Director, Redekop School of Business — Canadian Mennonite University. Biophysical economist, teacher, and builder of places where ideas meet practice.
I teach economics and social science at the intersection of analysis and action. My research bridges biophysical economics, political economy, and history — asking how debt-driven growth shapes our material world. My classroom asks students to think before they conclude.
I am an Assistant Professor and Director of the Redekop School of Business at Canadian Mennonite University, where I have taught across economics, political studies, business, and communications for roughly thirteen years. I have built courses, founded a coffee shop, sat on the board of a multi-billion-dollar credit union, and spent the last five years writing a doctoral dissertation about what happens when economies grow themselves into debt they cannot repay.
My academic life has always moved across boundaries. I hold an MPhil in Land Economy from Cambridge and have submitted a PhD in biophysical economics at McGill, where I worked under the Leadership for the Ecozoic program — a transdisciplinary partnership across law, anthropology, communications, and the natural sciences.
Outside the classroom I have co-owned an award-winning coffee shop, served as a board director at Assiniboine Credit Union, founded CMU's Centre for Resilience, a coworking space, and contributed to policy initiatives in Manitoba. I write op-eds and research papers, and believe the world needs more spaces for genuine, rigorous dialogue across ideologies and cultures.
My goal is not to produce students who hold the right views, but students who can think rigorously.
The thesis examines the material and energetic consequences of debt-driven growth in two contrasting economies. It tests whether debt shifts resource allocation in ways conventional methods do not capture — bridging biophysical economics, political economy, and history.
I build courses around discussion because I believe ideas are tested in argument, not in passive reception. The most important habit I try to build in students is the discipline of analysis before conclusion — slowing the move from observation to judgment.
I integrate AI tools into the classroom explicitly rather than treating them as a threat. The goal is students who can work with AI fluently and critically — which is increasingly the condition of serious intellectual and professional work.
The most important questions cannot be answered within a solitary discipline alone — but this interdisciplinary work must be accompanied with intellectual and methodological rigour.
Built a co-working lab and experiential learning hub at CMU connecting students to real clients, investor pitches, and ventures that continued well beyond the semester.
Seven years on the board of one of Canada's largest independent financial cooperatives — a multi-billion-dollar firm with a triple-bottom-line mandate.
Co-founded and ran a triple-bottom-line coffee shop in downtown Winnipeg. Recognized as Most Innovative Business Model by the Downtown BIZ in 2016.
Co-founded the Winnipeg chapter of the international Transition Towns movement. Edited and published the city's Energy Descent Action Plan.
Canadian Director (2010–18) then Chief Economist of the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy. Author and frequent contributor.
Selfscape connects the dots across lab and bloodwork results to surface what other health providers miss. It turns clinical data into plain-language insights people can act on — backed by a deterministic rule library and, where it matters, a registered dietitian.
I welcome inquiries from prospective students, collaborators, media, and editors. I am particularly happy to talk about teaching across disciplines, ecological economics, the political economy of debt, or the future of liberal arts education.
Canadian Mennonite University · 500 Shaftesbury Blvd, Winnipeg MB