Using a governance lens, Sondra’s doctorate highlights the importance of coastal community perspectives, in addition to natural science perspectives, to strengthen the development of integrated coastal and marine management initiatives and was completed in late 2020. In 2019, Sondra was a Flaherty Research Scholar with the Ireland Canada University Foundation at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland working with colleagues on collaborative governance of coastal and marine social-ecological systems in an integrated and equitable way, specifically as it relates to marine spatial planning. Prior to her doctoral research at the University of Waterloo, Sondra conducted her Masters research in the Dominican Republic after spending some time as a research assistant in Tanzania and Madagascar.

Sondra is currently working as a Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Kelly Vodden to 1) lead the Second Volume of Coastal Routes Radio Podcasts and 2) collaborate with municipalities and Indigenous governments from Newfoundland and Labrador on an existing Potable Water Dispensing Unit Project. Additionally, she is working on a project with Oceans North to create a timeline of research and management activities in Minas Basin. Her on-the-go passion project is working with local fishers to develop a coloring/ activity book for the Bay of Fundy and through partnerships with local resource users and organizations to share science with diverse audiences in an accessible way.

Awards and distinctions

• Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2019-2020)
• University of Waterloo President’s Graduate Scholarship (2019-2020)
• University of Waterloo Faculty of Environment – R.S. Dorney Memorial Fellowship (2019)
• Ireland Canada University Foundation (ICUF) – James M Flaherty Research Scholarship (2018-2019)
• Huntsman Marine Science Center – Visiting Researcher Fellowship (2018)