Dr. Jessie-Lee McIsaac, Assistant Professor and Tier II Canada Research Chair in Early Childhood: Diversity and Transitions, is the Principal Investigator and Director of ECCRC.
Our multidisciplinary research staff consists of professionals and students from diverse disciplines at the undergraduate and graduate levels. We support capacity building and skills development through intentional goal-setting and teamwork.
Email: jessie-lee.mcisaac@msvu.ca
Jessie-Lee McIsaac holds a Ph.D. in Public Health, an MSc in Health Promotion from the University of Alberta, and a BSc in Kinesiology from Dalhousie University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship on policy interventions and knowledge mobilization with the Healthy Populations Institute (Dalhousie University) and Propel Centre for Population Health Impact (University of Waterloo).
The goal of her program of research is to enhance well-being during early childhood by ensuring policy and practice support families as they transition across early learning environments. McIsaac studies early childhood and educational policy initiatives using an engaged scholarship approach to co-produce research that mobilizes knowledge and experiences for and with marginalised families. She collaborates with researchers, community, policymakers and research participants to inform policy and program design and decision-making.
Fun stuff:
When not doing research in early childhood, she is doing the practice of early childhood with her sons, Michael and Henry.
Email: marlene.ramos1@msvu.ca
Before joining ECCRC as Research Projects Manager in the fall of 2019, Marlene worked in various research administration capacities as Research Grants Officer and Project Coordinator. Marlene completed her MA in Women and Gender Studies through the joint MA program at Mount Saint Vincent University and Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She also holds a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines and a BFA in Textiles from NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Marlene is also a part-time faculty member in the Art History and Contemporary Culture Division at NSCAD University. Her personal research interests are rooted in Art History, Material Culture, and Museum Studies, where she explores the impacts of colonialism and globalization on identity and representation.
Fun stuff:
When Marlene is not at work, you can find her whipping up a delicious meal or dessert and spending time with her partner, kids, and pets.
Email: jane.harley@msvu.ca
Jane holds an M.A. in Family Studies from the University of British Columbia, a B.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Washington, and an A.A.S. in Early Childhood Education. She has additional graduate training in Measurement, Evaluation, and Research Methodology. Jane spent several years teaching preschool before moving into academic research. She has been involved in numerous programs of research including investigations of ADHD in preschool populations, social-emotional learning in young children, and influences of parenting on children’s emotion regulation. Additionally, Jane spent 5 years as an instructor at the University of British Columbia teaching courses such as Child Development and Applying Developmental Theories. Her personal research interests include externalizing behavioural problems in preschool children and the impact of parent-child conflict on family processes.
Fun stuff:
Jane loves spending time with her husband and preschool-aged son, is passionate about travelling, and likes to cook, watch baseball, drink craft beer, and attempt the occasional craft project.
Email: stephanie.geldart@msvu.ca
Stephanie is a recent graduate of the Master of Arts in Child and Youth Study program from Mount Saint Vincent University where she completed a thesis looking at parents and early childhood educator’s role in supporting the sleep hygiene practices of preschool-aged children in licensed childcare. Currently, Stephanie is working at ECCRC as the Project Coordinator for the province-wide Pyramid Model initiative. Stephanie has always been passionate about supporting children with challenging behaviours and that’s why the Pyramid Model is the perfect fit for her!
Fun stuff:
In her spare time, Stephanie loves to be outside! She enjoys going camping on the weekends and spending time with family, friends, her two kittens Maple and Penny and her puppy Finn! Her favourite past times include hiking, canoeing, swimming, snowshoeing, and reading.
Email: marla.smith19@msvu.ca
Marla is a graduate of the Master of Arts in Child and Youth Study program at Mount Saint Vincent University. Marla’s thesis focused on Adverse Childhood Experiences and Early Childhood Educators awareness and perceived support related to working with children who have had unfavourable early life experiences. Currently, Marla is a Research Coordinator at ECCRC, leading the Positive Solutions for Families project, an add-on to the Pyramid Model, a province-wide initiative in Nova Scotia. Marla is passionate about supporting the social-emotional health of children, whether that be through her personal and/or professional work!
