About Me

I am the Advocacy Programs Specialist for Animal Justice, Canada's leading animal law and advocacy organization.

 

​​ I am also a sessional instructor in the Sociology department at the University of Victoria.

I completed my PhD in Sociology at the University of Victoria in June, 2025. My dissertation, When Empathy Becomes a Crime: The Repression and Criminalization of the Animal Rights Movement in Canada, explored the historical and contemporary experiences of Canadian animal activists associated with their repression and criminalization. The research was an academic investigation of an issue that is often considered to be on the periphery of social consideration, even within critical academic disciplines, but nonetheless, it is one that encompasses the intersection of animal and human rights, and the ongoing fight for both.

 

The research findings revealed that the repressive tactics used against Canadian animal activists closely parallel those seen within the United Kingdom and the United States, pointing to a transnational pattern of ideological and structural repression of the animal rights movement. Further, the research also explored activists’ emotional responses to their repression, specifically pride, hope, fear, and frustration, and the ways in which these emotions impacted their engagement in activism. Rather than deterring advocacy, repression has, in many cases, deepened activists’ commitment to their cause.

 

My dissertation contributes to understandings of social movement repression, the role of emotions in activism, and the broader dynamics of advocacy work. By centering activist voices that are often excluded from academic discourse, it served as both a scholarly contribution and a resource for activists, advancing critical discussions on repression, resistance, and social justice advocacy in increasingly hostile political climates.

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