About
As a researcher, educator and advocate, I focus on the confluence of decent work, dignified migration, and ecological sustainability. Together with my collaborators, I investigate how to protect workers from occupational hazards such as extreme heat and pesticides. My research has also examined how both social movements and industry lobbying can shape a broad range of laws and policies, including laws governing animal welfare and climate change.
I’m an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Victoria, which is on the territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) peoples.
Through the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, I got my feet wet in the world of ecological farming. I am a core member of the Migrant Worker Health Expert Working Group. I also serve as a director with the BC Employment Standards Coalition, and I am a Street Teams Leader with the Worker Solidarity Network.
In 2025, I received the Bridge Builder Award from the International Association for Society & Natural Resources.
Current Projects:
Climate and Labour Organizing Canada (CLOC)
Labour movement responses to climate change in Western Canada (Principal Investigator for a SSHRC Insight Development Grant; with Jen Kostuchuk and Susanna Klassen)
Climate Impacts on Farmworkers (CLIF)
Legislative protections for farmworkers from climate-related extreme heat (with Susanna Klassen, Bethany Hastie, and Ethan Raker)
Gig Food Delivery Workers (GIGFOOD)
How gig food delivery workers navigate tipping and urban infrastructure (with Simon Pek and Jen Kostuchuk)
Migrants' Intersectional Experiences with Housing in Agriculture (MIHA)
Housing and health equity for migrant agricultural workers in Canada (with Susana Caxaj)
Growing Justice
South Asian farmworker women’s experiences with piece rate wages in B.C. (with David Fairey of the BC Employment Standards Coalition, Anushay Malik, Jasmine Padam, and Archway Community Services)