Our Team | 2024

Damiano Aiello is a licensed Italian building engineer and a Contract Instructor at Carleton University. He is a PhD candidate at the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism, where he has been researching the intersection between heritage conservation and reparations. Damiano received his Master’s Degree in Building Engineering and Architecture from the University of Catania. He is actively involved with Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS), where he contributes to projects focused on digital documentation and storytelling. Before joining Carleton University, Damiano worked as an engineer in Italy and gained multiple research fellowships at the University of Catania and Politecnico di Milano.

David recently graduated from the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies with a Master of Arts, specializing in Heritage Conservation. He was on the organizing committee for the 2019 and 2020 symposiums. Currently he works for Heritage Saskatchewan.

Dylan (he/they) is a Master of Architecture student at the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism. Specializing in Heritage Conservation and Sustainability in their Bachelors, they joined the Symposium Committee in 2024. They also serve as co-president of Landscape Lab, a student-run design lab focused on landscape architecture and ecology.  

Fatemeh is an enthusiastic architect who received her bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering in Iran in 2020, followed by a Graduate Diploma in Architectural Conservation from Carleton University in Canada in 2023. She worked for 3 years in Iran with an architectural consulting firm, and now she is working as a design consultant in Canada. 

Filipe Costa is a M.Arch Candidate at Carleton University’s Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism. Prior, he graduated with honours from UofT majoring in Architectural Studies and with a minor in Visual Studies. He has spent the last few years researching unconventional architectural practices and working mostly in the in-between realm of art and architecture with studios such as Studio Olafur Eliasson and the Living Architecture Systems Group. As a designer and architectural student, Filipe is interested in issues of materiality and heritage practices, looking into how materials can translate into new discourses for fabrication and heritage.

Jerzy (Jurek) Elżanowski is Associate Professor at Carleton’s School of Canadian Studies. He teaches courses in heritage conservation and memory studies across several programs. With Prof. Susan Ross, he coordinates the Heritage Planning and Studies Concentration and organizes the annual Heritage Conservation Symposium with graduate students. His research focuses on the urban history of post-conflict cities, including war damage cartography, postwar reconstruction, and the commemoration of genocide. He holds a joint Dr. phil./Ph.D. in Heritage Conservation and Architectural History as well as Interdisciplinary Studies from the Bauhaus University Weimar and the University of British Columbia.

Karen Golle received a Master’s degree in Cultural Heritage from the University of Valencia (Spain) and a Master´s in Conservation and Restoration from the Polytechnical University of Valencia (Spain). Recently, she obtained a Graduate Diploma in Architectural Conservation from Carleton University. She has experience as an artwork conservator and in cultural heritage education. 

Kiersten attended the School of Indigenous and Canadian studies Masters of Arts program with a specialization in Heritage Conservation. She previously helped organize the 2019 Heritage Conservation Symposium “Heritage Intersections” and the online symposium in 2021. With a Bachelor of Humanities from Carleton, and a Diploma in Applied Museum Studies from Algonquin College, Kiersten has also worked as a Project Manager for The National Trust for Canada in Ottawa.

Lia Di Giulio is a current M.Arch student at the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism and received her B.Arch from McGill University. She is a researcher for the SSHRC Quality in the built environment grant focusing on identifying the challenges and barriers to adaptive reuse projects in Ottawa. She has prior experience in project management at Concordia University where she assisted in the management of renovation projects throughout the campus. She also has experience in the field of heritage architecture, having worked as a docent and researcher at the Hurtubise House, the oldest farmhouse in Westmount. 

Maryam is a Master of Building Engineering student at Carleton University. She graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree and pursued further studies in Architectural Conservation, completing a Graduate Diploma in the field. 

Maya Mills (she/her) is a graduate student in the School of Canadian Studies pursuing an M.A. in Heritage Studies and Planning. She is jointly pursuing a graduate diploma in Curatorial Studies at Carleton University. Maya holds an honours B.A. in Public Relations from the University of Ottawa and has worked in both public and private sector public relations roles prior to continuing her studies. Maya’s research interests lie at the intersections of environmental humanities, community engagement, cultural heritage and public history. Her major research paper entitled, “Photography, Autobiographical Memory and Cultural Heritage Vulnerability: A Critical Analysis of Atlantic Canadian Imagery” explores the role of meaning-making and embodied emotions in safeguarding vulnerable cultural landscapes.

Michelle Duong is an Intern Architect at KWC Architects in Ottawa with degrees in architecture, architectural conservation, and architectural history and theory. She is the Co-Coordinator of the CIPA Emerging Professionals Leadership Team and the Communications Co-Chair of the CIPA Heritage Documentation Executive Committee. She is also a member of the ICOMOS Canada Emerging Professionals Committee, and a Professional CAHP Member. She was an organizer of the Carleton Heritage Conservation Symposium in 2019 and 2021, and has returned to help revive this initiative in 2024. 

MA in Canadian Studies 2019, Researcher History and Commemoration Branch, Parks Canada

Orly’s research focuses on the public work of testimony in contemporary Canada. As a scholar of autobiography, memory, and cultural studies, she explores how audiences are invited to bear witness to difficult knowledge through literary, visual and performance art. Orly has a PhD in English Literature from the University of Alberta and is a lead member of the Ottawa Research Collaborative. She is currently a faculty member at Carleton’s School of Canadian Studies. 

Ruchi Kumbhani is curious by nature and creative by trade. She has a background in Architecture and graduated from the GDAC program at Carleton University, Ottawa in 2023. She is a current Master of Urban Design Student at University of British Columbia, Vancouver. You’ll find her, out on the streets or just completing her sheets. She strives to value the people, the place and the stories to create spaces. She looks forward to working in the future at the crossroads of Architecture, Heritage and Urban Design. 

Susan Ross is Associate Professor in the School of Canadian Studies, with a cross-appointment to the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism, Carleton University. Her teaching and research address the possibilities for sustainable heritage conservation, from integrated planning for historic urban infrastructure landscapes, to understanding the social significance of early apartment housing, to addressing the environmental legacies of 20th century building materials. A current focus explores the intersections of heritage and waste.

Vaidehi Ajay Joshi a Project Management student at Algonquin College, holds a Graduate Diploma in Architectural Conservation from Carleton University and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from India. Passionate about heritage and architecture, she aspires to become a Heritage Project Manager. Her academic journey provides her with a unique perspective on heritage conservation and project management, equipping her to effectively oversee heritage projects in the future.