Program Manager

Caitlin Janzen

Caitlin Janzen is the Program Manager for BIG Lab. Caitlin brings over fifteen years of research experience to this role, having worked in several universities and research institutes across Canada. Combining formal training in social sciences, sociology, and policy-based research with years of learning from the diverse communities she been honoured to partner with, Caitlin’s outputs reflect her dexterity across interdisciplinary and intersectional frameworks and methods such as feminist theory, decolonizing and Indigenizing approaches, and arts-based approaches to research and education. She is the co-editor of the recently published Contemporary Vulnerabilities: Reflections on Social Justice. Caitlin has also had the opportunity to share her passion for qualitative research methodologies with undergraduate students as a Contract Lecturer. While she continues to publish in peer-reviewed journals, Caitlin is particularly interested in innovative forms of knowledge mobilization and building partnerships with stakeholders within and well beyond the academy.

Prior to joining BIG Lab, Caitlin worked in research administration at the University of Calgary where she supported postdocs and faculty members from all disciplines in applying for Federal and international funding. This experience has further her development as a successful grant writer.

Caitlin is thrilled to contribute to the vibrant culture of inquiry at CFGS by supporting high-impact and policy-relevant research in BIG Lab. She is also extremely grateful to return to the beautiful territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples.

Caitlin Janzen

Distinguished Non-Resident Fellow – Carleton University

Victor Konrad

Victor Konrad teaches geography at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. He is a former president of both the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States and the Association for Borderlands Scholars, and he is a recipient of the Donner Medal. Author of more than one hundred publications, he has been the founding director of the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program and has devoted his career to higher education advancement and development between these neighbouring countries. He has been a visiting professor at various universities in China, the United States, and Europe. His research is centred on the transfer of culture across borders, and he has published extensively about Native American encounters with Europeans, cultural landscape transitions, and Canada-U.S. borderlands.

Victor Konrad

#8 Frontlines Are Everywhere — Angela Grier, On the Frontlines of Mental Health

featuring Angela Grier (Piikani, Blackfoot)

In this episode, Jeff and Angela discuss the crisis of mental health in Indigenous communities, the role of Buffalo Treaty in community healing, the power of Indigenous resilience, emotions as the language of the spirit, and ways communities are breaking through intergenerational trauma.

Angela Grier (M.Ed) is a Registered Provisional Psychologist from the Piikani First Nation of the Blackfoot Confederacy. Her spiritual name is Piiohksoopanskii (Singing Loudly Far Away). For over 25 years, she has been working and supporting First Nation/Indigenous peoples and communities through direct and systemic experience including Indigenous psychology and counselling, Indigenous and child/youth rights advocacy, adult education/post-secondary, elected leadership, extensive executive experience, non-profit, public administration and Blackfoot ways of knowing.

Listen to Episode #8 on YouTube.

#8 Frontlines Are Everywhere — Angela Grier, On the Frontlines of Mental Health

#7 Frontlines Are Everywhere — Aaju Peter, Inuit Self-Determination Amidst Shape-Shifting Colonization

featuring Aaju Peter (Inuk lawyer, activist, filmmaker, educator, and clothing designer)

Aaju Peter CM and Dr. Jeff Ganohalidoh Corntassel talk about promoting education in Inuit communities, challenges to food sovereignty in the Arctic, the role grief plays in resilience, and more in Episode #7 of Frontlines Are Everywhere.

Aaju Peter is an Inuk lawyer, activist, filmmaker, educator, and clothing designer. She is on the frontlines of defending the rights of Inuit, including the right to an education and to engage in seal hunting. The documentary Twice Colonized (2023) follows Aaju’s efforts to establish a permanent Indigenous forum at the EU while she undergoes a personal journey of loss and healing.

Listen to Episode #7 on YouTube.

