Institute of Urban Studies: Staff

Jino Distasio
Director and (with University of Winnipeg) Assoc. Professor in Geography
(204) 982-1147 | j.distasio@uwinnipeg.ca


Dr. Jino Distasio is the Director of the Institute of Urban Studies, University of Winnipeg, a position he has held since 2003. Since joining the Institute in 2000, Jino has worked extensively in Winnipeg's inner city as well as researching Canadian and global urban issues.

During this time he examined urban Aboriginal mobility and housing, reviewed and studied problems and solutions for rooming houses and single room occupancy hotels as well as actively participating on numerous inner city committees and boards. This has ranged from serving on the Mayor's Rapid Transit Taskforce and the Zoning Advisory Committee to assisting West Broadway in the development of their housing plan.

At the national level, he has led multi-city projects that have examined hidden homelessness, working poverty and most recently he assisted the development of a national index of neighbourhood distress in Canadian cities. He also helped produce Winnipeg's first urban Aboriginal housing plan.

Jino actively teaches urban issues and is an Adjunct Professor of City Planning at the University of Manitoba. He is also routinely asked to provide both local and national media comment on issues relating to urban change and poverty, transportation, inner city renewal and other civic and urban issues.
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Michael Dudley
Senior Research Associate & Library Coordinator
(204) 982-1145 | m.dudley@uwinnipeg.ca

Michael Dudley has been with the Institute of Urban Studies since June of 2001. He has graduate degrees in both library science (University of Alberta, 1993) and city planning (University of Manitoba, 2001). In addition to participating in IUS research projects, he is responsible for managing the IUS Library and assisting students with their research. He teaches in the environmental studies program at the University of Winnipeg and is an adjunct professor with the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba.

Michael serves on the editorial board of Plan Canada acts as the book review editor for the Canadian Journal of Urban Research. He contributes to Progressive Planning magazine and is a regular book reviewer for The Winnipeg Free Press.

Michael blogs on urban planning issues for Planetizen's Interchange.

Publications:

  • Public Libraries and resilient Cities: Creating Sustainable and Equitable Places. Chicago: ALA Editions (as Editor, Forthcoming)
  • Location Efficient Mortgages; District Energy; Resilience. In N. Cohen, (Ed). Green Politics. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. (2010).
  • Eco-Fascism; Mega-Cities; Political Ideology; Suburban Sprawl; Urban Planning; Wise Use Movement. In P. Robbins, D. Mulvaney & J.G. Golson (Eds). Green Politics. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. (2010).
  • Sustainable Development. In R. Hutchison (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Urban Studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. (2010).
  • Cinema and the City of the Mind: Using Motion Pictures to Explore Human-Environment Transactions in Planning Education. In L. Sandercock & G. Attili (Eds.) Multimedia Explorations in Urban Policy and Planning: Beyond the Flatlands. New York: Springer. (2010).
  • “Blogging: Writing Op-Eds. In C. Smallwood (Ed.) The Published Librarian: Successful Professional and Personal Writing. Chicago: The American Library Association. (2010)
  • Cold War, Hot Climate: City Planning in Times of Crisis, Comparative Civilizations Review 61 (2009).
  • Revisiting Cold War Ideology in the Secure City: Towards a Political Economy of Urbicide. Theory & Event 10 (2), 2007.
  • Donald Appleyard; Visual Preference Surveys; M. Christine Boyer. In R. Caves (Ed). The Encyclopedia of the City: Routledge, 2005.
  • Sprawl as Strategy: City Planners Face the Bomb. The Journal of Planning Education and Research 21 (1) (September 2001).

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Michelle Swanson
Institute of Urban Studies, CJUR
Coordinator of Research Publications

(204) 982-1174 | m.swanson@uwinnipeg.ca

Michelle received her BA in Politics from the University of Winnipeg and completed the Library Technician and Business Administration programs at Red River College. She has worked in: Acquisitions at the University of Winnipeg Library; Reference at Red River College Library and Administration at the Natural Resources Library.
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Gina Sylvestre, PhD
Senior Research Associate
 (204) 982-1146 | g.sylvestre@uwinnipeg.ca

Gina's research examines inequitable accessibility to resources in the social and physical environments and its impact on an individual's ability to age successfully. With a doctorate in Geography from the University of Manitoba, her investigative work focuses on issues of space and place in the context of how older adults adapt to changing needs and circumstances. In particular, Gina has collaborated for several years with the Transportation Options Network for Seniors community coalition (formerly the Seniors Transportation Working Group) to pursue the issue of mobility and identify those elements of the community that create barriers, as well as best practices that improve transportation for an aging population. With funding from the provincial Healthy Aging and Seniors Secretariat and the Public Health Agency of Canada she has developed a research program to inform both policy and transport provision for older adults in Manitoba. The program is directed to facilitate community dialogue around improved ways of collaborating and providing mobility services to persons experiencing difficulty in participating fully in both rural and urban communities. Gina has also begun to develop a conceptual framework to examine the social capital that exists in the aging population and how the contributions of seniors to healthy communities can inform the promotion of an age-inclusive society.

