{"id":29,"date":"2024-05-04T17:12:39","date_gmt":"2024-05-04T17:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/haven.utsc.utoronto.ca\/?page_id=29"},"modified":"2026-05-20T22:28:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T22:28:53","slug":"about-haven","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/haven.utsc.utoronto.ca\/index.php\/about-haven\/","title":{"rendered":"ABOUT HAVEN"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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THE LAB<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Haven: the Asylum Lab is a project designed to preserve, share and analyse obscured data surrounding immigration and border issues worldwide. Based at University of Toronto Scarborough, Professor Alison Mountz created the project with three aims: to serve as physical lab space<\/a> for working with immigration- and border-related data, to host an online data catalogue for protecting and disseminating these data and to establish a broader, public network for working with such data.Through data curation, preservation and best practises in data management, the lab provides a literal Haven for immigration- and border-related data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The data menu allows access to our growing data catalogue, which come in two forms: datasets and “data drops”. Datasets include data on specific immigration and border issues, whereas data drops include both such data as well as a variety of related resources surrounding the dataset itself. Each month, Haven will release a new data drop in conjunction with researchers on important topics in immigration and border issues, such as asylum seeking and refugees, immigration detention, irregular border crossings and deportation and expulsion, among other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participate<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can participate in the Haven network by sharing your own data, become part of the Haven network by affiliation, or you can join a smaller community of conversations about immigration data. You can also visit the lab<\/a> to use Haven’s resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can parse the data and learn more about immigration related data by listening to our podcasts, watching our webinars on methods and methodologies, and reading other materials. Haven’s purpose in sharing these resources is not only to promote shared data, but to move to incorporate wider publics into understanding, using and telling stories with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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THE TEAM<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Alison Mountz<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Professor, Department of Human Geography
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: political geographies of migration and displacement, border studies, geographies of detention, political asylum, and war resistance, island studies<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alison researches how people cross borders, access asylum, survive detention, resist war, and create safe havens. She advises student research on migration and displacement, borders, and political and feminist geographies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


alison.mountz@utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Kira Williams<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Coordinating Data Scientist, Department of Human Geography
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: borders, migration, political geography, methodology, statistics<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kira’s research focuses on illegalised migration, borders, and methodology, with special attention to analysing how states deploy space to alter the physical, social, and political spaces of international migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


kira.williams@utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Ana Visan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

PhD Candidate
Balsillie School of International Affairs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: borders, technology, migration, security, human geography<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ana’s research explores the ramifications of how governments, in particular the European Union\u2019s and its member states governments, use technological tools for the surveillance of external borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


avisan@balsillieschool.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Kate Motluk<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

PhD Candidate
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: forced migration, externalization, refuge, islands, detention, and carceral control<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kate conducts research on a number of issues related to forced migration and carceral control. She is particularly interested in the spatial relationships and dynamics that drive mobility and immobility. Prior to graduate school, Kate worked in the refugee non-profit sector in Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

kate.motluk@utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Artin Khiabani<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Undergraduate Student
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2025 Jackman Scholars-in-Residence Cohort<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: access to justice, refugee status determination (RSD), and procedural fairness<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artin\u2019s research examines the procedural and substantive fairness of Canada\u2019s RSD system, with a particular focus on the role of legal aid in shaping access to justice for asylum seekers. Prior to joining Haven as a Research Assistant, he was a 2025 Jackman Scholar with the Lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

artin.khiabani@mail.utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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THE NETWORK<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Rachel Elisha Marcelline<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Undergraduate Student
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2026 Jackman Scholars-in-Residence Cohort<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: externalization, security, burden sharing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel is currently conducting oral story research on the lived experiences of individuals crossing the Canada\u2013US border. Working with community partners, she is working on sharing these stories through public platforms to inform public understanding of migration and asylum-seeking policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


