Research Experience

• In 2020, I became a founding member of the Mohawk Institute Research Group, led by Elder Rick Hill. This project has brought together elders, community members and historians to work on a variety of public education projects.

• In February and March 2019, I worked as a Research Consultant for Thru the Red Door (Ohsweken, Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve). I conducted archival research for new museum exhibits for Rick Hill and the Woodland Cultural Centre. My work focused on biographical research on the headmasters and principals at the Mohawk Institute from 1828-1969.

• Negotiating Schooling and Literacies in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, 1600-1900.” As part of the Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Culture (GRASAC), with support from a Partnership Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), I am a co-applicant, with Dr. Thomas Peace, on this multi-year research partnership that looks at the early history of schooling in Great Lakes Indigenous communities, including the contentious development of schools and deployment of reading, writing and print within the region.

• Spring 2015 - ongoing: Continuing research on my project on Indigenous teachers in 19th Century Ontario at Trent University as Adjunct Faculty.

• Summer 2012-Fall 2014: Research for a SSHRC-funded postdoctoral research project on Aboriginal teachers in 19th Century Ontario, at Trent University. Research at Library and Archives Canada, the Woodland Cultural Centre, Trent University Archives, Huron Diocese Archives, the Anglican Church of Canada Archives, the United Church of Canada Archives, and others. 

• Fall 2011-Summer 2012: Research for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, on residential school staff. Research in the United Church of Canada Archives, the Anglican Church of Canada Archives, and the Presbyterian Church of Canada Archives, Toronto. The project included writing multiple reports on each collection and archive. Reference: Dr. Helen Harrison.

• Fall 2005-Winter 2010: Research on the Six Nations of Grand River, Ontario, for a doctoral dissertation in History, University of Toronto. Research conducted at Library Archives Canada, the Archives of Ontario, the Woodland Cultural Centre, the Brant Museum and Archives, Trent University Archives, McMaster University Archives, the University of Guelph Archives, the National Archives of the United Kingdom, and the National Archives of Scotland, among others. 

• Fall 2001-Winter 2002: Research on contact between Aboriginal people and settlers in Upper Canada, 1820-1870, for a Master’s in History, Queen’s University. Research conducted in published settler accounts, Library and Archives Canada, the Queen’s University Archives, and Trent University Archives.

• Winter 2009: Genealogical research in Ontario and New York for a Canadian-American family in the New York Public Library, several New York Historical societies, and the writing a family history. The project also including scanning and creating a digital archive for over a thousand photos.

• Winter 2009: Research for Dr. Cecilia Morganfor a biography of James Elgin Wetherell for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography. The project included research in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, and the writing of research reports.

• Fall 2004-Spring 2006, and Fall 2007 – 2009: Research Assistant for Dr. Cecilia Morgan. Research on the travels of late 19th and early 20th Century First Nations peoples from Upper Canada/Ontario to Britain, as part of her SSHRC funded project. The project included research in published books, online genealogical and newspaper databases, the Victoria University Archives, and the writing of research reports. 

• Fall 2006: As co-chair of the Graduate Student Committee of the Canadian Historical Association, I conducted a survey of 125 graduate students in history at Canadian universities: “A Survey of Canadian Graduate Students and Pregnancy/Childcare Concerns."Results were published in the CHA Bulletin, 2008. https://cha-shc.ca/_uploads/pub-25.pdf