Travis Southin
Postdoctoral Fellow; Instructor
| Degrees: | Ph.D. Canadian Government & Politics (Toronto), M.G.A. (Toronto), B. A. Honours (Carleton) |
| Phone: | 613-520-2600 |
| Email: | Travis.Southin@carleton.ca |
| Website: | Google Scholar |
| LinkedIn: | Connect |
Travis Southin is a postdoctoral fellow working with James Meadowcroft and the Transition Accelerator on net-zero industrial policy. He completed his PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto in 2022. His dissertation, titled “Overcoming Barriers to Policy Change: The Politics of Canada’s Innovation Policy,” illuminates the political barriers constraining the Government of Canada’s ability to shift its innovation policy mix away from neutral/horizontal policy instruments, such as research and development tax credits, towards more targeted innovation policy instruments, such as large-scale direct grants, loans, and public procurement. These findings are supported by an original qualitative data set of confidential interviews with 70 CEOs of leading Canadian technology companies as well as 70 civil servants and third-party experts involved in developing innovation policy. As a postdoctoral fellow, Travis is examining the politics of innovation policy and the broader role of the state in facilitating the transition to a net-zero economy in Canada, the U.K, and Australia.