Spark: a centre for social research innovation became a centre 1.5 years ago and has grown rapidly this year to build toward the ambitious vision and mission of our founders.
Over the last year, we built an array of services to support researchers and collaborated with partners to bolster research innovation at McMaster and beyond. In January 2021, the centre, which was previously the Centre for Research in Empirical Social Sciences (CRESS) was officially re-named Spark: a centre for social research innovation. Throughout our time as Spark, we've accomplished a great deal:
- We launched our first research trainings such as our Data Wranging in R and Qualitative Analysis in NVivo
- We've reached a video milestone with over 70 education videos featuring many extremely talented and knowledgeable speakers who have shared their research with us
- In November 2020, the Secure Empirical Analysis Lab (SEAL) officially became a part of Spark
- In the Spring of 2021, we forged our first partnership with Advanced Research on Mental Health and Society (ARMS) and the Master of Public Policy Digital Society (MPP-DS)
- In the Fall of 2021, we officially became a member of the McMaster Research platform
Email Us
For any inquiries and questions, feel free to email us at talk.to.spark@mcmaster.ca.
Michelle Dion
Academic Director
Michelle is an expert in quantitative research design. She specializes in comparative political economy, comparative political behaviour, and research design and methodology. Michelle Dion is an award-winning Associate Professor of Political Science.
Allison Van
Executive Director
Allison is a rockstar at using research methods to help find solutions for complex social problems. She is excited to be building Spark into a model for facilitating innovative, relevant social research. In her spare time, she is a meditation teacher, dancer, and fermenter of every vegetable known to man.
Equity Burke
Operational Excellence Team Lead
Equity is the queen of organization, coordination, and administration. She is excited to help showcase the amazing work being conducted at spark. Equity is also the Research Coordinator at the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging at McMaster and strives to build a brighter world through qualitative interdisciplinary research which *sparks* relationships, collaboration, inclusion and change by addressing issues of aging. Other than writing things in her agenda and using colored sticky-notes, Equity enjoys travelling and has been to amazing places including Egypt, South Africa, and New Zealand.
Lynn Holland
Administrative Officer & Communications Team
Lynn is a gregarious administrator navigating Spark events/administration. What makes her unique is her university experience and her understanding of the details, processes, and rules. She stays resilient, optimistic, determined, and humble where technology is concerned. She adopts a “I can do – just show me” attitude. She is continually gaining new skills/abilities from the larger group at Spark.
Lily Wang
Secure Empirical Analysis Lab (SEAL) Manager
Lily has a background in Physics and Computer Science and is passionate about data security, fair use and Research Data Management.
Lance Marwood
Marketing & Events Associate
Lance is a wizard when it comes to communications, particularly with the written word. He is excited to be taking on the channels which Spark uses for broadcasting. He's the President & Co-Founder of creative marketing & publicity agency V13 Promotions, a vinyl enthusiast, and total nerd.
Evan Gravely
Brighter Spark Applied Research
Evan is a social researcher who specializes in working with community and social-purpose organizations to conduct high-quality research. While providing project support to Brighter Spark,he also manages the McMaster Research Shop – a co-curricular community-engaged research program. In his spare time, he enjoys introverted activities like reading, video games, and trail runs.
Shannon Boss
Brighter Spark Applied Research
Shannon is a wordsmith who loves translating research findings into digestible pieces. As a trained philosopher whose dissertation on diet and health pushed the boundaries of traditional philosophical research methodology, they are excited to make research more widely accessible. They received their PhD in Philosophy from the University of Guelph in 2022 and have been working with the The/La Collaborative at Mac since. Outside of their professional life, they are an avid outdoor enthusiast and absolute bookworm
Moyo Sogaolu
Brighter Spark Applied Research
Moyo is a marvel at transforming data into manageable pieces. She is an empirical research enthusiast passionate about using data to explore labour market issues. Moyo is working towards completing a Ph.D. in Economics, and when she is not analyzing data, you can find her volunteering or serving out various dishes from her kitchen.
Chenfei (Alina) Li
Multimedia Specialist (Captioning)
Alina is the CAT at captioning high-quality photos and actively seeking ways to drive innovation for society. Her enthusiasm to make a positive impact on the world is truly inspiring.
Balancing her schoolwork with her responsibilities, Alina is committed to achieving a harmonious work-study-life balance. To find inner peace, she enjoys reading, watching movies, and immersing herself in the beauty of nature after work.
Saud Haseeb
Brighter Spark Applied Research
Saud is a phenom at figuring out how to use complex data to tell cool stories. He is excited to work alongside an interdisciplinary team at Spark to learn how research can be used to create social change. In his spare time, he likes to volunteer, learn about cool sports statistics, and chase the elusive 30 minute 5k.
Wendy Riu
Marketing and Communications Associate - Captioning
Wendy is an innovative thinker who is passionate about marketing and communications. She brings creative ideas and strategic thinking to drive successful initiatives, excelling in utilizing technology to enhance her capabilities in the field. In her spare time, she loves socializing with friends, watching movies, listening to music, and going to the gym.
Ver-Se Denga
Brighter Spark Applied Research
Ver-Se is a champion at applying research methods to real-world problems. She is passionate about knowledge translation and is excited to be working with Spark to provide actionable research to community organisations. Outside of her work at Spark, Ver-Se is completing her PhD studies in psychology with a focus on human cognition and memory. She loves going to concerts and drinking bubble tea.