Team

Mel Racho (he/him) is a queer trans Fillipinx media artist-scholar interested in creating revolutionary systems. He holds a Master of Information in Information Systems, an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art and Digital Media, and is currently a PhD candidate in Toronto Metropolitan University and York Universities’ jointly administered Communication and Culture program with a focus on studying the data de/colonial infrastructures within the evolution and futurity of the web. He creatively contributes to York U’s Digital Justice Lab, Digital Democracies Institute’s Data Fluencies project and the Canada Council for the Arts funded Trancestor collaboration.

Maddie Murakami (he/him) is a transgender Computer Science undergraduate student at Carleton University, studying and living on unceded Anishinaabe territory. Since 2019, he has been part of the DSI team at the Transgender Media Portal, where he works on the backend development of our site, designing the overall development workflow and XSLTs, the technology that builds this website out of the curated data..

(she/her) Hi! I am a white cis queer settler from the territory of the Cowlitz, Clackamas, and Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and of Siletz Indians, now living in the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin nation. I am the founder and director of the 10 Transgender Media Portal and Transgender Media Lab and am an Associate Professor of Film Studies at Carleton University. Welcome to our lab!

Orvis Starkweather (settler, they/them) is a white, neurodivergent trans person living on lək̓ʷəŋən territories. Orvis works on data analytics for the 10 Transgender Media Portal. Their passion is to make visible the world views imbedded within data structures and redress harmful data practices.

Kit Chokly (he/they) is a white trans PhD student living in Tiohtiá:ke/Mooniyang/Montreal, the traditional territory of the Kanien’kehà:ka and a long-time meeting place of First Nations people. They hold a BComs and MA from Carleton University in Communication Studies and are currently studying the overlaps of trans and media theory at McGill University.

Jada (she/they) is a Black Scotian anthropology student and researcher with an interest in gendered labour and precarity in the age of digital media. Jada aims to use anthropological methods to shape the development and use of digital technology, navigating the power struggle between anti-colonial values and colonial-capitalist structures.

Aliisa Qureshi (she/her), is a Pakistani-Finnish film studies graduate in Odawa. She is passionate about archival activism: combatting historical erasure and inequities and improving the representation, accessibility, and care of histories. As a researcher for the Transgender Media Portal project, Aliisa aids in building and showcasing our digital collection.

Rina Khan (she/they) is originally from Dhaka, Bangladesh. She completed her Bachelor’s in Electronic Engineering from Multimedia University in Malaysia. She then proceeded to complete her Master’s in Computing at Queen’s University in Canada, where she is now pursuing her PhD in Computing. Rina’s research interests include AI ethics, focusing on how bias impacts marginalized communities and methods of building fairer and more equitable AI models.

Kate (she/her) is a cis white settler living in Ottawa on the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg nations. She is the Project Manager for the Transgender Media Lab, as well as for the Morriseau 1955–85 Project and the Cinema's First Nasty Women project which are also based at Carleton University.

Constance Crompton (settler, she/her) I am a white able-bodied queer settler scholar and Canada Research Chair in Digital Humanities. I was born and live on unceeded Anishinabe land, direct the University of Ottawa’s Labo de données en sceinces et humaines/Humanities Data Lab.

(settler, they/them) Hello! I am a trans non-binary white settler living in oskana kâ-asastêki, colonially known as Regina, in Treaty 4 – the territory of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda, and the homeland of the Métis Nation. I am a socially engaged, interdisciplinary artist and PhD candidate in Cultural Mediations at the Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art, & Culture at Carleton University. My doctoral research focuses on affective t4t encounters with disruptive technologies in public/urban spaces. As a PhD Fellow with the Transgender Media Lab, I am researching intersectional feminist lab ethics and developing policies and protocols that align the everyday work of the lab with our collectively determined values.

