Meet Our Executive

 Andrew is a second year student at the faculty of law,  with a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Alberta, double majoring in Political Science and Philosophy. As a journeyman scaffolder with a background in industrial construction, he takes a skill based approach and is particularly interested in the way in which technology impacts how the legal profession operates. During his first year of law Andrew was part of the Golden Bearristers rugby team and volunteered with the Student Legal Services Criminal Project. Andrew designed and operates the DLIS website, which is an evolving work in progress, so is always keen to hear feedback and suggestions. He’s social, friendly, and is always down to talk with others. Andrew’s interests include almost anything nerdy/geeky, movies, board games, and spending time with his small dog Axle.

 Hero currently serves as a Board Member of Volunteer Alberta, a Steering Member of Powered by Data, the founding President of the Digital Law & Innovation Society, and an Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute WomeninAI Mentor. They work with the Canada School of Public Service (Government of Canada), leading development on ways to effect great people exchange for the GC and other organizations. They are a serial social entrepreneur and inveterate collaborator – a co-founder of Connect the Sector, a start-up staff member of the Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN), and co-founder of the River Valley Free School, a skills sharing community in Edmonton, on Treaty 6 territory, where they live. Hero is currently pursuing a law degree at the University of Alberta. They rock climb, meditate, art and cuddle with family to stay sane. Pronouns: any (this means you can’t go wrong :) 

Justin is the Vice President and Treasurer of the Digital Law & Innovation Society. He is the proud father of two young children and a former construction tradesman. A philosophy major from Grant Macewan University, he is an avid reader of popular science, politics, and history. His interest in the legal field focuses on criminal justice - particularly how technology may be used to commit and prevent crimes, as well as the use of AI to reform and streamline the way lawyers and courts operate. 

“The fascinating thing about the space we occupy in law school is our potential to effect change. We can and will influence politics, legislation, enforcement, and human rights, among other things. If we can leverage expertise and technology to change the way the law works and is done, can we not affect all of these at once? DLIS is positioned on the intersection of law and technology at a critical point in time - will we be passengers in the new world, or drivers?”

 Melissa is entering her third year of law at the University of Alberta, after obtaining her Bachelors of Arts in Criminology with distinction in 2018. She has a special interest in the intersection between technology and gender, and digital spaces where cyber misogyny permeates. During her 2L year, Melissa concentrated her elective courses in the area of digital law, including Dr. Raso's "Law & Technology" and "Law & Computing Science" classes. With respect to the latter, Melissa was one of three law students who comprised the "legal team" in a collaborative class with students in the Computing Science Faculty. This class provided an opportunity to collaborate with computing science students in the development of an app which addressed issues related to access to justice for youth. Melissa has been an active member of the founding Digital Law & Innovation Society team, and looks forward to the continued engagement with digital law.   

  Entering his first year of Law at the University of Alberta, Nicholas achieved a BA in Political Science and History, convocating in 2018 with distinction. A computer hardware enthusiast and science geek, Nicholas is interested in the societal impacts of emergent technologies such as deep-learning and artificial intelligence, and to what extent these technologies could be used to increase the accessibility of legal services. Using the Stanford Folding@Home distributed computing network, Nicholas donates spare computing power to the modeling and study of COVID-19 proteins in the hopes of contributing to the development of effective treatments, and encourages those with capable computers to consider joining the network themselves.

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