I am a human-environment geographer and PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at McGill University. I use mixed methods to critically explore how socio-ecological processes affect the wellbeing of individuals and communities across lines of difference. I work with women, ethnic minorities and Indigenous groups on collaborative projects aimed at documenting and addressing structural inequalities. My research is applied to support positive change for the communities with whom I work. Previous projects include the development of a women’s cooperative in an ethnic minority community in Southeast Asia, and the identification of priorities to inform the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services’ strategic health plan in the Inuit territory of northern Quebec. I hold a Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship for my current research, which draws from urban and feminist political ecologies to document the spatial dynamics of heavy metal toxicity in urban agriculture, and to investigate the impacts for different communities.
I am a part time lecturer in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment at Concordia University, where I teach an upper-level undergraduate seminar on environmental management as well as an urban studies course called urban ecology. I previously lectured in the Department of Geography at McGill University, where I co-taught the Honours capstone course on geographic thought and practice. I am part of the Minorities in the Southeast Asian Massif Research Lab based in the Department of Geography at McGill University and the Department of Anthropology at Université Laval. I hold a MA in Geography (2017) and a Joint Honours BA in Geography & Environment (2014) from McGill University.
Projects
Urban agriculture in Kuching, Malaysia
My doctoral research looks at the politicization of urban agriculture in Kuching, Malaysia. This project builds from the scholarship on urban and feminist political ecologies. I use mixed-methods including ethnography, GIS, and soil + plant tissue sampling to examine the social, political, and ecological aspects of contemporary urban food movements, as well as their spatial and intersectional dynamics. More information can be found at the project website, Kuching Gardens.
Qanuilirpitaa? 2017 Nunavik Inuit Health Survey
I previously worked with the Canada Research Chair on Housing, Community and Health Research Group at McGill University (2017-2019) and the Institut national de santé public du Québec (INSPQ) as a project coordinator and research assistant on the community component of the 2017 Nunavik Inuit Health Survey. I was responsible for developing and measuring indicators of community health and well-being for Nunavimmiut. I travelled on board the CCG research icebreaker Amundsen to carry out data collection in each of the 14 communities of Nunavik between August-October 2017. I completed two additional arctic expeditions in June 2017 and January 2018. The results of this work have recently been published (2021; 2022) and are currently being used by the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services to identify priorities for a new strategic regional health plan.
Marine conservation, intersectionality, and resistance in Indonesia
Through long-term ethnographic inquiry, this research aimed to untangle the intersectional dynamics of marine conservation in the Wakatobi National Park, Indonesia. The results of this research have been published in Gender, Place & Culture. In 2014, I was awarded the PFF Community Leadership Fellowship to develop a women’s cooperative in this community backed by local support.
Journals for which I have provided peer reviews
