M.E.S. Candidate, 2019-2021
Victoria is currently in the Master’s in Environmental Studies (MES) program. Her thesis examines the sustainability of freshwater ecosystems on the famous Sable Island, known for its wild horses and largest colony of breeding seals in the world. With the help of various donors and the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network, Victoria was able to kickoff her studies with two successful field excursions in July and August, 2019. She hopes that her project will, “contribute to an understanding of Sable Island and lead to improved protection of this vulnerable, unique ecosystem”. Her next steps are to learn methods in Paleolimnology, which uses a range of indicators to look into past environmental conditions. On her first year classes so far, “I really like that it sets you up in preparation for your research project.”
On coming to Dalhousie University
Shortly after receiving her B.Sc Hons from the University of Guelph in Environmental Sciences, Victoria decided to continue pursuing research on the east coast. “I realized that a master’s degree is the perfect opportunity to go live somewhere else temporarily and figure out what I want to do. I’ve also never lived near the ocean and I wanted to experience that”.
On future goals
As for what Victoria
hopes to do in the future, she is flexible with what she ends up doing, “Depending
on where I end up settling, I would want to work with freshwater or marine
environments on the coast whether it be freshwater resources from the
human-perspective or biodiversity. I’m very open to the different opportunities
that this program will provide me with.”