Amie Presley

My name is Amie and I am starting my first year in the SOPR PhD program. I am a mother of two human kiddos and one dog kiddo. We live in Guelph, on the treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the traditional lands of the Attawandaron and Haudenosaunee peoples. With Irish, French, British, Métis, and Huron-Wendat ancestry, I strive to live in ways that honour the land and treaty relationships through learning, reciprocity, and care.

I hold a degree in Sociology from Western University and a master's in International and Intercultural Communication from Royal Roads University. My master's research included understanding the use of autoethnography and storytelling as a tool to support adult learning and intercultural growth.

Indirectly connected, my current research interests include learning from Indigenous data-sovereignty frameworks and community-based participatory data stewardship models to explore community-based privacy. I am also interested in how all three can be used to critique current open-by default data landscapes and acts of surveillance and harm in the collection and use of public education data. With broader calls for direct youth participation in decision-making, my research hopes to further explore pathways for centering student and community voices in shaping public education policy.​​

I have been working in applied research since 2008 and currently work as a Senior Researcher at the Toronto District School Board and as a Visiting Scholar at York University’s Faculty of Education.

Outside of work, I spend my time driving kids to soccer practices in between family road trips, dog walks, campfires, and quiet moments here and there. I chose the SOPR program for its critical interdisciplinary application to policy. I am excited to spend this next chapter learning from so many amazing folks here in the SOPR program and at U of G.