rachel.marcelline@mail.utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Ali Emanuel Castillo Armijos<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Undergraduate Student
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2026 Jackman Scholars-in-Residence Cohort<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: migration policy, political geography, human right, social mobility, inequality<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ali\u2019s research examines how institutional design shapes inequality, social disparities, and policy outcomes in labor markets and education. As an immigrant, he focuses on social mobility across racialized and immigrant communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


ali.castilloarmijos@mail.utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Ellie Liu<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Undergraduate Student
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2026 Jackman Scholars-in-Residence Cohort<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: mental health, migration, and social support systems<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellie is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, specializing in Mental Health Studies. She will be pursuing a Master of Social Work, with a focus on the connections between mental health and migration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


yilinn.liu@mail.utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Sol\u00e8ne Korah<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Undergraduate Student
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2026 Jackman Scholars-in-Residence Cohort<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: refugees, migration laws, border policies<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sol\u00e8ne is passionate about the intersection between art and advocacy, researching for and executing projects that allow social justice issues, such as refugee externalization, to be highlighted through a creative lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


solene.korah@mail.utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Nyx Zhu<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Undergraduate Student
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2026 Jackman Scholars-in-Residence Cohort<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: refuge, gender inequality, sociology of culture<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nyx specializes in International Development Studies and minoring in Sociology. She is interested in qualitative research and oral history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


nyx.zhu@mail.utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Riko Fujii<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Undergraduate Student
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2025 Jackman Scholars-in-Residence Cohort<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: migration, refugees, human rights, security<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riko is a third year student majoring in Political Science and Global Development Studies at the University of Toronto. An an immigrant herself, she is extremely passionate about global migration issues, increasing tensions in the narratives of immigrants, and their protection of rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


r.fujii@mail.utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Annabel Liu<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Undergraduate Student
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2025 Jackman Scholars-in-Residence Cohort<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: criminal justice and law, carceral control, detention, intersectionality<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annabel is a graduating fourth-year student in Criminology and Sociology at the University of Toronto. She is interested in exploring the interactions between law and carceral control, particularly the power relations that legitimize remand systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


annabelziqi.liu@mail.utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Ishaeya Bajaj<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Undergraduate Student
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2025 Jackman Scholars-in-Residence Cohort<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: literature, government, political migration, and asylum<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ishaeya co-created an accessible toolkit to help asylum seekers crossing the Canada-U.S. Border. She explores political asylum and border studies through a literature, psychological, and public policy research lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


ishaeya.bajaj@mail.utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Nagata Aptana<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Undergraduate Student
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2024 Jackman Scholars-in-Residence Cohort<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: migration patterns, environmental displacement, environmental geography, data engineering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nagata is a computer science student with an interest in reliable ways to process big data under computational constraint. He helped process ad-hoc raw data during his term with Haven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


nagata.aptana@mail.utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Noelle Gomes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MPH Candidate
Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2024 Jackman Scholars-in-Residence Cohort<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interests: public health, health promotion, health of marginalized communities (including women and racialized populations, e.g., South Asian women, racialized immigrants)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noelle\u2019s work as an MPH student involves using an intersectional and social determinants of health approach to research the health inequities experienced by marginalized populations in Ontario, and developing evidence-informed program proposals and evaluation plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


noelle.gomes@mail.utoronto.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE LAB Haven: the Asylum Lab is a project designed to preserve, share and analyse obscured data surrounding immigration and border issues worldwide. Based at University of Toronto Scarborough, Professor Alison Mountz created the project with three aims: to serve as physical lab space for working with immigration- and border-related data, to host an online… Read More »ABOUT HAVEN<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-29","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/haven.utsc.utoronto.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/haven.utsc.utoronto.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/haven.utsc.utoronto.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haven.utsc.utoronto.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haven.utsc.utoronto.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/haven.utsc.utoronto.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":901,"href":"https:\/\/haven.utsc.utoronto.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions\/901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/haven.utsc.utoronto.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}