My personal and professional roots are in the Pacific northwest of Canada. I did my dissertation with Lisa Matthewson on the Gitksan language (Tsimshianic) at the University of British Columbia. I am an assistant professor in the Department of English at Arizona State University. Although my professional home is in an English department, my work is focussed on the documentation, revitalization, and maintenance of endangered indigenous languages, primarily in the Americas and Oceania. I have a special interest in exploring how everyday technology and contemporary media can be used as a tool for language documentation and engaging the language learner, as well as developing teaching resources in these areas. My research as a linguist involves the theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of meaning (semantics and pragmatics). Previous to my position at ASU I was visiting lecturer at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. In this part of the world I have a number of currently active language documentation and research projects that brings my interests together. One of these projects is on Cook Islands Māori, which includes a component dedicated to language revitalization, maintenance and literacy.
Being situated in Arizona, I have experience working with the indigenous communities and languages in the southwestern United States. I was the interim program coordinator of the Native American Masters Program (NAMA). NAMA is a specialized MA degree that is oriented towards training indigenous language educators and activists in linguistics, language maintenance, revitalization and policy. In addition to my various research projects in linguistics, I am also active in outreach, teaching and developing curricula for the American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI), an independent program within the College of Education at the University of Arizona. AILDI is one of the longest continually running organizations dedicated to providing critical training to indigenous language educators and community activists.
2018-present: Assistant Professor (TT), Arizona State University
2016-2017: Visiting Lecturer (Assistant Professor), University of Auckland, New Zealand
2015-2016: Program Coordinator (Interim), Native American Masters Program (NAMA)
2013-2016: Planning Committee and Instructor, American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI) Department of Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies, University of Arizona
2013-2016: Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Arizona, USA
2012-2013: Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, Canada
2009-2012: Post-doctoral Researcher, Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, The Netherlands
PhD. Linguistics, 2010 (University of British Columbia);
Dissertation: “Epistemic Modality and Evidentiality in Gitksan at the Semantics-Pragmatics Interface”
B.Mus. (Major: music theory; Minor: Russian literature), 1999 (University of British Columbia)
TESOL Teaching Diploma, 2001 (Vancouver Community College)
2013-2015: Zukunftskolleg Incoming Fellowship: Marie Curie (ZIF-MC); University of Konstanz
2005-2008: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship (SSHRC)
2003-2007: UBC PhD. Tuition Awards
1997: Alma Mater Society Award, UBC
1995: John Young Music Scholarship
1994: Maria J. Brown Music Scholarship Trust Fund
1993: Dean's List, Vancouver Community College
other stuff I'm sometimes asked about