Are you looking for a mentor? You are at the right place!
The Education Graduate Students Association launched its mentorship program in September 2020. You can peruse the biographies of mentors below to find the one with whom you have the most affinities. Then, you simply need to send this person an email to introduce yourself and set up your first meet. It is expected that your mentor will meet with you twice a month to answer questions and share his/her/their experiences.
If you have any questions about the mentorship program, you can send an email to one of the administrators Natalie Sadowski nsado072@uottawa.ca or Jacquelyn Wingrove jwing036@uottawa. Thank you!
Meet our 2021-2022 mentors!
Maja Greenspon was born in Chelsea, Quebec and later moved to Ottawa. She completed her undergraduate Honours B.A. in Psychology at the University of Ottawa and is now in her first year of the Master’s of Education in Counselling Psychology. She is a full-time student and works part-time in the Federal government. In her spare time, Maja enjoys travelling, cooking, and music. She currently lives in Ottawa and would love to chat about things to do in the city! She is excited to provide support for students in the faculty in any way that she can.
To contact Maja: mgree080@uottawa.ca
Elise Guest is a PhD student in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. The focus of her research is on the dual quality-assurance requirements (approval and accreditation) for Nursing education programs in Canadian post-secondary institutions. She is also interested in program evaluation theory and change management practices as ways of supporting accreditation-driven improvements in professional university programs. She is employed by Engineers Canada as an accreditation policy advisor and runs her own consulting firm (Noctua Consulting Services) at the intersection of her professional and academic work.
To contact Elise: jgues088@uottawa.ca
Angelica is currently enrolled in the MA in Counselling Psychology program at the University of Ottawa. Prior to this, she completed a BA in Psychology (Hons) with a minor in French at Saint Mary’s University, Halifax. She is currently completing a practicum in addictions counselling, and her research interests include child & youth mental health. Outside of her studies, she enjoys meeting with friends and taking dance classes. Angelica is looking forward to connecting with students and supporting them on their academic journey.
To contact Angelica: akibe068@uottawa.ca
Lydie Masengo is in her second year of her Master of Arts (Education) in Counselling Psychology program at the Faculty of Education. She will complete her counselling and psychotherapy internship in April 2022. Her thesis explores the effects of burnout and self-care practises. Lydie is bilingual but feels more comfortable mentoring in English. She is interested in supporting and guiding you as a new graduate student in accessing resources and navigating this journey. She will be providing you with tips and tricks along the way.
You can contact Lydie at lmase024@uottawa.ca
A doctoral student at the University of Ottawa and originally from the DRCongo, Elie is trained as a biology teacher and a former director of youth camps for bilingualism. His research focuses on the socio-professional integration of immigrants into the labour market. Very involved as a volunteer, he has served on advisory committees for the advancement of the Black community in a minority Francophone environment. A songwriter in his spare time, he has produced various soundtracks for the Université de Moncton, New Brunswick elementary schools and his Groupe d’action contre le racisme antinoir. It is his many mentors that have helped him come out of his shell and he simply wants to give back!
To contact Elie: endal064@uottawa.ca
Elie has reached full capacity.
Tam was born in Vietnam. He is a Masters student with a concentration in Leadership, Curriculum, Evaluation and Policy Studies. Tam has been teaching ESL for adults for over twenty years. He received an MA in TESOL in 2010. Tam loves teaching and doing research. Currently, he is undertaking his MRP, focusing on the relationship between higher education and employability in developing countries. Tam would love to share his valuable experiences with new students at the education faculty.
To contact Tam: tnguy325@uottawa.ca
Monsurat Omobola Raji (she/her) is a third-year Ph.D. Candidate at uOttawa in the Studies in Teaching and Learning concentration. Monsurat currently lives in Ottawa but was born and raised in the North-Western region of Nigeria. Monsurat holds a first degree (Chemistry) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Science/Chemistry Education. She also holds an MSc. Educational Research Methods degree from Liverpool Hope University, United Kingdom and MEd (with thesis) from the University of Manitoba, Canada. Monsurat’s research explores educators’ assessment literacy and professional development at all education levels. She is a member of several professional organizations and serves as reviewer/editor to several journals.
You can reach Monsurat at mraji055@uottawa.ca
To contact Jacquelyn: jwingro036@uottawa.ca
Hossein Zamani is currently a Ph.D. student in Education at the University of Ottawa. Once he completed his Master’s degree in Second language Education at McGill University in 2020, he started his Ph.D. program in Fall 2020. Fascinated by the advantages of linguistic and cultural resources plurilingual speakers bring to classrooms, Hossein is determined to explore home language development through children’s literature. In his free time, he goes walking, bakes bread, and learns languages! He is excited to share his experience and knowledge with new students in the faculty of Education.
To contact Hossein: hzama100@uottawa.ca
Virginie Abat-Roy was born in Quebec City. She speaks French and English, and has a master’s degree in education. She is a specialized teacher for suspended or expelled students in Ottawa and works with an accredited service dog named Toulouse. Virginie has been working on her PhD for the past three years. She is studying the experience of service dog users in Canada and the accessibility issues they face on a daily basis. Her research interests are the inclusion and exclusion processes, accessibility advocacy and innovative research methods. She is looking forward to sharing tips and offering advice to new students at the faculty.