Fun Stuff:
In her spare time, Marla enjoys spending time with friends, checking out local breweries and finding new and fun adventures to do in Nova Scotia. When she isn’t exploring the province, she is visiting her family in her hometown of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Email: madison.macquarrie1@msvu.ca
Meet Madison! Madison is a recent graduate from the Master’s in Health Promotion program at Dalhousie University. Her research interests involve many topics related to Health Promotion. For her thesis research, Madison explored partnerships and participation in the Halifax Mobile Food Market in relation to partnership sustainability. Over the past few years, she has also developed a keen research interest in the health of children in the early years, specifically related to physical activity.
Fun stuff:
In her spare time, Madison can be found cooking, exploring and being active outdoors, crafting, or relaxing with family and friends!
Email: milena.pimentel@msvu.ca
Meet Milena! She is currently enrolled in the (BA) Child and Youth Study program at MSVU and has worked at the Child study centre throughout her school terms since the summer of 2018. She loves to work with children of all ages but has found that she thrives in infant/toddler spaces. Milena’s interests lie around the social-emotional wellbeing of children and ECEs and in cultural diversity within early learning settings. Her goal is to complete an honours thesis that would allow her to explore her interests in a little more depth. Milena was born and raised in Bermuda and of Brazilian ethnicity. As a child, she visited Brazil every summer and lived there as a teenager for 5 years. She loves the rich culture and diversity within Brazil and the FOOD!
Fun Stuff:
Her hobbies are whatever her kids are into! They love the water, and are still discovering Nova Scotia and have found some pretty awesome spots, the water is a tad too cold though! They love summers here in Halifax and all the fun events that happen such as Busker Festival, Rib fest (yes they are Foodies!) and they love Canada day celebrations. Strawberry picking and blueberry picking has quickly become a tradition, and they love apple and pumpkin picking in the fall!
Email: randi.cummings@msvu.ca
Randi has recently graduated with a BA in Child and Youth Study from MSVU through which she discovered her passion for supporting the social-emotional and cognitive development of children. Randi worked as an Early Childhood Educator for some time and has since returned to MSVU to work towards obtaining a BA in Psychology. She has returned to school with the hopes of entering a specialized program that will allow her to work directly with children with diverse needs to help them realize their own potentials. Randi’s research interests broadly include how early childhood experiences such as attachment, traumatic experiences, and diverse needs, can affect the social-emotional and cognitive development of the child.
Fun Stuff:
Growing up in a small fishing town has led Randi to love the ocean, and in her free time, she goes home as often as she can to enjoy the beautiful beaches and her family. She also loves to travel and does so as much as possible!
Email: nahal.fakhari@msvu.ca
Meet Nahal! She is originally from Iran and moved with her family 8 years ago to Halifax. She graduated with her honours in the BA Child and Youth Study program with a minor in Biology. Her thesis is about exploring e-health behaviour among Child and Youth Study students. She was also accepted into the MA Health Promotion program at Dal and will start in September 2020.
Fun Stuff:
She enjoys travelling with her husband to see historical sights, historical museums, and art museums. In her free time, Nahal likes to go to the gym or do yoga, watch movies, and read books.
Email: emma.cameron3@msvu.ca
Emma is a recent graduate of the Master of Arts in Health Promotion program at Dalhousie University. She completed her BSc (honours) at Dalhousie University in Psychology. Her master’s thesis focused on access to postnatal care for resettled Syrain refugee women in Nova Scotia. Emma has additional research interests in sexual and reproductive healthcare for refugee, asylum-seeking, and migrant women, and the experiences of discrimination among refugee youth in Canada. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Rainbow Refugee Association of Nova Scotia and is the co-founder of the Women’s Health Interest Group at Dalhousie.
Fun Stuff:
Emma has two greyhounds and loves camping, hiking, cycling, and travelling with her partner.
