Postdoctoral research

I am working with Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc as part of the team at SARAVYC (Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre), which is based out of the School of Nursing at UBC. I am part of team that has been working on the Canadian Trans Youth Health survey, and am still busy analyzing data from the survey. I have also recently taken the lead on two research projects that will look at people’s experiences of gender-affirming care, through a nation-wide survey and a series of interviews with people living in British Columbia. The data from this project will be used to improve systems of care so that more people who want and need to access gender-affirming care can do so.

My graduate research

My doctoral research focuses on the experiences of educators (including administrators, teachers, and counsellors) who have worked with trans and gender-nonconforming students. I interviewed 62 educators to try and understand how they make sense of their experiences supporting these students in four B.C. school districts. I am in the process of writing up articles based on this data.

My Master’s thesis was entitled “‘Once you win their hearts and minds, what are you going to do with it?’ Exploring the cultural repertoires of elementary school teachers in France and Canada“. It explores how national cultural repertoires in France and in Canada influence elementary school teachers’ understanding of their role and objectives as educators, and, as a result, shape very different experiences of schooling, particularly for minority students.

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Work as a Research Assistant

Over the years I have worked on a number of different research projects:

• As an interviewer on a project about well-being in the Tsawwassen community, which involves interviewing members of the community (with Dr. Ralph Matthews).
• As translator for a project on members of Environmental NGOs and their perspectives on environmental issues in Canada (with Dr. David Tindall).
• As a Research Assistant for Dr. Neil Guppy, Head of Sociology, on a project examining the discourses present (and absent) in Canadian sex education textbooks since the late 19th Century.