Karen Bird is Professor of Political Science, specializing in comparative politics. Dr. Bird is Principal Investigator on a 5-year SSHRC funded research project on “Electoral Ethnic Quotas and the Politics of Representation.” This research builds new knowledge about variations in ethnic quota designs to guarantee political representation of indigenous and ethnic minority groups. The project aims to understand how ethnic quota systems relate to meaningful inclusion, modes of political representation, patterns of electoral competition, and chains of political responsiveness and accountability. Among other research, she has been a co-investigator on “The Impact of Digital Technology on First Nations Participation and Governance,” a collaborative partnership investigating the use and impact of Internet voting in First Nations communities in Ontario. She has worked on the “Toronto Election Study” to examine electoral outcomes for women and racialized candidates in a non-partisan municipal context. She also sits on the Advisory Board for the “PATHWAYS Project,” a cooperative international endeavor on the political representation of citizens of immigrant origin in seven European democracies.