Adam has worked in high tech in Ottawa since the mid 80s. Since 2017 he has worked at Carleton University’s School for Studies in Arts and Culture, embracing his artsy side. He would like to thank Drupal and its community for the tools that the Transgender Media Portal is built on.

Raised in Tiotenactokte|Skanawetsy|Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue QC, Tierney is a Scottish/Irish/Italian/white/settler, trans* creative/educator/consultant/curator whose work sits at the intersection of art and education, oriented toward collective liberation. Currently a prof in the University of Ottawa’s Visual Arts department, over the last 20 years they have delivered and designed both arts, and arts-based workshops on unceded Algonquin land, in and around so-called Ottawa, approaching their work as an endless series of moments from which to learn, bridge creativity, communities, and share knowledge in the service of social transformation.

They are currently working on completing a PhD in Cultural Mediations at Carleton University where their research focuses on the pedagogical capacity of art and creativity to foster gender liberation.

Cáel M. Keegan is a cultural theorist of transgender/queer media and literature. He is primarily interested in the aesthetic forms transgender and queer people have created and how those forms shape our popular lifeworlds. Keegan is the 2021-22 Fulbright Distinguished Research Chair of Arts and Social Sciences at Carleton University and Associate Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Grand Valley State University. He is author of Lana and Lilly Wachowski: Sensing Transgender (University of Illinois Press, 2018) and co-editor of Somatechnics 8.1 on trans cinematic bodies. His writing has also appeared in Genders, Queer Studies in Media and Popular Culture, Transgender Studies Quarterly, Mediekultur, The Journal of Homosexuality, The Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, and FLOW. Currently, he serves as Special Editor for Arts and Culture at Transgender Studies Quarterly.

Jay moved to Ottawa three years ago from Strathroy, Ontario. He is in his third year studying Law at Carleton University with a concentration in transnational law and human rights and a minor in Film Studies. When not doing readings he is probably listening to one of his favourite podcasts.

Magnus Berg (they/he) is a Digital Scholarship Librarian at the University of Toronto, Mississauga (UTM) where they support digital scholarship research and teaching and coordinate digitization and digital preservation within the library. Prior to their time at UTM they worked on digital scholarship, digitization, audiovisual preservation, and metadata projects at the University of the Fraser Valley, CBC/Radio-Canada, Kingston Frontenac Public Library, and the University of British Columbia – Okanagan, among others. They hold a Master of Arts in Film + Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Master of Library and Information Science from Western University.

Oliver is a Bachelor of Social Work student at Carleton. His research interests are focused on understanding self care as a collective practice and building communities through pursuits of pleasure and 'doing what feels good'. Oliver believes that transgender representation (and community) should highlight moments of trans joy and desirability from the perspective of trans folks and creating space(s) that are by us and for us.

Devin is a fourth-year Computer Science student at Carleton University and assisted the senior web developer for the Transgender Media Portal. So far the project has been very interesting and he has learned a lot about both the content and the development. He is looking forward to seeing the project in progress!

Neecha is a member of Atikameksheng Anishinawbek First Nation (previously Whitefish Lake). She grew up in Ontario and has studied User Experience Design and Web Development disciplines with both Algonquin College and General Assembly. Her experience consists of a variety of design and development skills involving research, prototyping, and implementation. Along with her passion for learning, she has a strong commitment to sharing knowledge and helping others in their academic journey.

Noah graduated from Carleton University in 2018 with a Combined BA in Film Studies and Gender Studies. He recently began an MA in Women’s and Gender Studies at Carleton to study trans hegemony and gender expression. His written works include pieces on queer sexuality in horror cinema, gender performance in romantic comedies, and the challenges faced by transgender parents. In his spare time, he mentors and advocates for LGBTQ+ youth, performs as a local drag queen, and makes a mean cup of coffee.

Eduardo is a software engineer with a focus on all things digital media. He graduated as a software engineer with a game design minor at McMaster University back in 2017 and completed his Master's Degree in Information Technology (Digital Media) at Carleton University in 2019.