A Message from the Vice-President Academic and Provost,
As we continue to settle into a new academic year, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to the new faculty members who joined us this fall.
We are truly fortunate to have these scholars choose MSVU as their academic home. Their diverse backgrounds and expertise will enrich our teaching, research, and campus life.
Please take a moment to read through their biographies below and join me in welcoming these new colleagues to MSVU.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lori Francis
New faculty 2025/2026
Dr. Safoura Ajdari – Assistant Professor, Modern Languages (French)
Safoura holds a PhD in Linguistics with a specialization in Translation Studies from Université Laval. Her research explores the translation of literature across languages and cultures, employing textual analysis to examine how texts are received, interpreted, and reshaped through the act of translation. She is also interested in the pedagogical implications of translated texts and intercultural content, exploring how they can either facilitate or complicate language acquisition and comprehension in educational contexts.
A certified member of the Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec (OTTIAQ), Safoura bridges academic research and professional practice. She has translated a novel from French into Persian and taught French as both a second and foreign language in university and community settings. Prior to joining Mount Saint Vincent University, she taught French at the secondary level and at Université Laval and contributed to francisation programs that support newcomers integrating into Quebec society.
Her teaching and research interests include translation theory and practice, intercultural communication, language pedagogy, world literatures in French, and the role of translation in cultural understanding. In the classroom, she emphasizes communicative, task-based approaches and fosters inclusive learning environments where students develop confidence and find their voice in French.
Dr. Meredith Bessey – Assistant Professor, Applied Human Nutrition
Meredith recently completed her PhD at the University of Guelph in the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition. Her CIHR- and OGS-funded doctoral research was a qualitative and arts-based exploration of bariatric surgery in Canada, an area she intends to continue exploring. As a dietitian and scholar, she uses qualitative and arts-based methods and critical feminist theory, including feminist neomaterialism, critical disability studies, queer theory, and fat studies, to explore critical perspectives on food, bodies, nutrition, health, and fitness. The broad goal of Meredith’s research program is to positively shift perspectives, beliefs, and practices within dietetics and healthcare more broadly, to more meaningfully support the wellbeing of fat people, especially women, and to reduce the stigma and mistreatment that they frequently face.
Prior to joining the Department of Applied Human Nutrition as an Assistant Professor, Meredith completed her undergraduate and graduate training in dietetics at MSVU and has also served as a part-time faculty member and staff member in the department. In her new role, she will be teaching many of the department’s clinically focused dietetics courses. In her spare time, Meredith is a voracious reader, occasional yoga teacher, and frequent concert goer.
Dr. Margaret Campbell – Assistant Professor, Aging and Family Science
Margaret holds a PhD in Social and Cultural Analysis and a Master of Arts in Sociology from Concordia University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Women’s and Gender Studies from St. Thomas University. Her doctoral research, supported by SSHRC, examined how people with disabilities navigate intimacy and sexual expression. Following her PhD, she completed a Mitacs postdoctoral fellowship with the Vanier Institute of the Family and the School of Rehabilitation at Queen’s University.
Her teaching and research are grounded in a belief in the possibility of creating a more equitable, accessible, and livable world. Her research spans three distinct but interconnected areas: suicide, grief, and families; disability and family life; and the impact of high-risk or non-traditional work environments on families. Margaret teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on family studies, violence, resilience, and critical theory, encouraging students to rethink assumptions and examine how power and inequality shape family life.
Beyond academia, she contributes to research collectives and advisory councils that prioritize lived experience, support trainee development, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and aim to influence policy.
Dr. Michael Land – Assistant Professor, Chemistry
Michael obtained an Honours Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, and a Master of Applied Science from Saint Mary’s University under the supervision of Professor Jason Clyburne. He then earned his PhD in chemistry with Professor Seán Barry at Carleton University as an NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Graduate Scholar. His doctoral research focused on the synthesis and thermal characterization of volatile molybdenum-containing compounds, where he developed a low-temperature method to prepare ultra-pure molybdenum nitride thin films.
Following his doctoral studies, Michael pursued an NSERC funded postdoctoral fellowship at Dalhousie University, working with Professors Saurabh Chitnis and Charles Macdonald. During his postdoctoral research, he prepared the first example of high molecular weight cyclo-linear polyphosphazenes and developed versatile phosphorus transfer reagents. During this time, he also developed and taught a graduate level course focusing on vapor-phase deposition mechanisms.
