King's professor and student team up on research article

By Chloe Balmer, Communications Intern

Dr. Benjamin Muller, Associate Professor of Political Science at King’s, recently teamed up with Bonnie Guthrie, a fourth year Honours Specialization in Political Science student at King’s, to co-publish a research paper entitled “Collateral Damage: The Canada-US Border and President Trump’s Executive Orders.” The article, which Dr. Muller was asked to write following the election of President Trump, focuses on the question of information sharing, privacy, and the complex relationship between Canada and the United State on border strategies.

Guthrie’s role as a work-study student required her to provide research and support to various departments and professors at King’s. She was assigned to aid Dr. Muller in the research process for his upcoming paper, which quickly evolved into a co-authorship. He describes it as a “serendipitous collaboration supported by King's.”

“It was quickly apparent that Bonnie was interested and invested in the research, and not simply providing the data because she was tasked to do so. As a result, I offered Bonnie the opportunity to write the section of the paper that addressed the material she discovered regarding Canada-US cross border information and data sharing. That's how it started, and in the end, she was a full partner and co-author in this paper. Our students regularly impress me, and this is just one more example of their stellar capabilities,” says Dr. Muller.

Guthrie, who hopes to go on to study political science at the graduate level, feels extremely grateful to both Dr. Muller and King’s work-study program for facilitating this opportunity for her. “King's gave me the opportunity to work closely with my professors, which I believe is incredibly unique for an undergraduate student” says Guthrie.

Guthrie was expected to present their work at a conference in Bridgewater, MA in March, which was postponed due to COVID-19.