Email: laken.crowell1@msvu.ca
Laken is a fourth year public relations student at Mount Saint Vincent University, minoring in marketing and communication technology. As a very energetic individual, she took an interest in public relations so she could always be communicating and working with people. Laken enjoys working with people of all ages, but especially youth. She has taken an interest in ECCRC’s work and is eager to learn more about early childhood and to get to know the centre’s partners.
Fun Stuff:
Other than working and attending classes, Laken enjoys coaching basketball, walking her dog, and going on road trips with friends!
Email: taylor.hill1@msvu.ca
Taylor is a Ph.D. student in Experimental Psychology with a methodological interest in quantitative analysis and knowledge synthesis. Her research interests include measuring and promoting well-being through a social-ecological perspective. Her doctoral research is on the psychological factors (e.g., personality, motives) that promote positive mental health.
Fun Stuff:
In her spare time, she enjoys shopping, baking, and talking to cats.
Email: robyn.ashley@msvu.ca
Robyn is a current student in the Master of Arts in Child and Youth Study program at Mount Saint Vincent University. Her research interests include nature-based play and forest school frameworks, as well as reflective practice for early childhood educators. As a research assistant, she is assisting Dr. Christine McLean with research on the application and interpretation of jurisdictional early learning frameworks. Robyn holds a BA from St. Thomas University and a Level One Certificate in Early Childhood Education from NSCC. Robyn also works as a Program Coordinator in a not-for-profit child care society and enjoys the excitement and wonder of learning through play alongside children.
Fun Stuff:
In her spare time Robyn enjoys camping, hiking, gardening, working through her long list of ‘To Be Read’ books, and attempting – though not always succesfully- new hobbies such as crocheting!
Email: nicholas.hickens@msvu.ca
Nicholas is a graduate of the Bachelor of Biology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology program at Dalhousie University, and a student and researcher at Mount Saint Vincent University. He holds an associate degree in Natural Science from Queens College, Guyana. His research has focused on global health frameworks, addressing systemic issues among vulnerable communities, and advancing social justice in healthcare sectors, with a focus on diversity and inclusion. He is also a collaborator on a co-investigation team on race and racism in dietetics and healthcare. Nicholas also has additional research interests in psychology brain studies research, and biochemical related metabolic and disease studies. Currently, Nicholas is working at ECCRC as a research assistant, with Emma Cameron and Dr. Jessie-Lee McIsaac for the IURN-Play Research Project to understand the perceptions of play-based education in African Nova Scotian communities.
Fun Stuff:
In his spare time, Nicholas loves travelling the world, exploring new cultures, histories, and cuisine. He also enjoys playing basketball, writing poetry, painting, singing, and athletic training.
Email: elizabeth.dickson@msvu.ca
Elizabeth is a Registered Dietitian, nutrition educator, and communications professional. She holds an MHSc in Nutrition Communication from Ryerson University, as well as a BSc in Applied Human Nutrition from Mount Saint Vincent University. Elizabeth’s dietetic focus has been her work as a pediatric nutrition educator in the community, with a particular interest in providing support to primary and secondary schools. Her work focuses on building eating competence and supporting responsive feeding environments. She is passionate about delivering evidence-based content that is easy-to-consume, and appropriate for the audience. More recently, Elizabeth joined the MSVU Applied Human Nutrition Department as a part-time faculty member.
Elizabeth is excited to be putting her experience and passion to work as the Nova Scotia Nutrition Coach for the CELEBRATE Feeding project.
Fun Stuff:
When not at work, Elizabeth spends her time with her daughter, Olivia and their pet dog. She can often be found outside hiking, skiing, tending to her plants, or visiting her family’s farm in New Brunswick.
