Film

The JDF is a 47km coastal hiking trail on Vancouver Island, around an hour and a half north of Victoria. The hike takes you through BC's lush coastal rainforest, sand, stone and pebble beaches, tide pools, bluffs and new growth Red Cedar, Sitka Spruce, Doug Fir and Western Hemlock forests. We hiked this trail in 4 days (3 nights). The transition from the sheltered coastal vistas of china, mystic, bear and sombrio beach to the rough and rocky coastal shore beneath the northern terminus of the trail is paralleled by the daily climbs and descents, taking you form tide pools to misty evergreen forests and back again, weaving in and out of the muddy and constantly wet temperate rainforest. Keeping our eyes peeled for wildlife, we managed to spot humpback whales, river otters, seals, a bounty of intertidal creatures, and amazing birds such as sapsuckers, flickers, eagles and jays. 

A close to home favourite for the annual thanksgiving escape, Frontenac Park is just far enough north of Kingston to be in the Canadian Shield. Home to hiking trails and canoe routes, late fall camping in October lets you escape the bugs, crowds and city. Hard granite boulders and bluffs make way for lakes, marshes, the occasional swamp and classic southern Ontario mixed forests. In the spring, the ground is blanketed with trilliums, trout lily and ladyslippers. While deer are common, bears and moose have been absent from the park for quite some time.  

It's summer in Montreal again! Fresh out of the field and recently reunited, I set out to make this summer relaxing and productive, easing out of field-mode and back into normal life, friends, and research. 

3 months of field work, 5 datasets to show for it. The problem with field work is that, is that it eventually ends, and in the moment, you feel the relief, and are happy. But as you return to your normal life, living in a house instead of a tent, eating at a restaurant instead of a campfire, you miss it. And that feeling doesn't disappear... until next field season. Argentina was the best field season of my life so far. The beauty of being culturally unprepared and naive about what to expect on your first trip to south america, is that you are absolutely blown away with excitement and bewilderment once you arrive. Picture the most beautiful mountainscapes, combined with the perfect camping weather, delicious food, amazing people and hardly any bugs. Northern patagonia is my new go-to recommendation for hikers, campers and people in general. What a privilege it is to have been able to call El Bolson home for 3 months. I made a (probably unoriginal) point out of reading Borges and Cortazar, two embodying argentine authors, in my spare time. Their portrayal of the land, the change and the future really helped inspire my own project, thoughts and ideas. 

This was my first time skiing outside of North America, and, unfortunately, has ruined east coast ski hills for me. Nothing compares to the alps. Nothing compares to Italy. What an incredible time!

Off to Australia. I was only able to stick around for a month, visiting friends in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Needless to say, I can't wait to get back there!

I was able to get a gig as an Intern Researcher at the Cawthron Institute in Nelson for a few months! I supplemented this incredible academic experience with weekend trips around the south island, usually with a wetsuit and a surfboard. NZ is an incredible place, and one that I was very sad to leave. 

Wanna spend a month bombing around the southern prairies collecting dinosaur bones? Me too! We found some amazing things and launched a favourite hobby of mine: fossil collecting!