Pronouns, and how to be a trans ally in academia

(This is a picture of my conference badge from the Qualitative conference in the summer. I wrote my pronouns on my ID badge, and so should you! And if you see someone’s pronouns on their name tag or ID badge, ensure you use those pronouns!) “Hi, I’m Shannon, and my pronouns are they, them, and … [Read more…]

Welcome and Welcome Back!

Welcome new graduate students and welcome back to our returning graduate students for the Fall 2019 semester! We are very excited to be resuming the graduate student blog for the 2019-2020 academic year. This year we have 10 graduate students who will be blogging about their first-hand experiences in graduate studies. Follow their journey throughout … [Read more…]

Stress and Distractions

(The site of Kivalekh on Okak Island, where I sampled from) Hey everybody, I arrived back in St. John’s a couple of weeks ago. I am taking it a bit easier now after having gone around the city to get supplies and planning for my field work over the last couple of months. I am … [Read more…]

The search for stability – Musings of a wandering academic

I have been moving in pursuit of my academic goals for 11 years. Since graduating high school, I travelled from Ontario to Alberta, to Newfoundland, and back and forth between Manitoba and Newfoundland, for a total distance of more than 17,500 km. And that just counts fully uprooting and moving my life between provinces, not … [Read more…]

Baby whales, sustainability, and green chemistry!

Hello, my dear readers! I hope you all are still enjoying your summer while you can! I am super happy to say that I had finally had the chance to go on my first boat tour after almost two years living in Newfoundland. My friends (Silvana, Stephanie, Arthur) and I had a wonderful time watching … [Read more…]

The struggle of not having classes

At first, it seemed like a dream come true to not have any classes after the first two terms of my master’s degree. Finally, I have four terms of no classes so that I can just focus on my proposal, research, and thesis! I imagined a daily routine of sitting at my desk working, going … [Read more…]

“Uncanny Valley”

Hey all, Right now I am in Nain with my supervisors Dr. Forbes and Dr. Whitridge, along with fellow graduate students Sarah and James. We arrived on Monday and planned to leave for our field site on Okak this past Wednesday. The gear and supplies we shipped up from St. John’s a few weeks ago … [Read more…]

A scientist takes lessons from science…

In the past few weeks I’ve had to revisit some of my papers in progress. I feel like I’m running in place: every time I go to move forward, I uncover a new issue that sets me back. I write the same tasks on my to-do list time after time. As I am immersed in … [Read more…]

Enjoying the graduate studies journey!

Hello, my dearest readers! Finally, summer! 🌞 Even though our lives as graduate students do not stop, I hope you are enjoying the warm days, and eating a lot of ice cream (it’s good for our brain!) I got sunburned last week and I don’t remember being so happy in complaining about something. In the … [Read more…]