Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m originally from Calgary, jumping right into the University of Calgary when I finished high school (BSc '98, Biological Anthropology), then went to the University of Saskatchewan (MSc '25, Geology – Palaeontology). My thesis was on a large number of fossil rodent families from southwest Saskatchewan, but I had lots of different fieldwork experiences in southern Saskatchewan, even helping on a Tyrannosaurus dig site. When that was completed, I did some schooling in Geomatics (Sait, 2006) and did AutoCAD drafting for a company in Swift Current before taking over as general manager at a dinosaur museum then known as the T. rex Discovery Centre, in Eastend, Saskatchewan. When that changed in 2012, we moved the family to Lethbridge in 2013 to be a little closer to our families in Calgary, but appreciated the smaller city size and full amenities, including a great university — had to think of the kids! And now, my whole family is part of the ULethbridge family (employees and students)! We’ve bounced around a lot, but we’ve found our place here!
Recently, a former mentor from my grad school days (not on my committee, but someone who worked in the same region on a variety of fossil mammal faunas), retired and moved to the Eastend area. He decided to take up several theses from the era that I was at the U of S and get them updated and published. He found me here at ULethbridge and asked if I wanted to be involved with publishing my old work, which was exciting, and I helped where I could. The good news is that most of my descriptions were good, but the science has progressed a lot in the last 20 years, so a lot of updating was needed. In January 2025, the first batch, all fossil squirrels, was published, and this past Fall, the remaining fossils were published. He even let me have primary authorship, which was nice of him! So now, after two decades, it’s very exciting to see that work from so far back out in the world!
How long have you been at ULethbridge and what do you do here?
I have been here for 12 years, at the Bookstore the whole time. I have a broad range of tasks, but the main ones are looking after the course materials each term, looking over a lot of the financial aspects, and purchasing the other items in the store — especially things like games and the weird things! All of this entails interacting with so much of our campus community including students, faculty and administration. I really enjoy the broad perspective for the campus that we get here! I’m also engaged with the campus store community on a national level, being on the Board of Campus Stores Canada for three years now (and just elected to another term this past November), currently acting as Treasurer for the organization.
What's the best part of your job?
I think the best part is interacting with the students, especially meeting all the new students every term, and seeing them off years later at convocation! But I’m all about finding the fun in every day.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I am an avid aquarist, and have kept all kinds of weird and unusual fish as pets since I was 12 (I also worked in aquarium stores until I left for Saskatchewan). I’m also a collector of animal models and even ran an online store selling them for a while. Now, it’s all about the shelf displays (take me out of the museum, can’t take the museum out of me), and actively participating in an online blog that focuses on this same hobby. We try to travel as much as we can, and if it were up to me, it would be all about visiting as many (good) zoos, aquaria and natural history museums as we can possibly fit in! I try to keep up on the worlds of palaeontology and ichthyology, and will find any excuse to talk dinosaurs or fish! Plus, as many people who visit the store are aware, I quite enjoy the board games and RPGs (role-playing games), but it feels like I spend more time learning about them than playing them these days!
