Who We Are
BJRI Co-Founders
Krista Johnston
Krista Johnston is Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Canadian Studies at Mount Allison University, located in Mi’kma’ki, along the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada. Her research focuses on the interface between social action and social policy. She has published on motherhood, settler colonialism, and midwifery care. Her work is grounded in anti-colonial feminist commitments to reproductive justice, with a broad focus on the politics of care.
Christiana MacDougall
Christiana MacDougall is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Women’s and Gender Studies at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, located in Mi'kma'ki, the unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq people. Her research focuses on reproductive justice, mental health and mental illness, and the areas where these overlap. Christiana is committed to critically engaged research that can be used towards positive social change.
Research Affiliates
Sarah Rudrum
Sarah Rudrum is a Professor of Sociology at Acadia University. She is currently researching health care provider responses to the climate crisis, with a focus on British Columbia. As a health sociologist, her research has primarily focused on gender and equity in sexual and reproductive health in Canada and East Africa. Her book Global Health and the Village is an institutional ethnography of the role of global health on local health care settings drawing on a case study of maternity care in northern Uganda.
Research Assistants and Community Members
Community Members
Community-Based Research Consultant
My name is Christina, daughter of Agnes, granddaughter of Mary and Lucy. I am a cis white woman who has birthed two babies. One with Midwives and a Doula in Western Canada in 2004; the second one in a small hospital with my female family doctor and a Doula in Eastern Canada in 2006.
I have been a continuous care provider offering childbirth education sessions, birth and postpartum Doula support and Birth Story Listening for 20 years. I have supported activism towards registering midwifery and providing access to families since moving to NB and am a participating member of the consumer group NB Families for Midwives.
I am honored to be consulting for the Birth Justice Research Initiative and Midwifery in NB.
Research Assistants
My name is Emily Brown (she/her) and I am a second year Health Studies major. I am beyond excited to be working with the BJRI in June at their conference and into the academic year. Next year, I will be working on an independent study on a topic related to the BJRI supervised by Dr. MacDougall. I am also hoping to purse an Honours degree, with my thesis being focused in the context of birth justice.
My career aspirations include becoming a midwife, and working to advance the practice of midwifery care in the province of New Brunswick. Working with the BJRI is the perfect fit for me to be able to start working towards these goals. I am really looking forward to expanding my knowledge on this topic that I am so passionate about, and I know it will be incredibly valuable to me in my future endeavors!
Maggie is a third year Honours sociology student at Mount Allison University with minors in French and international politics. She is currently researching contraceptive decisions and what influences young people making those choices. She is passionate about public policy and especially interested in how feminist and reproductive justice principles can be applied to any sector. Working with the BJRI will open her eyes to the challenges and opportunities in this line of policy.
Former Research Assistants
Sophie Flemming, Grad 2024
Chloe Jackson, Grad 2024
Hannah MacIntosh, Grad 2024
Nell Farion, Grad 2023
Aude Gazzano, Grad 2023
Sara-Ann Strong, Grad 2022
Emma Etheridge is in her fourth year at Mount Allison, doing her Honours in Sociology with a minor in Psychology. She will be completing an independent study with Dr. MacDougall and assisting with research, organization, and social media for the BJRI. After her undergraduate degree, Emma is aiming to pursue a master’s in social work. She is thankful for the opportunity to gain experience working in the context of reproductive justice, something she hopes to continue with after her schooling.
Kenzie Dunnett is a fourth year Women’s and Gender studies student working to obtain an Honours degree from Mount Allison University in May of 2025. She is working with the Birth Justice Research Initiative to maximize the use of feminist principles, methodologies, and reflexivity in work that is focused on reproductive justice in New Brunswick. Using background knowledge from her philosophy minor, Dunnett is interested in breaking down the epistemological underpinnings of medicalized birth and reproductive practices in North America. With the knowledge that she obtains while working for the BJRI about how to conduct ethical, feminist research, Dunnett intends to go to graduate school to investigate the roles that marginalized folks play within right-wing, conservative groups.