To begin just let me emphasize two things: I love Geography and I love teaching Geography. Geography is something I see all around me each and every day, both within and outside the walls of academia. It is my passion and my goal to share this with you at UBC. I grew up in an international context, first in Africa and then in the Middle East. I speak 3 languages fluently, another at a conversational level and am currently learning a fifth. Needless to say I contend that language is an important aspect of culture and foundational in being a global citizen.

My undergraduate is from the National University of Ireland where I studied Economics, Anthropology and French and completed my undergraduate thesis in China. I worked for 3 years in the Middle East before completing an MPhil in International Relations at Trinity College in Ireland. My thesis focused on the experience of Muslim communities in Europe with a focus on Ireland. I then worked for two years as a research associate at Dhaka University in Bangladesh conducting research on national and international migration. In my capacity of research associate I completed projects for the British High Commission, the Department For International Development (UK) and the World Bank. In 2007-2008 I completed an MSc in Cross-Cultural Research Methods in Geography at the University of Sussex in the UK. I then completed my PhD at University College Dublin in Ireland where my thesis focused on: “Immigration, Segmentation and Geography: Learning from Recent Irish Experience”. I have been a member of the Department of Geography at UBC since August 2013. My position allows me to cement my passion for teaching Geography and conducting Geographical research, where my current focus is on the city of Dubai. I look forward to meeting you here at UBC and sharing my passion of the Geographical World with you.