RPD Student Profile - Elise Geschiere

Elise Geschiere (she/her)’s hometown is Essex County, Ontario. Elise completed a Bachelor’s degree at Western University studying sociology and public history. She is now completing a Master’s degree at the University of Guelph in Rural Planning & Development with a concentration in community and social planning. 

As a final year RPD student, Elise continues to work on research projects that look at municipal relationships with diverse neighborhoods, decolonizing municipal heritage conservation practices and policies, and affordable and inclusive housing strategies. Elise has also worked as a research assistant on a PhD project examining policies related to on-farm diversification in prime agricultural areas in Ontario, and is currently working as a researcher for a partnership project with the Greenbelt Foundation looking at municipal capacity related to rural and agrifood issues. Further, Elise supports an OMAFRA-funded project looking at the relationship between aggregates and agriculture, in an advisory capacity.

With seasoned planning experience and a four-time summer heritage planning student with the Town of Essex, Elise has professional background in community planning, tourism and economic development. Elise’s experience with facilitating consultation and inclusive engagement for informing policy development contributes to her aspiration to be a community and social policy planner. 

Check out the Rural Planning and Development webpage for more details on our graduate programs.