Email: christine.mclean@msvu.ca
Christine received her PhD in Applied Psychology and Human Development from OISE, University of Toronto. She has a M. Ed in Early Childhood Education from the University of Cincinnati, a B.Ed from Acadia University, and a Bachelor of Child Study from Mount Saint Vincent University. Christine has been involved in the field of early childhood education in a variety of capacities since 1988 with most of that time being spent in St. John’s, N.L. In 2016, she moved from St. John’s to Halifax to join the Child and Youth Study faculty at MSVU where she continues her involvement in the ECE sector through her teaching, her research, and her work with provincial and national early learning and child care organizations. Christine’s research areas include reflective practice in early learning settings, play-based learning, pedagogical documentation, and the application and interpretation of jurisdictional early learning frameworks.
Fun Stuff:
In her spare time, Christine enjoys completing her required book club readings, playing with water colour and acrylic paints, going on walks with her husband and their dogs, attempting to play golf, battling with goutweed in the garden, and chatting/texting with her two grown up kids.
Email: joan.turner@msvu.ca
Dr. Joan Turner is a Professor and Chair of Child & Youth Study at Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Canada. Professional interests are supported through engagement with the field of early years care and education in Nova Scotia with the Association of Child Life Professionals internationally. Her collaboration with the Early Childhood Collaborative Research Centre (ECCRC) research teams involves a range of ongoing early years and early childhood education related research studies, including Co-PI on “the impact of the global pandemic of the adjustment and adaptation of families” research in the Maritime Provinces, Canada. Her collaboration with the Physical Literacy and the Early Years (PLEY) project – a research project with a focus on physical literacy, outdoor play and play with loose parts in Nova Scotia – are ongoing. Joan also collaborates with professionals in the field of child life on research to support and document the growth and development of the profession, scholarship, and research and received the Association of Child Life Professionals Distinguished Service Award in 2018 in Washington DC.
Fun Stuff:
Joan is an animal lover, avid traveler and aspires to read as much as she can – when she can. Originally from Winnipeg, she enjoys the landscapes of Nova Scotia and relatively “milder” climate.
Email: minakshi.gonzalezcerdeira@msvu.ca
Mina is no stranger to the Mount community. She completed her BSc in Applied Human Nutrition in 2010 and then went on to completing her Masters in Applied Human Nutrition in 2013. Since graduating, Mina has been a part-time instructor with the department of Nutrition for the past 5 years and more recently has been in a term position with the Department of Business and Tourism as a lab instructor. Mina is excited to join the Responsive Feeding Project as a Graduate Student working towards her thesis.
Mina has worked in the food and nutrition industry within healthcare as a Diet Technician and Supervisor. Upon completion of her Masters, Mina joined the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) as a Research Associate in the primary healthcare sector. Mina has supported numerous primary and community health related initiatives in her time with NSHA including being part of teams that have won Performance Quality Excellence Awards such as: Reducing wait times to care for complex patients by providing a “Voice to the Patient” (Gold), Strengthening Primary Health Care for Frail Persons (Silver). Mina has also led a healthy eating demonstration for a Chronic Disease Innovation Fund for the province.
Mina moved on to working with First Nations as a Project Manager of Health and managed project activities to plan and facilitate community engagement sessions with community leaders and members to understand their interest towards a preferred health model(s) for Atlantic First Nations. This experience has been extremely valuable and meaningful, Mina continues to learn and apply the knowledge, values and culture she gained from this experience to her role today.
Fun Stuff:
In her free time, you can find her cooking and recreating dishes in her kitchen, practicing yoga, going on long walks with her goldendoodle and spending time with her husband and three children.
Check out our current employment opportunities to join our team!
Dr. De-Lawrence Lamptey, Postdoctoral Fellow
Sarah Morris, Project Coordinator
Oriana Mooney, Research Assistant
Brenna Richard, Project Coordinator
Leah Crowell, Project Coordinator
Samantha Rioux, Graduate Research Assistant
Chris Mitchell, Communications Assistant
Brittney Roughan, Research Grants Manager
Patrick Carolan, Research Project Manager
Sandeep Dhillon, Graduate Research Assistant
Sherry Stevenson, Evaluations Coordinator
Odeisa Stewart, Graduate Research Assistant
Alison Brown, Project Coordinator
Denver Hilland, Project Coordinator