Nathan Andrews (Political Studies) and Scott Thompson (Sociology) have been named recipients of the Government of Canada’s Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships.

Dr. Andrews is joining Queen’s after completing his PhD at the University of Alberta. His research seeks to ask whether Ghana’s oil development has the potential to alleviate levels of poverty or risks falling victim to the “resource curse” – a paradoxical trend in economics that shows countries with an abundance of natural resources, specifically non-renewable resources, tend to have lower levels of economic growth and worse development outcomes than those with fewer natural resources.

“I am very privileged to be listed as a Banting fellow this year, among a group of emerging scholars,” says Dr. Andrews. “The Banting fellowship is going to give me peace of mind in terms of financial security as I investigate the impact of oil and gas extraction on local communities in the context of Ghana. As a stepping-stone to a promising future research career, this funding will enable me to stay active in the broader field of the international political economy of natural resources in Africa.”

Dr. Thompson was a post-doctoral fellow at the Surveillance Studies Centre under Dr. David Lyon (Sociology) prior to being awarded the Banting Fellowship. His research is focused on examining the historic use of surveillance technologies by the Government of Canada to impose the category of ‘Indian’ on First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. This work will help to better understand how this category came to construct a single cultural understanding for a diverse group of peoples and cultures, imposed an identity onto them. Dr. Thompson will also investigate what can be done to address the negative cultural stereotypes that continue as the legacy of these programs.

"The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship has given me the opportunity to add my own voice to the incredibly important and groundbreaking research being done by the Surveillance Studies Centre here at Queen's University,” says Dr. Thompson. “ I am very excited to bring my own research regarding the historical surveillance of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit to these discussions, and work with members of the community to seek out means of dispelling some of the hurtful stereotypes regarding these peoples."

The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is administered by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. It aims to attract and retain top-tier postdoctoral talent and position them for success as research leaders of tomorrow. More information on the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship program can be found here.