About

I’m Canadian, and I was born and raised in Ontario with my parents and older sibling. Three of my grandparents immigrated to Canada from Germany in the 1950s, while my other grandmother’s family has been settled here for generations, originally from England. My dad worked as a laborer, and my mom, after attending a year of college, became a legal secretary. Within my family, my sister was the first to attend university, and I became the first to pursue graduate school.

I am queer and non-binary. Growing up, there wasn’t much acceptance for people like me. Discussions around queerness and being transgender were limited to binaries, and this environment caused me harm in ways I’m still unpacking today, shaping my perspective on systemic discrimination. I completed my undergraduate studies in Outdoor Recreation, Parks, and Tourism, alongside Natural Science, at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Through these programs, I began to see beyond my own perspective, recognizing that different ways of doing things are just as valid as my own. Discussion-based classes with Drs. Julie Rosenthal and Margaret Johnston were especially transformative, and they pushed me to think critically about systems and the literature we engaged with.

Early in my PhD journey at the University of Calgary, I met my spouse, who had immigrated to Canada from the Philippines when she was 12. Our conversations about the colonization of the Philippines, the effects of capitalism, the Filipino diaspora, and overseas Filipino workers have deepened my understanding of systemic discrimination and the far-reaching impacts of colonization.