principal Investigator | Dalhousie University

Dr. Shelley Price

Principal Investigator | Acadia University

Shelley Price’s teaching, research and service work relates to expanding trauma-informed and culturally humble approaches to management and management education with a keen interest in advancing the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIAP+ (MMIWG2S) Calls for Justice and the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Calls to Action. She works with Indigenous storytelling methodologies, collective storytelling practices, community-led and participatory action research, trans-local learning, and art-based ways of connecting with wisdoms from the lands.

Dr. Anita Benoit

Principal Investigator | University of Toronto

Anita Benoit is Mi’kmaw and French Acadian with family living in Esgenoopetitj First Nation and Brantville, New Brunswick. Anita received their Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa and my MSc. from Dalhousie University, both in Microbiology and Immunology. They obtained a MSc. from the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation in Health Systems Research at the University of Toronto while conducting their postdoctoral fellowship at Women's College Research Institute, Women's College Hospital. Anita's research interests include Indigenous women’s health, health of racialized individuals, HIV pathogenesis, intervention research, health service outcomes and evaluation, chronic stress and mental health, harm reduction and determinants of health.​

Principal Investigator | St. Francis Xavier University

Dr. L. Jane McMillan

Chair and Professor, Department of Anthropology at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Her PhD is from the University of British Columbia (2003).

From 2006-2016, Professor McMillan held the Canada Research Chair for Indigenous Peoples and Sustainable Communities. She served as President of the Canadian Law and Society Association from 2012 to 2014. As a legal anthropologist, she has had the privilege of working with Indigenous communities for close to 30 years, conducting community-driven participatory research and applied policy analysis, and advocating for justice, self-determination and Indigenous treaty and livelihood rights. A former eel fisher and original co-defendant in the Supreme Court of Canada’s Marshall decision (1999), she keenly studies the progress of rights implementation in Mi’kma’ki. Professor McMillan is the author of numerous publications, including the award-winning Truth and Conviction: Donald Marshall Jr. and the Mi’kmaw Quest for Justice (UBC Press 2018), and received the Outreach Award from StFX University in 2021. She is a member of the Mi’kmaq/Nova Scotia/Canada Tripartite Forum Justice Committee, the Atlantic Policy Congress First Nations Chief Secretariat’s steering and research subcommittees, the advisory committee of the Indigenous Justice Strategy, and the Board of Directors of Innocence Canada. She served on the Research Advisory Board of the Nova Scotia Mass Casualty Commission, on an “Expert” Advisory Panel to Corrections Service Canada, and, more recently, as Special Advisor, Indigenous Research and Learning Partnerships at St. Francis Xavier University. In 2025, Senator Paul Prosper presented Dr. McMillan with the King Charles III Coronation Medal in recognition of her lasting impact on research, education, and community engagement. She is currently the director of the newly established Deveau Centre for Indigenous Governance and Social Justice at StFX.

Dr. Erica Samms-Hurley

Principal Investigator | Memorial University

Erica Samms-Hurley is a Mi’kmaq woman from the West Coast of Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland). Her community connection is through both of her parents, but it is stronger through her father’s side, whereby his father is from the lands of Flat Bay, NL. Erica is a registered nurse who graduated from the BN program at Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2004, completed my Master of Nursing (Thesis) from Athabasca University in 2014 and graduated from the PhD of Nursing Program at the University of Alberta in 2023. She has been involved in Indigenous health and advocacy work since she was a youth, obtaining both a Governor Generals’ Award in Commemoration of The Person’s Case and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award.  She has been working in nursing education since 2008 and is currently an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Nursing, Memorial University with a cross-appointment in the School of Arts and Social Science Interdisciplinary Humanities Department, Grenfell Campus. Erica’s research focus is on Indigenous Health which is multifaceted and interconnected with many topics, but community always remains at the heart of her work.

Dr. Jenny Rand

Sex & Gender Champion

Jenny Rand (she/her) holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies from Dalhousie University. Her area of research has focused on Indigenous community-based HIV and STBBI prevention and sexual health promotion. Jenny’s doctoral research was nested within an Inuit HIV prevention study and specifically examined the interaction of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (Inuit societal values and principles) and community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles. Jenny is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the Wabanaki-Labrador Indigenous Health Research Network. Jenny’s teaching focus spans topics including Indigenous health and healing, health program planning and evaluation, health promotion and health professions, teaching sexual health, human sexuality, and gender & sexuality.