#7 Frontlines Are Everywhere — Aaju Peter, Inuit Self-Determination Amidst Shape-Shifting Colonization

#6 Frontlines Are Everywhere — Flora Northwest, Breaking Intergenerational Colonial Cycles

featuring Flora Northwest (Samson Cree Nation)

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of abuse and sexual violence in residential schools and may be triggering.

Flora Northwest of Samson Cree Nation joined us on September 30th, Canada’s National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, to share her story as a survivor of Ermineskin Residential School. Flora was among the elders who shared their stories with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and later met with Pope Francis when he visited Canada in 2022. Flora talked about her journey to healing, ways to support younger generations, and education as a tool for empowerment.

Listen to Episode #6 on YouTube.

#6 Frontlines Are Everywhere — Flora Northwest, Breaking Intergenerational Colonial Cycles

BIG Podcast #32 — “Borders and Ports of the Future”

featuring Alan Bersin, Executive Chairman of Altana AI and former U.S. Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection

Ports of Entry (PoE) are vital nodes of global connectivity, they serve as entry and exit points for global trade. Ports (seaports, airports, etc.) often serve as checkpoints for the movement of people and goods, they are interfaces between land territories and maritime/air spaces which symbolize the meeting between cultures and economies, but also the challenges linked to national security and border regulation. With the rise of connectivity and digitalization, PoE face increasing challenges in data management and cybersecurity. With AI and new technologies, a new paradigm is emerging with new concepts as federated learnings, trusted networks, and signal risk sharing. We will discuss all this, borders and globalization 2.0 with Alan D. Bersin.

Listen to Episode #32 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube!

Alan Bersin is on the the Chairman of the Advisory Board at Altana AI. He has held numerous high-level positions at the federal, state, and local levels of government. Most recently, after serving as the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Bersin served as the Assistant Secretary for Policy and Chief Diplomatic Officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Previously, he was Secretary of Education in California, the Superintendent of Public Education in San Diego, and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California and the Attorney General’s Southwest Border Representative at the Department of Justice. He also served as Vice President for the Americas and on the Executive Committee of INTERPOL Bersin is the Inaugural North American Fellow at the Wilson Center, a Senior Fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and the Executive Chairman of Altana Technologies.

BIG Podcast #32 — “Borders and Ports of the Future”

Junior Resident Fellow

Andrew Ambers

Andrew Ambers is Kwakwaka’wakw from the ‘Namgis and Ma’amtagila First Nations. His primary research focus is concerned with recognizing and affirming aquatic Aboriginal rights through Indigenous legal orders, Canadian law, and international law. From jurisdictional issues to ownership claims, Ambers’ work on Indigenous internationalism provides strategy-driven approaches to affirm Aboriginal rights in ways that overturn the domestication of Indigenous rights in Canada. His publications on Indigenous internationalism and Indigenous international law surround core legal questions of jurisdiction, law-making, and decision-making within and beyond the territorial delimitations of Canada. Ambers’ projects collaborate with Indigenous nations / leaders, academics, and lawyers to offer community-based solutions to the fundamental legal issues that Indigenous communities are facing. He also holds various appointments at UVic, Aboriginal law firms and Indigenous organizations that are advocating for Aboriginal rights and implementing Indigenous laws into various decision-making regimes in British Columbia and across Canada. Ambers has been recognized for his research and community involvement, including by the British Columbia Political Studies Association and First Peoples Law LLP.

Education
• Bachelor of Arts (hons.), University of Victoria
• Juris Doctor (JD) Candidate, University of Victoria, Faculty of Law
• Juris Indigenarum Doctor (JID) Candidate, University of Victoria, Faculty of Law

Projects / Research Focus
• Global Indigenous Solidarity Movements in the 20th & 21st Centuries
• Coastal Indigenous Trade Networks on Vancouver Island: Histories & Futures of Indigenous Economies & Resource Use
• Indigenous Internationalism & Aboriginal Rights: Overturning the Domestication of s. 35
• Indigenous Ocean Occupation & WaterBack: Indigenous International Law of the Sea
• Indigenous International Law Colloquium