To contact Virginie: vabat032@uottawa.ca
Shelina Adatia (she/her) is a first-generation PhD candidate in Societies, Cultures and Languages. Born and raised in Ottawa, she is fluent in English, French, and Gujarati. Shelina is a former French as a Second Language (FSL) teacher who is now researching the inclusion of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) learners in French Immersion. Throughout her time at the Faculty of Education, Shelina has benefitted immensely from dedicated mentors, and would love the opportunity to pay it forward to her fellow graduate students. In her spare time, Shelina enjoys Face Timing her nephews, baking banana chocolate chip muffins, scrolling through Twitter, and listening to Bollywood beats. 
Olivier Alfieri is currently a doctoral student at the Faculty of Education where he is studying in the field of distance learning. He completed a Master 2 MFEG in the specialty of “engineer in e-learning” at Université de Rennes 1 and a Master in French and Roman literature at Université catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve. His academic work specifically relates to change processes of professional practices in the context of higher studies. As a Teaching Assistant at our faculty, he supports professors in their professional e-teaching practices. Based on his experience of over 10 years in education and training, he led and coordinated the implementation of a diversity of educative programs and resources. His hybrid professional profile combined two main strengths: pedagogical engineering of e-modalities for hybrid and online teaching, as well as the development of “agile” pedagogical resources and digital courses.To contact Olivier: oalfi088@uottawa.ca
Catherine Deri was born in Montreal, Quebec and speaks French and English fluently. She recently retired from the Canadian Army after 25 years of active service as a military officer. She completed a M.Ed with the Faculty of Education and has now been working on her PhD for the past three years. Her thesis topic pertains to social learning in academic writing groups composed of graduate students. She is interested in sharing tips and tricks, by supporting new graduate students, to facilitate their experience at the Faculty of Education.
To contact Catherine: cderi055@uottawa.ca
Rachel Grant is a fifth year PhD Candidate and Part-Time Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Education. After completing her BScN in her home province of British Columbia, she moved to Toronto to undertake a Master of Nursing. She worked as a Research Associate at the University of Toronto and University of Ottawa in the Faculty of Medicine prior to commencing her PhD. Rachel is interested in supporting graduate students – especially those new to education as a discipline – navigate their experience at the Faculty of Education.To contact Rachel: rgran058@uottawa.ca
Marthe Foka was born in the city of seven hills, at the heart of the Cameroun capital. Shortly after arriving to Canada, she started her academic journey at University of Ottawa, proving to be an enriching learning experience full of discoveries. After three years of PhD studies, she had numerous opportunities to devote support to new students. Over the past years, she has been a mentor for over a hundred undergrad and grad students with the METHIC-EDU Association. Based on this experience, she acquired a cultural and adaptative intelligence, and developed an understanding of the challenges faced by new graduate students as well as an in-depth knowledge of services provided by our faculty and the university. In her research project, she explores the role of social capital and social networks in accessing employment, specifically as it relates to the role of school leadership. In her academic work, she furthered her reflection on what mentors and friends contribute to success from a professional perspective, an outlook that she was able to benefit from when investing in academic mentorship programs. Her vast knowledge and experience will certainly allow her to facilitate your first steps at the Faculty of Education. Marthe is looking forward to meeting you!
Hello all! My name is Janelle Fournier (she/her) and I’m a fourth-year doctoral student. I am a former high school science and math teacher. I’m quite passionate about inspiring gender-diverse students to pursue STEM-related fields. My focus is on finding ways to help teachers engage their students in STEM (but more specifically, engineering) activities. On a personal note, I have a love of the ocean, especially sharks, and enjoy educating people on shark finning and ocean conservation. I’m also an avid swimmer. I look forward to chatting, getting to know you and providing some support during your grad studies adventure!
Laurence was born in Cameroun but identifies to multiple cultures. Thereupon, her passion is to travel the world and learn about others. Specializing in the management of household waste in France, in the past, she has been advisor for youth activities, as a volunteer cooperant. She decided to transition professionally after taking part in the French language official program of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) to follow her dream: invest in future generations through education (pure nonsense, she heard from others!). Since changing careers often means renewed training, she successfully completed a Masters in Education (M.Ed, with memoire). As a doctoral student, she is furthering her academic journey in the same field of interest at University of Ottawa. If someone had told her that she would be where she is now, after managing a fleet of household waste trucks in Lyon, “I would have laughed out loud”. It has not been without anxiety and tears…but Laurence managed to overcome one challenge at a time, one semester at a time, by being well supported. In turn, she makes herself available to exchange with you, share tips or simply listen to you. 
Natalie Sadowski (she/they) is a second year PhD Candidate and a proud queer woman. She speak English and Polish. She started her academic career in chemistry before moving to informal education. Her doctoral research focuses on science centres and museums, and she is happy to talk your ear off about either. When she’s not watching reruns of Arthur, or relearning to crochet for the umpteenth time, she can be found teaching her cats to play fetch. Natalie is committed to improving student wellbeing and mental health. She also finds it super awkward to write about herself in the third person and encourages you to send her an email to you want to chat. Be warned, if you have any LGBTQ+ questions, you might not get a straight answer 
To contact Natalie: nsado072@uottawa.ca