Team

Samuel Grenier is a master’s student in applied political studies specializing in security and intelligence at the University of Sherbrooke. He holds a bachelor’s degree in applied politics with a focus on international cooperation and participated in the RANOSOA project in Madagascar. He then coordinated the Kazoza project in Uganda, further enriching his experience in international project management. His research interests focus primarily on disinformation, conspiracy theories, foreign interference, development models, and the use and regulation of artificial intelligence. He also participated in the LIRIC summer school, where he deepened his analysis of contemporary risks and crises.

Currently in her final year of the tridiploma in international political communication and democratic risks, a program offered by the Université de Sherbrooke, the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium) and Sciences Po Aix (France), Perrine aspires to specialize in the study of radicalization phenomena. Her final dissertation is an analysis of crisis communication and misinformation related to cyclone Chido in Mayotte, which occurred on December 5, 2024.

Alexandra Joseph is a doctoral student in law, lawyer and lecturer at the Université de Sherbrooke. Her research interests include the regulation of content on social networking sites and communicative approaches to law.

Enzo Laborda is a final-year student in the tridiploma in International Political Communication and Democratic Risks, offered by the Université de Sherbrooke in collaboration with the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium and Sciences Po Aix in France. He is particularly interested in the topics explored by the Chair, notably the prevention of radicalization and the analysis of related dynamics. He also hopes to deepen his knowledge of these subjects within the Chair. For his final dissertation, he studies the media and institutional coverage of the 2016 EU-Turkey migration agreement, at the intersection of communication and political science.

A professional in international economic development and dispute prevention and resolution, Philippe Lafrance has worked in public policy analysis and crisis management in numerous private, community, and public ecosystems, notably as a policy advisor to various levels of government. His areas of expertise include strengthening democratic resilience, political polarization, far-right ecosystems, disinformation, and survey and interview analysis methodologies. These topics are central to Mr. Lafrance’s doctoral studies in applied ethics and politics at the University of Sherbrooke.

Marie-Ève Martel is a professional journalist and lecturer in journalism at the University of Montreal. She is also the author of several essays on journalism. She served as an administrator for the Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec (FPJQ) between 2015 and 2022, and was its vice president for two years. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in communication at the University of Sherbrooke, where she is interested in the ethical uses of artificial intelligence in journalism. She is supervised by Professor Marie-Eve Carignan.

Elise Mazaloubaud is an applied political studies student in the international relations program at the Université de Sherbrooke. Her areas of interest are security, masculinism and religious and political extremism. She plans to continue her studies at graduate level with a master’s degree in security and crisis management.

Alexandre Ménard is a bachelor’s student in applied politics – public policy path – at the University of Sherbrooke and acts as an intern for the UNESCO-PREV Chair. Very early in his bachelor’s degree in applied politics, he developed an interest in all questions concerning violence in politics as well as those concerning radicalization, particularly those within the university environment. Within the UNESCO-PREV Chair, he wishes to acquire and develop new skills in research in order to continue his graduate studies at the 2nd cycle and to be able to use all of his acquirements in research mainly affecting his fields of interest.

After a bachelor’s and master’s degree in anthropology (ULaval, 2011 and 2013), Frédérick Nadeau completed a doctorate in urban studies at INRS (2020). He then pursued his work through postdoctoral internships, first at the Centre d’expertise et de formation sur les intégrismes religieux, les idéologies politiques et la radicalisation (2020-2022), then at the Chaire de recherche France-Québec sur les enjeux contemporains de la liberté d’expression (2023-2024). He is now a research professional with the UNESCO Chair in the Prevention of Violent Radicalization. Dr. Nadeau specializes in political ideologies and social movements, particularly those labelled “radical”. More specifically, he is interested in emerging forms of political ideology and activism in a context where the institutions of liberal democracy are being challenged. Among other things, he carried out a four-year ethnographic survey during which he infiltrated Quebec’s extreme right to share the daily lives of activists and understand their paths of commitment. His work earned him the Relève Étoile Paul-Gérin-Lajoie prize from the Fonds de recherche du Québec (June 2020). He has published in various French- and English-language journals (Bulletin d’histoire politique, Anthropologica, Canadian Ethnic Studies, Recherches sociographiques), and his expertise is frequently sought by local, national and international media (Radio-Canada/CBC, Le Devoir, La Presse, RTS-Radio Télévision Suisse, Le Monde, El País, TVA, Montreal Gazette).

Sabrina Paillé works as a research professional on the PREV-IMPACT Canada project. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in sociology from the Université du Québec à Montréal and pursued her doctoral studies in sociology at York University. In her research, she has shown a particular interest in the sociology of nationalism, reactions to immigration and gender issues, as well as radical right-wing and populist movements in Germany and Europe. Sabrina has several years of experience as a teaching assistant and research assistant. She has been part of the training team at the RPC-PREV since 2021.