When I was a child, I used to spend hours upon hours poring over my mom’s National Geographic magazines, fascinated by the stories they told in a single photograph. Today I’ve got my own Nat Geo subscription and it isn’t entirely surprising that I finally picked up a camera of my own. At this juncture, I am currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto. My work explores the tensions and inconsistencies associated with ecotourism in the Caribbean, specifically within Trinidad and Tobago. In particular, my dissertation focuses on the ways in which tourism operates as both a facilitator of, and detriment to, environmental protection in developing countries.

Over the course of my academic career, I have become fascinated with the role of photography in facilitating conservation, not only as a leisure activity (and itself a tourist enterprise), but also as a medium by which the message of conservation may be transmitted and interpreted. In that vein, photography has, in one way or another, become increasingly embedded in my day-to-day life. Over the years, the marriage of my love for art and nature resulted in several volunteer stints and an internship at the Toronto Zoo. My love for nature also cultivated within me a certain wanderlust, and though my academic side has learned to be inherently skeptical of the (re)presentation of "exotic" destinations in tourist brochures and magazines, the artist in me is still fascinated by shape, colour, and texture.

When looking for inspiration, I'm happiest lost on a trail (or off it), with my trusty sidekick Chance, the most athletic English Bulldog a girl could ever hope for. Chance and I are advocates of animal rescue and adoption and are proud Ambassadors of HeARTspeak, a collective of artists, writers, photographers, and activists, who provide pro-bono services to animal welfare organizations across the globe. Amongst my myriad of other interests are: gaming (as leisure activity and as pedagogical device), alternative histories (in film and literature), SFX makeup, and 80s hair metal.