Research
My research topics include artificial intelligence (“AI”), autonomous weapons systems (“AWS”), international legal structures (including international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and international human rights law), domestic legal structures (such as employment law), and engineering ethics.
AWS, a type of emerging AI technology, are weapons capable of operating autonomously, or without human intervention or oversight. These operations can include the autonomous identification, selection, and targeting of humans. Through my research, I am (1) tracing the development path of AWS from invention to commercialisation/deployment, (2) identifying the points (hereafter “decision nodes”) at which legal, professional ethical, and/or legal ethical issues are implicated along the way, and (3) evaluating the greater social and political context in which this developmental pathway exists (including the law and politics of technical expertise).
Education
2021: Masters of Laws - Queen's University
2019: Juris Doctor - Queen's University
2014: Bachelor of Science (Engineering) - Queen's University
Teaching Experience
Teaching Assistant, Legal Process I - Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (2022 - 2023)
Teaching Assistant, Legal Process I - Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (2021 - 2022)
Teaching Assistant, Business Associations - Queen's University (2020 - 2021)
Professional Experience
Student at Law - Gowling WLG, Ottawa (2019 - 2020)
Summer Student - Gowling WLG, Ottawa (2017 - 2018)
Process Engineer-in-Training - Devon Energy, Calgary (2014 - 2015)
Engineering Summer Student - Cenovus Energy, Calgary and Foster Creek (2012 - 2013)
Awards
- Hon. Willard Z. Estey Teaching Fellowship, Osgoode Hall Law School (2022)
- Doctoral Fellow, Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security (2021 - 2022)
- Harley D. Hallett Graduate Scholarship, Osgoode Hall Law School (2021)
- Dean's Honour List, Queen's Faculty of Law (2018 - 2019)
- Legal Leaders for Diversity Award, Legal Leaders for Diversity Trust Fund (2018)
- Queen's Law Prize in Taxation, Queen's Faculty of Law (2017)
- University Entrance Scholarships in Law, Queen's Faculty of Law (2016)
Presentation
- “Dealing in a World of Reality: Autonomous Weapons Systems, Law, and Professional Ethics” (Work-in-progress Presentation as part of Panel 7: Algorithms, AI, and Ethics at the 2022 Osgoode GLSA Conference, Toronto, August 2022)
