Public Issues Anthropology | MA

As a public anthropologist, I leverage conservation biogeography, spatial ecology, and One Health approaches to understand how lemurs respond to human caused disturbance. I am also interested in how humans are impacted by applied conservation measures targeting lemurs and their habitat.

With a background in International Development and Rural Studies, my research explores the development of more sustainable food systems with a particular focus on agroecology initiatives in both Canada and Latin America.

I research the politics, economics, and cultures of smaller-scale farming and local food systems. I am interested in Canada, India, and Paraguay, and I use a political ecology lens to examine food, diet, agricultural transitions, and food sovereignty.

I work with Indigenous peoples in British Columbia, Canada, to document territoriality, food and resource harvesting practices, and to identify the Indigenous rights to land, often in the context of mining and logging.

My areas of research include: young people's pathways into farming in Canada, China, India and Indonesia; relative contributions of daughters and sons to their elderly parents' well-being; and engaging men in preventing sexual violence in particular on university campuses.

As an environmental/natural resource sociologist and community engaged scholar, my current research interests include Indigenous and Western Science knowledge systems engagement in natural resource governance, household sustainability practices, and community engaged learning.

My research interests include the intersections of gender, race/ethnic and class inequalities, human rights, and indigenous peoples' issues in southern Africa. My current research examines human rights issues and concepts of social justice from the perspective of indigenous minorities in southern Africa.

My research interests include ritual, death, aging, place, and disability studies. My most recent work explores the relationship between accessibility and developmental dyslexia in a Japanese context.

My ethnographic research is based primarily in the region of Ladakh in the Indian Himalayas, where I examine issues such as climate change, ethics of care, human-animal relationships, state formation, citizenship, and climate knowledge.

Gabby's master's research focused on social constructions of jaguars in Ecuador's Amazonia. After graduating, Gabby was hired as a Research Manager at Gakino'amaage: Teach For Canada, where she conducts community-based research with rural and remote First Nations schools in Canada, which supports First Nations control of First Nations education.

Maria's research focused on local perceptions of plastic pollution in Ushuaia, Argentina. After graduating, she continued her research in Ushuaia, looking at how plastic waste is managed in other Antarctic gateway cities. Now, Maria is advising an environmental project that uses the latest technology to extract plastic waste from rivers and prevent it from reaching the oceans.

James's PIA research examined local impacts of the single-use plastics ban in Vanuatu, highlighting how policy change unfolds within post-colonial power relations, shaping livelihoods, environmental governance, and cultural values. As a current PhD candidate in Geography, he is exploring how waste discards shape circular economy value chains in São Paulo, Brazil.

Leanna completed her master's in PIA in 2022, researching the effects of climate change on women farmers in Ladakh, India. She now works as a Human Environment Specialist at Two Worlds Consulting, where she works with First Nation communities to assess the impacts of development projects on First Nation's Rights and Interests.

Alex completed Public Issues Anthropology with a One Health specialization in 2023. Her master's research focused on the parasitic consequences of human and lemur sharing an environment in rural Madagascar. Now, Alex is using the skills she learned in our program to create a holistic view of ecological challenges as a PhD candidate in Integrative Biology.

"My experience in PIA has been invaluable in my endeavors as a PhD student. The program built my methodological skills in sociocultural and medical anthropology, while the knowledge I gained about engaging with diverse publics through both coursework and my research practice has made me a more effective mental health advocate and public scientist."