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Emma Nelson
Halifax, NS emma.nelson@dal.ca (647) 916 4416 emmastfrancis.github.io

Education

PhD, Sociology (in progress) Dalhousie University 2025 – present
Master, Environmental Studies Diploma, Community Planning Diploma, Environmental Education York University 2018–2020
Master, English York University 2017–2018
Bachelor, English Literature Minor, Gender Studies Montana State University 2013–2017

Awards

SSHRC CGS Doctoral 2025 – 2028
Dalhousie President's Award 2025 – 2027
MES thesis nominated for Outstanding Paper Series Feb 2020
SSHRC Partnership Engage Feb 2020
SSHRC CGS Master's 2019 – 2020
York Graduate Fellowship 2017 – 2019
York Graduate Scholarship 2017 – 2019
Inkling Award May 2016
Montana State University President's Scholarship Sept 2013

Skills

  • Qualitative methods
  • Multiple regression analysis
  • Designing visuals (interactive, graphic design, textile art)
  • Digital mapping
  • Grant writing

Software familiarity

  • Linux
  • QGIS
  • Stata 18
  • NVivo / hand coding
  • Excel (intermediate)
  • InDesign
  • LaTeX, VS Code
  • Microsoft & Google suites
  • Canva
  • Social media management (major platforms)

Interests

  • Midwifery / birth care
  • Death care / death cultures
  • Rites of passage
  • Ritual
  • Professionalization
  • Medicalization
  • Nursing history
  • Policy development
  • Material cultures
  • Participant-driven research
  • Alternative / visual methods

Experience

Research assistant — Dalhousie University and InclusionNS
July 2026 – ongoing
  • Supported by MITACS Accelerate
  • Scoping review of deinstitutionalization of community living facilities for people with mental disabilities across Canada
  • Second phase planned for 2027: interviewing community members and providers, data analysis, presentation and publication of results
Teaching assistant — Dalhousie University
September 2025 – ongoing
  • Grading and advising for 2000 and 3000-level courses
Writing tutor — Dalhousie University Writing Centre
September 2025 – ongoing
  • Drafting, grammar, clarity, and copyediting assistance
Owner-operator — Cardamom Pod Cafe
January 2023 – August 2025
  • Small cafe located in Pugwash, NS
  • Baker, barista, and social media manager
Research assistant — York University
July – Dec 2020
  • Created database of land transfers between Indigenous nations and the Crown between 1790–mid 1900s
  • Mapped findings using GIS to show the development of Canada as dependent on the degradation of Indigenous land holdings
Research assistant — York University
Feb – Oct 2020
  • Supported by SSHRC Partnership Engage
  • Joint project with City of Toronto's Shelter, Support, and Housing Administration
  • Interviewed international experts and service providers on difficulties with public engagement when introducing new shelters

Presentations & Publications

Presenter CSA, "'Return of the 'Radical': How the history of Nova Scotian midwifery can inform feminist organizing" June 2026
Presenter CSA, "Mapping Memories: An interactive method to recover, visualize, and celebrate midwifery's history in Nova Scotia" June 2026
Presenter CASCA, "Is there a place for contemplative practice in anthropology? On silence, listening, and hearing in the field" June 2026
Co-author "Reconciling Relationships with the Land Through Land Acknowledgments" with Dr. Deborah McGregor in Sacred Civics May 2022
Author Container gardening: A how-to (self-published) Jul 2021
Producer Planning through land acknowledgments (podcast) Aug 2020
Guest lecturer Several conferences and university courses, "Understanding land acknowledgments" Aug 2020–May 2024
Co-author York University, "Understanding Cummer Lodge as a place of employment" Apr 2020
Co-author York University, "NYC and Toronto: From mega-projects to activism and resistance" Oct 2019
Presenter Law Union of Ontario Conference, "Legal observing and activism" Oct 2019

Extracurricular

OpenThinker — OpenThink 2026 cohort, Dalhousie University
2026 – 2027
  • Competitively selected, stipended programme designed to help early-career scholars develop a public following for their research
  • Received media training
Student Concerns Subcommittee, Eastern Rep — Canadian Sociological Association
2026 – 2029
  • Elected for 3-year term
Trained birth doula — Sista Midwife Productions
2020 – current