WHO I AM

My name is Meaghan (pronounced ‘Meg-an’ or ‘Mae-gan’) and I come from a wonderful family who centres love, support, learning, and homecooked food. My fiancé Sam and I have two cats, Mimi and Bear, who are both rescues and very sweet.

MY ACADEMIC WORK

I am an archaeologist, historical ecologist, and ecological modeler. I am a queer cis-woman settler scientist with a passion for conservation, community engagement, public outreach, and education. I live, work, and study as a guest on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō, and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh) Nations. You will see that acknowledgement all over my website and in all of my educational materials. This is because acknowledging where I am, and my status as a guest here, recognizes my role in colonial Canadian society.

SERVICE

I recently started serving my community as a birth doula. To me, this means that I start walking a path of support, holding space, and loving care for pregnant people and their families. My primary focus will be serving my own friends and family with this work.

I work on various committees and in groups that seek to understand, dismantle, and change systems of oppression and discrimination, both in my professional and personal spheres.

MY IDENTITY & POSITIONALITY

I am a second generation Canadian, so my connection to this land is very young. My family and heritage comes from England and Ireland primarily, and Germany further back in time. I am grateful to be living in the unceded territories of Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam, and Squamish Nations, and I spend time every day learning how to better respect the lands and waters in which I am an uninvited guest.

I benefit greatly from the systems and dominating culture in Canada, despite the challenges and discrimination I face due to my sex, sexual identity, and disability. The difficulties and challenges I face are not due to my heritage, culture, religion, language, or skin colour, and I recognize the incredible privilege that awards me. I am working to use that privilege in service to others who are not supported by, or are facing discrimination from, the systems from which I benefit.

I am invisibly disabled. I live with an anxiety disorder, clinical depression, and an eating disorder. For almost a decade of my life I experienced chronic pain due to an injury from my ballet career, until I was lucky enough to undergo an experimental surgery that was thankfully very successful. I also have a joint/connective tissue condition. As a queer woman in STEM research, I often am the only woman in the room or am treated differently than my male colleagues.

I am learning how my sources of privilege and barriers interlock and co-exist, rather than believing that they cancel each other out. My privilege allows me access to services and care where racialized people will face barriers put up by the white supremacist system in which we live.

Let me know how I can do better.