Director

Dr. Lesley Frank

Director of the Fed Family Lab, Tier II Canada Research Chair in Food, Health and Social Justice, CCPA-NS Research Associate, Professor of Sociology

Dr. Lesley Frank is a trans-disciplinary social science scholar, skilled and committed to innovative, multi-sector, policy-relevant research related to food and health inequity experienced by marginalized populations and their children.

 

Staff

Audrey Kruisselbrink

Research Coordinator

Audrey has worked as a research coordinator at Acadia, Dalhousie, Saint Mary's University, the University of Ottawa, and the Nova Scotia Health Authority. Her 10 years of applied experience as a social worker for the BC government has provided a strong background for managing large research projects.

 

Alyssa Gerhardt

Research Coordinator

Alyssa is a PhD Candidate in Sociology at Dalhousie University. She is a mixed-methods researcher and is interested economic sociology and social inequality, specifically the experiences and social costs of living with personal debt. Her other interests include food insecurity, labour studies and rural sociology. At the Lab, Alyssa works on a variety of projects, with a focus on the Finding Formula project.

 

Laura Fisher

Research Coordinator

Laura received her Master's Degree in the Department of Sociology, and is currently a PhD candidate at Dalhousie University. While working with Dr. Lesley Frank, Laura conducted interviews with food insecure families of infants, and coded and analyzed data. Currently, Laura is working on Safeguarding Against Infants' Food Insecurity and Resulting Health Inequities in Nova Scotia.

 

Research Affiliates

Dr. Jane Francis

Assistant Professor in School of Nutrition and Dietetics

Dr. Jane Francis is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nutrition and Dietetics. Dr. Francis's background in nutrition and expertise with community-based research have been integral in several projects at the Lab, including Understanding Feeding in the Early Years, Finding Formula: Confronting Insecurities, and now Safeguarding Against Infants' Food Insecurity and Resulting Health Inequities.

 

Dr. Elisabeth Rondinelli

Assistant Professor in Department of Sociology

Dr. Elisabeth Rondinelli is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Acadia University. Dr. Rondinelli's experience with ethnographic and other qualitative research methods is essential for the Finding Formula project.

 

 

Current Students

Ruby Harrington

Research Assistant, Master's Student

Ruby is a Master's student in the Department of Politics at Acadia University. Her thesis work focuses on the role of informal networks of mothers as a policy response to the 2022 infant formula shortage in the United States and Canada. She started at the Lab as a co-op student in 2022.

 

Brit Pulsifer

Research Assistant, 4th year Sociology and Law and Society

Brit is a research assistant on the Finding Formula project.

 

 

Annika Sheppard

Research Assistant, 3rd year Sociology

Annika is a research assistant on the Finding Formula project.

 

 

Nick Lundrigan (they/them)

Research Assistant, 4th year English (Hons) and Women's and Gender Studies

Nick is a research assistant on the Finding Formula project.

 

 

Sara Farguson

Research Assistant, 4th year English (Hons)

Sara is a research assistant on the Finding Formula project.

 

 

 

Past students

Sudha Prajapati

Co-op Student

Sudha is in the Bachelor of Science program at Acadia, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Math and Statistics. While at the Lab, Sudha assisted with Safeguarding Against Infants' Food Insecurity and Resulting Health Inequities.

 

Claire MacConnell

Research Assistant, Bachelor of Arts in Sociology

While at the Lab, Claire worked as a research assistant on the Finding Formula project. Claire graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 2025.

 


Kyle Chappus

Master's Student, 2022-2024, Master of Arts in Sociology

Kyle graduated with a Master's degree from the Department of Sociology at Acadia University in 2024. His thesis work focused on analyzing the role of the family resource sector in mitigating the harm of food insecurity in Nova Scotia and government policy approaches.

 

Karleigh Huskins

Honour's Student, 2022-2023, Bachelor of Arts in Sociology

Karleigh graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Honour's, in Sociology in 2023. Karleigh's research explored the social meanings of school food and eating using an ethnographic approach in a rural Nova Scotian elementary school.