This story is published in YFile’s New Faces Feature Issue 2022. Every September, YFile introduces and welcomes those joining the York University community, and those with new appointments.
The Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC) welcomes three new faculty members this fall: Mahtot Gebresselassie, Adeyemi Oludapo Olusola and Joshua Thienpont.
“The Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change is excited to welcome Professors Mahtot Gebresselassie, Adeyemi Olusola and Joshua Thienpont as the newest members of our academic community,” said EUC Dean and Professor Alice Hovorka. “They bring with them a wealth of knowledge and skills within their respective fields – students and colleagues alike will benefit from their expertise and commitments to justice and sustainability.”
Mahtot Gebresselassie
Mahtot Gebresselassie is an architect, urban planner, educator and social-science researcher with research interests in smart mobility and equity, accessible urban and digital spaces, urban design, human-computer interaction (HCI), Uber and Lyft transportation in unusual events, and the sharing economy in the transportation sector. Most of her research focuses on Uber and Lyft and transportation equity in relation to people with disabilities and low-income earners.
Her current research centres on Uber and Lyft usage disparity during extreme weather, comparing the two companies’ usage during heatwaves between high- and low-income neighbourhoods in New York City. For further information about Mahtot, visit her personal webpage, which details her research, teaching, publications and architecture portfolio.
Adeyemi Oludapo Olusola
Adeyemi Oludapo Olusola is a physical geographer with research and teaching interests in fluvial geomorphology, ecohydrology, environmental science as well as GIS/remote sensing. His other research interests include landscape evolution, polluted pathways and sediment fingerprinting. He completed his postdoctoral research at the University of Free State in South Africa and has served as a lecturer at the University of Ibadan and Osun State University, both in Nigeria. He finished his PhD at University of Ibadan with a dissertation on the process-form dynamics of Upper Ogun River Basin in Southwestern Nigeria.
Joshua Thienpont
Joshua Thienpont’s teaching and research focus on landscape disturbances and how they impact ecosystem processes. He is particularly interested in studying the connection between physical disturbances and ecosystem changes, including the biogeography of organisms. His current research examines how marine storm surges in the Mackenzie Delta of the western Canadian Arctic result in widespread salinization, fundamentally altering terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. He uses lake sediment records to reconstruct past environments where direct monitoring data are sparse or absent.