Principal Knowledge Users

  • Elder Albert Marshall

    ESKASONI FIRST NATION

  • Elder Kerry Prosper

    ST. FRANCIS XAVIER UNIVERSITY

Network Staff

  • Marni Amirault

    NETWORK MANAGER

  • William Johnson

    ENGAGEMENT & MENTORSHIP COORDINATOR

  • Iona Worden-Driscoll

    FINANCIAL MANAGER

  • Keyara Valencia-Hinds

    RESEARCH ASSISTANT

  • Lindsay Fennema

    RESEARCH ASSISTANT

WLN 1.0 Team

Indigenous Governing Circle

  • Aimee Battcock

    NUNATUKAVUT COMMUNITY COUNCIL

  • John G. Paul

    ATLANTIC POLICY CONGRESS OF FIRST NATIONS

    CHEIFS SECRETARIAT

  • Pamela Glode-Desrochers

    MI’KMAW NATIVE FRIENDSHIP CENTRE

Principal Investigators

  • Debbie Martin

    DALHOUSIE UNVERSITY

  • Margot Latimer

    DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY

  • Jane McMillan

    ST. FRANCIS XAVIER UNIVERSITY

  • Ashlee Cunsolo

    MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NEWFOUNDLAND

Principal Knowledge Users

  • Elder Albert Marshall

    ESKASONI FIRST NATION

  • Elder Kerry Prosper

    ST. FRANCIS XAVIER UNIVERSITY

Sex & Gender Champions

  • Katie Aubrecht

    ST. FRANCIS XAVIER UNIVERSITY

Network Staff

  • Marni Amirault

    NETWORK MANAGER

  • Jenny Rand

    RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

  • William Johnson

    ENGAGEMENT & MENTORSHIP COORDINATOR

  • Iona Worden-Driscoll

    FINANCIAL MANAGER

  • Keyara Valencia-Hinds

    RESEARCH ASSISTANT

  • Ibtesum Afrin

    RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Co-Investigators

De-Ann Sheppard, St. Francis Xavier University

Katie Aubrecht, St. Francis Xavier University

Barret Kurylyk, Dalhousie University

Sherry Pictou, Dalhousie University

Melanie Zurba, Dalhousie Univesity

Amy Bombay, Dalhousie University

Diana Lewis, University of Guelph

Katharine Gloade, Dalhousie University

Laurie-Ann Nicholas, Neqotkuk First Nation

Anita Benoit, University of Toronto

Heather Castleden, University of Victoria

Lois Jackson, Dalhousie University

Cathy MacDonald, St. Francis Xavier University

Mary McNally, Dalhousie University

Sylvia Moore, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Jennifer Shea, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Adele Vukic, Dalhousie University 

Margaret Robinson, Dalhousie University

Matthew Numer, Dalhousie University

Jennifer Shea, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Margaret Robinson, Dalhousie University

Shauna Hachey, Dalhousie University

Joanne Langley, Dalhousie University

Jocelyn Paul, Dalhousie University

Nick Mercer, University of PEI

Karen Beazley, Dalhousie University

Patricia Williams, Mount Saint Vicent University

Gail Baikie, Dalhousie University

Shauna Hachey, Dalhousie University

Max Liboiron, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Carolyn Gaspar, Dalhousie University

Jessie-Lee McIsaac, Mount Saint Vincent University

Barret Kuriyk, Dalhousie University

Graham Gagnon, Dalhousie University

Tuma Young, Cape Breton University

Mary Beth Doucette, Cape Breton University

Sylvia Moore, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Jordan Warford, Nova Scotia Health Authority

Sherry Pictou, Dalhousie University

William Montelpare, University of Prince Edward Island

Joanne Whitty-Rogers, St. Francis Xavier University

Janet Kuhnke, Cape Breton University

Janine Metallic, McGill University

Amina Stoddart, Dalhousie University

Kathy Snow, University of Prince Edward Island

Melanie Zurba, Dalhousie University

Ann Fox, St. Francis Xavier University

Rob Jamieson, Dalhousie University

Leah Carrier, Dalhousie University

Scott Halperin, Dalhousie University

Mindy Denny, Membertou First Nation

Knowledge Users

Sharon Rudderham, Tajikeimɨk, Mi’kmaw Health and Wellness

Athanasius Sylliboy, Dalhousie University

Mary Beth Doucette, Cape Breton University

Carla Moore, Millbrook First Nation

Collaborators

Frederic Wien, Dalhousie University

John Paul, Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs Secretariart

Cheryl Bartlett, Cape Breton University

Brenda Gagne, Mount Saint Vincent University

Jennifer Brady, Mount Saint Vincent University

Stephen Augustine, Cape Breton University, Mi’kmaw Ethics Watch

Pamela Glode-Desrochers, Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre

Sara Kirk, Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University

Lori Weeks, Dalhousie University, Health Research Ethics Board

Josh Leslie, Stewardly

Darlene Wall, NunatuKavut Community Council

Carola Knockwood, Nova Scotia Department of Education,

Mi’kmaw Services Branch

Amy Hudson, NunatuKavut Community Council

Shannan Grant, Mount Saint Vincent University

Jamie Snook, Torngat Wildlife, Plants, and Fisheries Secretariat

Chandra MacBean, Alzeimer Society of New Brunswick

Inez Shiwak, Nunatsiavut

Daphane Lordy, Mount Saint Vincent University