Research Team
Wading Through The Weeds
Dr. Saara Greene
Principal Investigator
Saara has been an active researcher for over 20 years, and she grounds her work in community-engaged and participatory action approaches to addressing community identified interests. She draws on narrative and creative methodologies to illuminate and put forward actionable responses to issues and concerns of importance to her community partners. Her research focuses on reproductive and maternal justice and barriers to care for women who experience marginalization along multiple axis of identity and across the lifespan. Since 2018, Saara has been involved in community-engaged participatory research that uses creative methodologies to co-create meaningful and ethical representations and responses to experiences and needs related to accessing cannabis information and support during pregnancy, infant feeding, and parenthood, and with and for older women who use cannabis. She is a Professor and Director of School of Social Work at McMaster University.
Dr. Allyson Ion
Co-Applicant
Allyson Ion, MSc, MSW, PhD is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at McMaster University. Allyson has contributed to community development, education, and research in the HIV movement since 2001. She has more recently conducted community-based research in the areas of perinatal care, mothering, mental health, and the social determinants of child welfare involvement. Allyson is informed by the principles of anti-oppressive practice, harm reduction, and ensuring meaningful partnerships with people on the receiving end of health and social care in research. She is passionate to discuss ways that community-based research can be applied to child welfare practice.
Dr. Chelsea Gabel
Co-Applicant
Dr. Chelsea Gabel is Red River Métis from Rivers, Manitoba and Associate Professor at McMaster University in the Departments of Health, Aging and Society and Indigenous Studies. She holds a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Well-Being, Community Engagement and Innovation and is a research affiliate with the Rupertsland Centre for Métis Research. Dr. Gabel’s research primary research focus is on Métis women's health and well-being and is grounded in a community-based participatory framework. Dr. Gabel has contributed to recent research on cannabis information and support needs of Indigenous women in Canada.
Gabrielle Griffith
Collaborator
Gabrielle Griffith is a is a queer and non-binary parent, full spectrum Doula, Sex Educator and Program Coordinator for the 2SLGBTQIA Family Programming with Birth Mark Support. Through lived experience and education, they support new parents to find pleasure and achieve balance during their transition into parenthood. Gabrielle teaches a variety of topics through an anti-oppressive and trauma-informed lens.
Marisa Blake
Collaborator & Research Coordinator
Marisa Blake is the Research Coordinator for Dr. Saara Greene. She is mixed white settler and Ojibwe from Treaty 9 Territory and currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario. Her educational background is in Nutrition Sciences from the University of Guelph. She has experience working in medical clinics assisting physicians and providing nutrition counseling to patients. She has also worked in Indigenous community-based research and policy regarding cannabis and health and development of educational resources for public and professional audiences. She is passionate about advocating for better quality and access to culturally safe healthcare and supporting folks who use cannabis.
Rochelle Maurice, MSW, MHSc (Bioethics), PhD Candidate
Collaborator
Rochelle Maurice has over 15 years of experience working in healthcare, both in social work and clinical and organizational ethics. Her work in ethics was strongly influenced by her professional background in social work, the most significant of which was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Paediatrics department. As a result of her experiences in both social work and ethics, Rochelle has an interest in and passion for addressing issues that affect pregnant, birthing, and parenting people at the intersection of health and social care. She is currently pursuing doctoral studies in social work that focuses on Black women’s experiences with breastfeeding and cannabis consumption.
Mary Vaccaro, MSW, PhD Candidate
Collaborator
Mary Vaccaro, MSW, PhD candidate, is a CLA in the School of Social work. She uses visual arts-based research methods with women who experience unresolved homelessness and engages in direct practice with women, including older women who use drugs. She is the coordinator of the supervised injection drug site for women, transwomen, and non-binary individuals at the YWCA Hamilton.
Alexe Bernier, MSW, PhD Candidate
Research Assistant (2021-2023)
Alexe Bernier is a PhD Candidate and Sessional Instructor in the School of Social Work at McMaster University. Her pursuit of doctoral studies was inspired by her many years of social work practice experience, where she worked with women and girls in Calgary, Alberta in a community setting. Her doctoral research explores the experiences of young girls who are engaged in activism, ultimately seeking to better understand how they assert themselves as citizens. She is drawn to critical feminist ways of thinking and doing, and is passionate about actionable research rooted in inclusive, participatory, and arts-based methodologies.
