graduate students, research assistants/associates & Post-Doctoral scHolars

Annabelle Couture-Guillet, Research Associate (2021-present) 

Annabelle Couture-Guillet is a research associate with the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and the Environment, where she focuses on the potential of anti-pipeline litigation within and beyond courtrooms. She holds a B.A.Sc. in Environment and Geography from McGill and is currently in her second year of Law. She is interested in the use of socio-legal tools to accelerate a just transition away from fossil fuels, and in the ways in which the media and artists tell stories of the climate crises. She volunteers at the Legal Information Clinic at McGill, and has worked in the past on media analysis at the Institut National de Recherche Scientifique and at Concordia’s Centre for Social Transformation.  

Elise Mallette, Research Associate (2021-present)

Elise Mallette is a research associate with the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and the Environment, and her work focuses on the intersection of disability and climate justice. She is entering her fourth and final year at McGill Faculty of Law. She is the Director of the Yoga Club and Plate Club and is a member of various other clubs. She has held an internship at the Centre Québécois du droit de l’environnement (CQDE) and has volunteered with the Legal Information Clinic at McGill (LICM). Prior to her experience in law school, Elise worked at a real estate law firm, taught English at elementary schools in France, worked with veterans, and worked on multiple organic farms. She obtained her B.A. in International Studies and French with a concentration in Socio-Cultural Identity at the University of Mississippi. She is passionate about climate justice and its impact on all marginalized groups and intends on pursuing a career fighting for their rights.

Ellen Spannagel, Research Associate (2020-present)

Ellen Spannagel is a research associate with the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and the Environment, where her research focuses on the intersection between LGBTQ rights, vulnerabilities and adaptation in the context of climate justice. She is a BCL/JD candidate at McGill’s Faculty of Law. Prior to being a law student, she completed a degree in Journalism and Humanities at Carleton University, where she her put her love for storytelling at the forefront, producing investigative content on issues including race, gender and accessibility in society. As a law student, Ellen’s community work focuses on human rights and anti-poverty action. She is currently the VP External Affairs for OutLaw and an advisor for Project Genesis, a Montreal organization that helps residents counteract difficulties with housing rights and welfare by providing legal information.

Jean-Philippe Lemay, Research Associate (2020-present)

Jean-Philippe Lemay is a research associate with the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and the Environment and conducts research on the relationship between human rights and climate adaptation and comparative climate law. He holds a BA in International Relations and International Law (Université du Québec à Montréal) and is currently finishing his third year in the BCL/JD program at the McGill Faculty of Law. He is a Senior Editor of the McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law and is completing an internship at the Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement. He is also collaborating with the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law on the application of the Sustainable Development Goals in Canadian legislation. Throughout his studies, he has also worked for the New York-based NGO Shift Project on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in association with the Clinique internationale de défense des droits humains de l'UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal).

Kassandra Neranjan, Research Associate (2020-present)

Kassandra Neranjan is a research associate with the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and the Environment, where her current work examines the vulnerabilities and resilience of women in the context of climate change. An , Kassandra is a BCL/JD Candidate at McGill University Faculty of Law, is an Associate Editor for Inter Gentes: McGill Journal of International Law and Legal Pluralism, and Vice President Outreach of the Women of Colour Collective. Kassandra graduated from the University of Toronto with an Honours BA in International Relations, Peace, Conflict and Justice Studies, and French Literature. She spent her undergraduate degree completing original research assessing barriers and best practices of gender mainstreaming in aid provision for Rohingya women and girls in Bangladesh refugee camps. She is now expanding upon this knowledge as a researcher with the International Development Research Council. Kassandra is also a gender justice advocate addressing and speaking on topics of intersectional feminism at the local, national, and international levels.

Katherine Lofts, Research Associate (2016-present)

Katherine Lofts is a research associate with the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and the Environment and conducts research on global efforts to build linkages between human rights and climate change. She recently completed an LLM on rights-based discourses in the international climate regime under Sébastien's supervision. She has also collaborated with Sébastien on a range of projects and publications relating to public participation in climate governance, human rights and climate change, and critical approaches to international law. She holds BCL, LLB, and LLM. degrees from the McGill University Faculty of Law, as well as an MA in English literature (McGill) and a BA in English (Honours) (University of Victoria). In addition, Katherine completed a law clerkship at the Federal Court of Canada and has served as the Programme Manager for the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law's Climate Change Programme.

Sarah MacRae-Korobkov, Research Associate (2020-present)

Sarah MacRae-Korobkov is a research associate with the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and the Environment and conducts research on the relationship between efforts to reduce forest-based carbon emissions and forest tenure in developing countries. She is presently a second-year student in McGill’s B.C.L./J.D. program and holds a B.A. in Geography and Art History from McGill University. Throughout her undergraduate studies, Sarah focused on geographic information systems; she contributed to several mapping projects on campus and within Montreal, and worked for the Government of Alberta as a geospatial summer student, developing methods to geospatially represent public policies. As a law student, Sarah is interested in environmental advocacy. Last summer, Sarah returned to the Government of Alberta for a legal internship within the Environmental Law team.

Verity Thomson, Research Associate (2020-present)

Verity Thomson is a research associate with the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and the Environment. Her research focuses on the links between environmental crime and human rights and she works in collaboration with other researchers to code and analyze to what extent human rights are being upheld by climate adaption polices around the world. Before beginning law school, she worked at Environment and Climate Change Canada and supported the Director General of Environmental Enforcement through research on environmental enforcement mechanisms throughout Canada and worldwide. In addition, she assisted the Director General in her role as representative to INTERPOL’s Pollution Crime Working Group by helping organize a North American conference on pollution crime. She holds a BA (Hons) from the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University in Environmental Sustainability and in Early Modern studies. While there she completed the RBC Sustainability Leadership Certificate and worked as a research assistant in the Political Science Department examining environmental and political dimensions of a class action law suit by Indonesian seaweed farmers following an oil spill in Australia. Lastly, She has a passion for politics and has worked at the Parliament of Canada as a tour guide and as a legislative page at the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.

Previous graduate students, research assistants/associates & Post-Doctoral scHolars

Anna Côté, Research Associate (2017-2018)

Arielle Corobow, Research Associate (2016)

Audrey Mocle, Research Associate (2016-2019)

Bhreagh Ross, Research Associate (2020-2021)

Géraud de Lassus Saint-Geniès, SSHRC Post-Doctoral Scholar (2017-2019)

Gwenyth Wren, Research Assistant (2018)

Jinnie Liu, Research Assistant (2016-2017)

Julien Tremblay-Gravel, Research Assistant (2017-2018)

Kathryn Hansen, Research Assistant (2015-2017)

Larissa Parker, Research Associate (2019-2021) 

Ling Chen, DCL Candidate (2018-2021)

Michael W. Stone, Post-Doctoral Scholar (2019-2021)

Morgan McGinn, Research Associate (2019-2020) 

Nilani Ananthamoorthy, Research Associate (2019-2021)

Sara Andrade, Research Assistant (2017)

Sarah-Maude Belleville-Chénard, DCL Candidate (2019-2021)

Semie Sama, Post-Doctoral Scholar (2019-2021)

Shannon Snow, Research Associate (2017-2019)

Similoluwa Ayoola, LLM Candidate (2019-2021)

Simone Cavanaugh, Research Associate (2017-2019)

Suzanne Zaccour, Research Assistant (2015-2016)

Rosine Faucher, Research Assistant (2016-2018)

Talia Ralph, Research Associate (2018-2019)

Yolanda Muñoz, Senior Research Associate (2020-2021)