Political Science Department Welcomes Two New Assistant Professors

September 3, 2015

Dr. Kate Neville

Dr. Neville (above) holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of British Columbia, an M.E.Sc. from Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a B.Sc.H. from the Department of Biology at Queen’s University.

Passionate about global environmental politics, Dr. Neville is interested in the insights that international relations and comparative politics can bring to discussions of ecological protection, sustainability and resource governance. Her work focuses primarily on energy developments, water politics and environmental activism.

Dr. Neville commented on her new position by saying, “My excitement is twofold. First, in my teaching, I’m looking forward to encouraging students to learn about the politics of environmental issues across disciplinary lines. Second, in my research, I’m keen to engage in constructive and wide-ranging conversations with colleagues, and to expand the boundaries of my research.”

Her most current project explores the politics and political economy of energy, particularly unconventional oil and gas (with a focus on hydraulic fracturing). She is also working on her first book which looks at the contested politics and political economy of biofuels.

Prior to joining the department, Dr. Neville was a SSHRC Post-Doctoral Fellow at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. At the University of Toronto she is cross-appointed with the School of the Environment.

Dr. Ludovic Rheault

Dr. Ludovic Rheault received both his M.A. and Ph.D. from the Political Science Department at L’Université de Montréal. Before joining The University of Toronto, Dr. Rheault was a visiting scholar at the University of California, Riverside. His research interests fall within the broad field of positive political economy, including topics such as the politics of technological change, social networks, electoral behaviour and the quantitative analysis of political discourse. His work has been published in The Journal of Public Policy, Political Research Quarterly and The Canadian Journal of Political Science.

Having already completed a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2014/15) with us, Dr. Rheault is excited about his future here. “There is no doubt that the University of Toronto is the best place to be in Canada. I’ve already had opportunities to engage concretely in interdisciplinary research and in less than a year here, I was able to undertake ambitious research projects on social networks and on the computational analysis of political language. That’s exactly what I was looking for. My new position gives me additional time to make the most of this stimulating environment, to carry out those projects, start new ones and hopefully get other colleagues and students involved in joint research endeavours along the way.”

Both Dr. Neville and Dr. Rheault officially joined the Political Science Department on July 1, 2015.