Bettina Forget, Sylvie Ouellette and Erica Pimentel are members of the Public Scholars program at Concordia University in Montreal. They talk to us about the link between art and space science, how bacteria scavenge iron from their surroundings, and how accountants work with blockchain. We also talk about a problematic article in a chemistry journal.

Siobhan Angus, Athina Peidou, and Stephanie Raposo are York University grad students and the 2020 recipients of the Governor General’s Gold Medal for academic excellence. Angus, an art historian, studies the visual culture of resource extraction in Canada. Peidou, an earth and space scientist, studies gravitational maps produced from satellite-based measurements. Raposo, a psychologist, studies sexual satisfaction and intimate relationships.

Dr. Fatoumata Seck of Stanford University is a literary scholar who studies African literature, including Senegalese graphic comics. As a multilinguist, she offers insights into the importance of cultural translation at a time of increasing xenophobia, and the power of satire in the face of hegemonic economic policies.

Dr. Lamia Balafrej of UCLA is an art historian specializing in the medieval Islamic period. Her work illuminates the connection between slavery and technology, which remains an important feature of the global economy today.

Dr. James Smith of York University is an engineering professor with a passion for robots and teaching. His robotic models of the human cervix and of quadrupeds teach us how biomimetic approaches to modeling can constrain our thinking, and how collaborating with students in our research can unlock new possibilities.

Dr. Uzo Anucha of York University is a shining example of the community-engaged researcher. She’s the founder of YouthREX, which mobilizes academic research for the benefit of youth workers in Toronto. Her research collaborations with local youth and youth workers are the academic equivalent of community-based activism.

Prof. Thy Phu of Western University is an English literature scholar who studies the discursive role of photographs in society. Her exhibit of family photos at the Royal Ontario Museum asks us to reconsider our assumptions about families.

Sen. Kim Pate is a legal scholar who has written extensively on the criminal justice system and Indigenous peoples. She now pursues justice reform from her position in the Senate.

Prof. Marcia Annisette studies the accounting profession from an interdisciplinary perspective. She talks about the importance of having a PhD supervisor who is excited by the same questions that you are.

Prof. Bernie Pauly studies nursing and the healthcare issues around homelessness. She talks about personal cost to nurses of the ethical dilemmas they encounter, which can stay with them for years.

Emeritus Prof. Prem Sikka is a fearless accounting scholar. He talks about what it’s like to do research where you need to consult a lawyer before publishing your work.

Assistant Prof. Ela Veresiu is a marketing scholar unlike any other. Her research on consumer behaviour deals with an impressively diverse range of subjects, from super-elite members of the World Economic Forum to Roma migrants in Italy.

Prof. Steve Gaetz is a leader in the field of homelessness research and prevention. He talks to us about his work on preventing youth homelessness, and how to get your research read by people who need it.

Prof. Marie-Soleil Tremblay is a public sector accounting scholar who coaches media in Quebec on how to ask better questions about provincial budgets. Her work also looks at how diversity on boards of directors and audit committees makes them more effective. She says that simply forcing boards to include more women doesn’t fix the lack of diversity all by itself.

Dr. Jen Gilbert is a gender theorist and sex education researcher who studies bullying. As a leader of the Beyond Bullying Project, her research takes her into high schools where she works with young people to understand their experiences of bullying, and with schools to help them do something about it.

Dr. Jean-François Mercure is Senior Lecturer in Global Systems in the Department of Geography at the University of Exeter. Hector Pollitt is Head of Modelling at Cambridge Econometrics, an organization that makes economic data meaningful for policy-makers. Their work shows how different fundamental assumptions regarding the finance sector and the nature of money, lead to climate-change models with radically different results.

Prof. Ellen Bialystok is a psychologist who studies the bilingual brain. Her work traces the development of the brain from infancy to old age, looking at the effect of bilingualism on our ability to pay attention to things. Her work has tremendous implications for public policy in an age of increasing immigration and increasing xenophobia.

Prof. Markus Milne is a critical accounting scholar who examines corporate social and environmental reporting. A passionate mountaineer and a passionate teacher, he has become increasingly pessimistic about our ability to put an end to the effects of consumer capitalism on the planet.

Prof. Debra Pepler studies bullying. Her direct observation of bullying in schoolyards has changed how we help children deal with aggression towards their classmates. Her work also examines dating violence and online bullying.

Prof. Christine Cooper is a critical accounting scholar whose research helps us understand how accounting is used to govern the neoliberal state.