The Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy is a research center at Wilfrid Laurier University which studies issues pertaining to the creation, use and representation of public opinion in the policy process. The Institute serves as a catalyst to promote individual and collaborative research on these issues. In addition, the Institute monitors the practices and claims of the public opinion and interest group industries, and serves as an educational resource to the University and the larger community on questions and issues pertaining to those claims and practices.

Dr. Laura Pin, Interim Director
Political Science Department
Wilfrid Laurier University
Office: 4-102, Dr. Alvin Woods Building
Tel: 519-884-0710
Email: lpin@wlu.ca

My research examines how social inequality intersects with policy-governance regimes and how political scientists can use community engaged research to understand participation in public policy. I work in the areas of public budgeting, housing policy, and civic engagement.  I completed my PhD in political science at York University and did postdoctoral training at the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute at the University of Guelph.

Dr. Simon Kiss, Director (on leave)
Digital Media and Journalism Department
Wilfrid Laurier University, Brantford Campus
73 George Street, Brantford, ON, N3T2Y3
Office: OD 202
Tel: 519-756-8228, ext.5936
Email:skiss@wlu.ca
Website: https://sjkiss.github.io/

I’m a political scientist in the Digital Media and Journalism Program at WLU. My research is primarily focussed on political communication, public opinion and political parties. Much of my recent research has focussed on perceptions of risk from technologies and medical interventions.. I’m originally from Alberta and completed my PhD at Queen’s University in 2008 and did post-doctoral work at the Freie Universität Berlin.

Dr. Jason Roy, Deputy Director
Political Science Department
Wilfrid Laurier University
Office: 4-132, Dr. Alvin Woods Building
Tel: 519-884-0710, ext.3724
Email: jroy@wlu.ca

My primary areas of interest include political participation and behaviour, electoral politics, public opinion, and Canadian politics. I am currently engaged in research projects that employ online experiments to assess how individuals form political preferences. I have been especially interested in the interaction between political cognition, political interest and contextual factors that influence the effort allotted to the deliberation process and the preferences that are formed.

Dr. Andrea Perrella, Deputy Director
Political Science Department
Wilfrid Laurier University
Office: 4-124, Dr. Alvin Woods Building
Tel: 519-884-0710, ext.2719
Fax: 519-746-3655

I studied political science at l’Université de Montréal, obtaining a PhD in 2006 and an MSc in 1995. Prior to joining Laurier, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the Canada Research Chair in Electoral Studies. I also held a limited-term assignment at Concordia University in Montreal. My main research areas are political behaviour; participation; electoral politics; political communication; public opinion of public health; Canadian, Ontario and Quebec politics. 

Research Staff

Dr. Matthew R. Arp,
Research Associate

Matthew earned his PhD in Political Science from West Virginia University. His research interests include great power conflict and international norm creation. He joins LISPOP as a research associate with a background in large-N data collection, including During-Conflict Justice (DCJ) and Northern Ireland Research Initiative (NIRI).

 

Gabrielle Russo,
Research Assistant

Gabrielle is a third year student of Political Science and Criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University. Gabrielle is primarily responsible for increasing the social media engagement and sharing with more people what we do at LISPOP. After university, Gabrielle hopes to work in the legal field, either as a paralegal or lawyer and enjoys conducting research, gathering data, and writing reports. 

Melih Can Sahin,
Graduate Research Assistant

Melih Can is a third-year Ph.D. student in Social Psychology with a keen focus on how group-level concerns shape outgroup attitudes and sociopolitical preferences. Currently, he delves deep into the exploration of these concerns in the context of historical injustices in Canada. Melih has joined LISPOP as the R suite and statistics expert this semester. Here are a few of the projects he has worked on in the past.

 

Board Members

Dr. Darrell Bricker, CEO Ipsos Public Affairs, Office: 300-160 Bloor Street East, Toronto, ON M4W 1B9

Dr. Anna Esselment, Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo

Dr. Timothy B. Gravelle, SurveyMonkey (Member Representative)

Dr. Loren King, Department of Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University

Dr. Simon Kiss, Department of Digital Media and Journalism, Wilfrid Laurier University

Dr. Andrea Lawlor, Department of Political Science, King's University College, Western University

Dr. Andrea Perrella, Department of Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University

Dr. Laura Pin, Department of Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University

Dr. Anthony Piscitelli, Liberal Studies, Conestoga College

Dr. James Popham, Criminology, Wilfrid Laurier University

Dr. Jason Roy, Department of Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University

Dr. Anne Wilson, Psychology Department, Wilfrid Laurier University

Members

Dr. Christopher Alcantara, Department of Political Science, Western University

Dr. Steven Brown, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University

Dr. Ailsa Henderson, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh

Dr. Zachary Spicer, Institute of Public Administration of Canada | Department of Political Science, Western University

Dr. Andrew Basso, Department of Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University