Selected Publications
• Ambers, Andrew, & Rachel yacaaʔał George. “Fluid Internationalisms: The Ocean as a Source and Forum of Indigenous International Law.” Borders in Globalization Review 5, no. 1 (2024). https://doi.org/10.18357/bigr51202421801.
• Ambers, Andrew. “From Aqua Nullius to WaterBack: Reading Seascapes to Affirm Aquatic Aboriginal Title Rights in Canada.” In Seascape Stories: Decolonial Water Relations, edited by Rachel yacaaʔał George, Jen Bagelman, and Sarah Marie Wiebe. University of British Columbia Press.
• Ambers, Andrew, & Jeff Corntassel. “Indigenous Internationalism and Kinship Diplomacy: The Relational Dimensions of Indigenous International Law.” Rooted: An Indigenous Law Journal.
• Ambers, Andrew, & Jeff Corntassel. “Indigenous Internationalism and Treaty Making: Challenging the Legal and Geopolitical Landscapes of the State.” In Indigenous Theories of International Law, edited by Jonathan Liljeblad, Brenda Gunn, Abadir Ibrahim, and Shea Esterling. Oxford University Press
• Corntassel, Jeff, Andrew Ambers, & Shane Baker. “Indigenous Internationalisms: Transcending State Borders through Community Diplomacies, Treaties, and Trade Networks.” In Non-state Actors, Diplomacies, and Canadian-Linked External Relationships, edited by Lana Wylie, Susan Henders, and Mary Young. University of Toronto Press.

Andrew Ambers

Junior Resident Fellow

Anna Perez Verdia Bayne

Anna was born and raised in Mexico City, and in 2020 she moved to Victoria, BC to pursue her undergraduate degree in Sociology. Her academic interests within this field encompass access to education, immigration, and gender inequality.

Currently, she works as a research assistant at Borders In Globalization, where she is developing work on cross-border collaboration within the different continents worldwide. She also helps with data collection for the BIG Lab and Jean Monnet Database projects.

Anna Perez Verdia Bayne

Graduate Research Assistant

Matt Britton

Borders in Globalization | 21st Century Borders

Matt Britton is Graduate Research Assistant for the Borders in Globalization program and a student in the Master of Public Administration program at the University of Victoria. Originally from the United States, he has lived in eight different countries over the past two decades.

After graduating from the University of Tulsa with a BFA in graphic design and printmaking, Matt worked as a Health Education Volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in Mauritania, West Africa, and then joined the U.S. Foreign Service and served as a diplomat in Papua New Guinea, El Salvador, and Burundi. As a stay-at-home father in Brazil, he also volunteered with the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Prior to commencing the MPA program, Matt managed a nonprofit organization called WorldDenver for six years, overseeing international exchange and education programs. He has taught classes at the Akilah Institute for Women in Bujumbura, Burundi, and the University of Denver in Colorado, USA.

Matt Britton

Non-Academic Fellow

Peter Swartz

Co-Founder / Chief Science Officer, Altana AI

Peter Swartz is co-founder and chief science officer at Altana AI. Altana’s mission is to power a new era of globalization defined by Trusted Networks, which span and connect governments, businesses, and civil society to shape a more resilient, secure, inclusive, and sustainable world. Peter has spoken on global trade, supply chains, and machine learning at the World Trade Organization, the World Customs Organization, the US Court of International Trade, the National Academies of Medicine, and the O’Reilly and Wolfram conferences. Previously, Peter was Head of Data Science at Panjiva (listed as one of Fast Company’s most innovative data science companies in 2018 and sold to S&P Global). He holds a number of patents in machine learning and global trade. Peter completed his undergraduate and graduate education at Yale, MIT, and the Federal Polytechnic of Lausanne (EPFL), with a focus on engineering, statistical methods, and global trade. He has high-level proficiency in both French and Chinese

Peter Swartz