Hello world
Today is the first day of the year! Happy 2026!
Today also happens to be my dad’s birthday. Happy birthday dad ❤️
This is my first blog post. Frankly, creating this blog is long overdue. I’ve had this in my to-do list on my phone for over a year. But here we are.
To commemorate this moment, I first want to start by introducing myself, how I got to be where I am in the climate space, and my intentions with this blog.
We all start somewhere
I was always someone who gravitated towards solving puzzles, computers and people. A good example of this is probably when I told my mom in the 90s that I wanted to enroll in typing lessons so I could write to people on the web. And all because my cousin would not let me use the computer because I was too slow at typing. Well, problem solved!
I also gravitated towards art my whole life. In high school, I enrolled in computer science, information technology and art. And you best believe, I made me an incredible MySpace profile with my new HTML skills.
At the tail end of high school, I frankly didn’t know what to study in university.
I eventually made the decision to go into the Geomatics program at the University of Waterloo. Although I didn’t know exactly what the program was, it kind of made sense for me: maps, computers, data. Sounded about right.
print("hello world")
My first Python script (probably)
Dabbing into climate
I really enjoyed my undergrad experience. The cherry on top was doing many co-ops (“internships”) in different Canadian cities while pursuing my degree.
This was an amazing experience because I got to learn how to automate tasks using Python, create maps (for GIS folks, remember ArcMap? RIP) and problem solve for different agencies.
But one of the things that got stuck in my head was the advice of one of my co-op managers who encouraged me to better understand the context of why a technical solution is needed. Yes, the maps were important, but how do they fit into broader conversations or organizational problems?
I must admit that doing my Master’s thesis on climate adaptation was a decision I made selfishly to learn front-end and back-end web development. But somehow, this decision is also what helped me to start answering the question my co-op manager left me with.
AdaptNS was an interactive tool I created for my Master’s thesis to visualize potential coastal flooding impacts in small towns.
There are many aspects about the tool I created for my Master’s thesis. And maybe this is something I write about in more detail in a future blog post.
But what I will mention here is how in undergrad, we sometimes think (at least I did) that everything has already been done, and overestimate what is understood. Yet, this project taught me that that is not the case. It helped me appreciate how maps can help people understand hard-to-grasp problems (“what does this global issue mean for me?”) and spark conversations about climate solutions. This project really was the start of a much bigger chapter in my life.
A different kind of puzzle
These days, I’m solving different kinds of puzzles. These puzzles are less technical in nature and require other skills to solve them. The problems I’m solving these days require knowledge of governance systems, public policy and an appreciation of trade-offs. In many ways, solving these types of problems is not as straightforward as writing code or developing a cool web map. They’re more complex than that.
For those looking to pivot from a technical to a policy role, I hope I can give you some perspective on this transition. I’ve had to certainly learn a lot over the last couple years that I have spent in a policy role, and I hope to share some of that through this channel.
What I look forward to with this blog
As I said before, this blog has been in my to-do list for over a year (fellow Virgos will appreciate my love for lists).
Starting this blog really comes from this internal urge to open up my arms and reach out to places far away (sort of like this 🤗). Perhaps because I’m currently working from home and I want to share more of what I know with others and step outside of my comfort zone.
And so, I intend for this blog to be:
A channel to share my experiences
A channel to be creative and learn new things
A channel to meet people
A channel to offer some reflections that hopefully can help others (e.g., doing a PhD in your 20s)
(see, I love lists 💛)
Ok - if you got here, thank you for reading and stay tuned for more.