Michael began his independent career as an Assistant Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at Mount Saint Vincent University in July 2025. His broader research interests focus on the design and synthesis of novel ligand scaffolds that promote unique reactivity and unconventional bonding motifs in both transition metal and main-group complexes.
Dr. Zixian Liu – Assistant Professor, History
Zixian obtained his PhD in History from the University of Toronto. He is a historian of science, technology, and environment. His first book project examines the rise and fall of Maoist China’s sociotechnical experiments with alternative technology, knowledge production, social leveling, and environmental protection. His project draws upon a decade of fieldwork research and community engagement with extractive and marginalized communities. He is also interested in the global history of alternative visions of sustainable technology and development that emerged from a wide range of Indigenous, feminist, and environmentalist techno-scientific movements.
In the classroom, Zixian is committed to empowering a diverse student body with historical reasoning and critical thinking in an inclusive environment. In addition to scholarly research and teaching, he actively advocates for just transition, epistemic justice, and sustainability.
Dr. Wellington Sousa – Assistant Professor, Education
Wellington received his PhD in Education, specializing in Adult Education and Community Engagement, from the University of Regina, Saskatchewan. Before joining the Graduate Studies in Lifelong Learning program in the Faculty of Education at MSVU, Wellington served as faculty lead for the Asset-Based and Community-Led Development (ABCD) thematic area at the Coady Institute, St. Francis Xavier University.
His scholarship and practice are rooted in the intersections of adult education and community development. His research uses post-structural theory to examine community–university partnerships and to advance community-led research, learning, and collective action for social change. He also applies post-structural perspectives to develop a sociology of facilitation and to explore how community-based facilitators and organic intellectuals are formed. His work has been supported by multiple grants, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Change Lab Action Research Initiative (CLARI).
Safura Syed – Assistant Professor, Applied Human Nutrition
Safura Syed is a PhD candidate in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo. Her doctoral research focuses on identifying the facilitators and barriers to culturally inclusive menu planning in long-term care homes. Safura is a registered dietitian with experience in both long-term care and home care settings. She is passionate about improving access to culturally inclusive nutrition care for diverse populations across various care environments.
Safura holds a Master’s degree in Applied Human Nutrition from Mount Saint Vincent University, where she also completed her dietetic internship. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics from Western University.
Dr. Tabatha Thibault — Assistant Professor, Psychology
Tabatha completed her PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Saint Mary’s University. She also holds a Master of Science in Applied Psychology from Saint Mary’s University and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Psychology from Acadia University. She was a postdoctoral research fellow at St. Francis Xavier University. Tabatha has a decade of experience in organizational research and has expertise in quantitative data analysis and psychometrics. Her research areas include workplace mental health, the Dark Tetrad of personality, workplace dignity, and leadership.
Prior to joining MSVU, Tabatha was a Senior Research Associate for the Human Capital Knowledge Area at The Conference Board of Canada. In this role, Tabatha was involved in various research projects, including their HR Metrics and Compensation Planning Outlook series.
Dr. Dazzelyn Zapata – Assistant Professor, Communication Studies
Dazzelyn joined the Department of Communication Studies in 2022 as part-time faculty and now teaches full-time. She earned her PhD in Communications and New Media and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Science Communication at the National University of Singapore, where she later taught courses in science and health communication, advertising literacy, qualitative research, and mobility & new media.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she served as Associate Professor in the Graduate Studies Department of the College of Media and Communication at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, her alma mater, where she also completed an MA in Media Studies. She holds a BS in Development Communication majoring in Science Communication-Journalism from UP Los Baños and was an Assistant Professor at UP Baguio before pursuing her doctorate.
Dazzelyn’s research explores communication and social change, ICT use in marginalized communities, health communication, media and ethnic representation, and migration. Drawing on her own experience in Singapore and Nova Scotia, she approaches migration as both subject and lens for her scholarship- a lived reality that informs her teaching, research, and community work. She also recently completed the Graduate Diploma in Immigration and Citizenship Law at Queen’s University.