People

Jesse Abell

Osgoode Hall Law School // BA First Class Honours, JD - Jesse Abell earned a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2021. She is currently serving as a judicial law clerk at the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Jesse worked as a research assistant with The Great Land Grab in 2020, coding and analyzing court submissions about Indigenous and private property rights over forestland in British Columbia. In addition to her work on The Great Land Grab, Jesse gained experience in the areas of Aboriginal and Indigenous law and governance as a research assistant for the Indigenous Environmental Justice Project and a participant in the Kawaskimhon National Aboriginal Law Moot. During her time at Osgoode, Jesse also worked as a legal caseworker at Parkdale Community Legal Services and the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic and served as an editor on Osgoode’s Journal of Law and Social Policy. Her interests include Aboriginal law and Indigenous rights, labour and employment law, and human rights.

Justine Correia

University of Victoria // BA Social Anthropology and Environment, Sustainability and Society; MA Social Anthropology - Justine Correia is a third generation Euro-Canadian who has been working with First Nations and Indigenous Organizations in the Central Interior of BC for the last 3-4 years on lands and resource issues. Recognizing her own knowledge limitations and desire to learn more, Justine has enrolled in the JD/JID program at UVIC where she will start classes this fall. Justine is so happy to be a part of the Great Land Grab research team and working on applicable community-based research that allows her to continually learn from a diverse team of experts and knowledge holders.

Masa Hamwi

Osgoode Hall Law School // BA (Hons) Political Science, Masters Political Science, JD (in progress) – Masa Hamwi is an Osgoode Hall Law School student of Syrian descent who has dedicated much of her work in academia to Palestinian Indigenous rights. Her research in law school thus far has discoursed around the impacts of the illegal occupation and exploitation of Palestinian land and agriculture and the different international legal violations that has and continues to take place as a result. Working and allying alongside Indigenous groups like MISCA throughout her undergraduate career, naturally, her interest in Indigenous land rights of the occupied northern territories grew leading to her current work on the great land grab project. Masa is also currently working with Dr. Ruth Buchanan on the topic of the global housing crisis particularly in relation to slums. She has worked with Dr. Heidi Matthews on the immigration and refugee law case of Chelsea Manning who was refused entry into Canada. In her free time Masa enjoys weightlifting, hiking, reading, filming and editing YouTube videos and playing with her two cats Shems and Luna.

Gabby Liao-McPherson

Osgoode Hall Law School // BA (Hons) Peace, Conflict and Justice, JD (in progress) - Gabby Liao-McPherson is a Osgoode Hall Law School student living and working in Tkaronto, who is passionate about property law, systemic justice and helping to advance Indigenous self-governance. She is originally from Treaty 7 territory and grew up in Calgary, before moving to the “big city” for an undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto in Peace, Conflict and Justice and Drama. She then worked as a dog-daycare manager for several years, before starting school at Osgoode. In her (somewhat limited-as-a-law-student) free time, she is an avid hiker, bookworm, and musical theatre aficionado. However, her most important role is as dog mom to her overly spoiled Malshi/Jack Russell mix, Duckie – who deeply resents all of the time his mom spends typing at her desk and not playing fetch. She is grateful and honoured to be given the opportunity to work with and learn from the Coast Salish and Nuu-Chah-Nulth peoples.

Nolan Little

Osgoode Hall Law School // JD, PhD Philosophy - Nolan Little is an articling student who lives and works in the Dish with One Spoon territory. His research in law school and after has focused on Canadian and Indigenous legal orders, labour, environmental, and public infrastructure regulation, and human rights. During law school, he volunteered with Pro Bono Students Canada, served as a senior editor of the Osgoode Hall Law Journal, and spent a semester working at the Human Rights Legal Support Centre. Prior to this, he completed a PhD in philosophy at Boston University, writing about conscience and historical injustice. He will complete his articles in 2022.

Thomas Saleh

University of Toronto // MA Geography - Thomas is a young data analyst and environmental activist who believes strongly in equipping communities and institutions with the knowledge and data they need to drive better social and environmental governance.

Taliya Seidman-Wright

York University // BA International Development Studies, Minor Human Geography; University of Toronto - Taliya Seidman-Wright is a graduate student in the Geography program at York University. She grew up on the beautiful traditional territory of the Songhees, Esquimalt, and W̱SÁNEĆ Nations where she developed interests in land, food, and sustainability. She completed her undergraduate degree in International Development Studies with a minor in Human Geography at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Over the past few years, Taliya has worked at UofT’s Youth Food Centre, volunteered in Costa Rica at the Center for Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education (CATIE), and worked as a research assistant to Dr. Michael Ekers and Dr. Cheryl Suzack. Her research interests are in food sovereignty, Indigenous knowledges, and urban social movements. She is also a singer-songwriter and loves dogs, good espresso, and anything by Stevie Wonder!