Journal-Reviewed Publications

  • Smith, G.C. and Sylvestre, G.M. (2008) Effects of neighbourhood and individual change on the personal outcomes of recent movers to low-income senior housing. Research on Aging, 30 (5), 592-617.
  • Havens, B., Hall, M., Sylvestre, G., and Jivan, T. (2004). Social isolation and loneliness: Differences between older rural and urban Manitobans. Canadian Journal on Aging, 23 (2), 129-140.
  • Smith, G.C., Sylvestre, G.M., and Anderson Ramsay, H. (2002). Local social and service environments of an urban housing market for seniors. Housing and Society, 29 (1/2), 23-44.
  • Smith, G.C. and Sylvestre, G.M. (2001). Determinants of the travel behavior of the suburban elderly. Growth and Change, 32, Summer, 395-412.


Reports/Non-Refereed Articles

  • Sylvestre, G. and Cardona Claros, K. (2008). An Action Plan for Seniors Transportation in Manitoba: Strategic Priorities. Winnipeg, MB.: Institute of Urban Studies, University of Winnipeg.
  • Cardona Claros, K., Ladd, A. and Sylvestre, G. (2008). Investigating the Social Capital and Capacity of Older Adults in Rural Manitoba. Winnipeg, MB.: Institute of Urban Studies, University of Winnipeg.
  • Sylvestre, G., Gaudry, L. and Christopher, G. (2007). Mobility Options for the Aging Population of Manitoba: An Action Plan for Regional Solutions. Winnipeg, MB.: Institute of Urban Studies, University of Winnipeg.
  • Sylvestre, G., Christopher, G. and Snyder, M. (2006). The Mobility Needs and Transportation Issues of the Aging Population in Rural Manitoba. Winnipeg, MB: Institute of Urban Studies, University of Winnipeg.
  • Distasio, J., Sylvestre, G. and Mulligan, S. (2005). Home is Where the Heart is and Right Now that is Nowhere: An Examination of Hidden Homelessness Among Aboriginal Peoples in Prairie Cities. Winnipeg, MB: Institute of Urban Studies, University of Winnipeg.
  • Distasio, J. and Sylvestre, G. (2004). First Nations/Métis/Inuit Mobility Study: Final Report. Winnipeg, MB: Institute of Urban Studies, University of Winnipeg.
  • Sylvestre, G., Havens, B. and Hall, M. (2004). The Aging in Manitoba Longitudinal Study. Thirty Years Later: 1971-2001. Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba.
  • Hall, M., Havens, B. and Sylvestre, G. (2003). The Experience of Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Older Men in Manitoba. Report prepared for Veterans Affairs Canada.
  • Sylvestre, G.M. (2001). Improved Transportation for Older Adults in Winnipeg, MB: The Recommendations and Final Report of the Winnipeg Seniors Transportation Working Group. Winnipeg, MB.
  • Sylvestre, G.M. (2001). Mobility for Older Adults in Manitoba: A Position Paper by the Manitoba Association on Gerontology. Winnipeg, MB.
  • Sylvestre, G.M. (1999). The geography of aging: A geographical contribution to gerontology. Prairie Perspectives, Geographical Essays. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Prairie Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers, Manitou Beach, SK.
  • Sylvestre, G.M. and Smith, G.C. (1997). The Boni-Vital Volunteer Transportation Program: Final Report. Report to the Canadian Association on Gerontology, Seniors at Risk Project, Ottawa, ON.
  • Sylvestre, G.M. (1996). Transportation and the suburban elderly population. In Difficult Issues in Aging in Difficult Times (G.M. Joseph, Ed.). Guelph ON: Department of Family Studies, 100-119.

Membership in Professional Associations
Canadian Association of Geographers
Gerontological Society of America
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Jillian Golby Borsa
Administrative & Executive Assistant
(204) 982-1140 | j.golby@uwinnipeg.ca

Jillian is the Administrative Assistant at IUS, a position she has held since 2001. Since that time, her administrative and organization skills have helped to see IUS through 2 relocations: the first to Princess Avenue; the second to the current location on Portage Avenue, across from the University of Winnipeg. Jillian's role is broad, in terms of the tasks performed (from managing the office, to facilitating conferences and special events, to overseeing human resources and finance matters) and the people she works with (senior and junior UofW staff, community groups and members, civil servants and private consultants)

Jillian received her BA Hons.(Geography) from the University of Winnipeg in 1999, and won the Prairie Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers (PCAG) Student Award the same year. Her thesis, "Gated Communities: The Fortress Frontier" (1999) is available at the main campus library. Jillian continues to upgrade her education and enhance her interpersonal skills by way of courses at Continuing Education."

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Fereshteh Moradzadeh
Research Associate
(204) 982-1176 | f.moradzadeh-ra@uwinnipeg.ca

Fereshteh holds a Master’s degree in architecture from the Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran and an additional Master’s degree in city planning from the University of Manitoba. Her research interests include sustainable community development, social marketing, and energy efficiency.
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