Kristen Thomasen

Kristen hails from the beautiful city of Hamilton, Ontario (the city of waterfalls) where she started her lifelong academic journey learning about proto-humans in her Anthropology Undergraduate at McMaster University. But all that time spent focusing on the past had Kristen yearning to work more in the present. She went on to do a Master’s degree in International Relations at Carleton University, which inspired an interest in policy, and in thinking about the future. This path led her to law school, and to her great delight, working for Ian as a first year RA. Through her work with Ian on privacy in relation to social media and emerging health technologies, Kristen knew she’d found her place in law. She went on to complete a directed research project with Ian on the implications of an emerging robotic technology for the constitutional rights to silence and privacy.

After law school she had the opportunity to fully immerse herself in her legal nerdom, clerking for the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench in Calgary, and then for Madam Justice Rosalie Abella at the Supreme Court of Canada. Meanwhile, Kristen’s interest in the legal implications of robots had only grown deeper. She was thrilled to return to the University of Ottawa to undertake her PhD with Ian, examining the impact of drones on privacy in public. Kristen also co-taught Contract Law, one of her favourite classes from law school, with Ian.

Her love of learning and teaching will soon become her career, when she starts a position as Assistant Professor of Law, Robotics and Society at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law in 2017.

In her spare time, Kristen hikes, camps and plays with her adorable American bulldog, Alabama.