Mentors of the Faculty of Social Sciences
Ammie Kalan
Assistant Professor
Anthropology
I am a primatologist working in the Anthropology department at UVic who specializes in studying wild chimpanzees and gorillas in Africa. I was born in Vancouver, BC to parents who immigrated here from India and supported me in my pursuit of education, including postgraduate studies in the UK and Germany. I consider myself lucky to have such a multicultural and diverse background but this was not without its struggles. I am happy to provide support for first gen as well as international students who might face similar difficulties navigating the world of academia.
Colette Smart
Associate Professor
Psychology
I grew up in a working-class family in Scotland, lucky to live in a country where my undergraduate education was completely subsidized. My dream to become a psychologist brought me to North America on my own. Being a first-generation student and an immigrant made my PhD studies very challenging, and I often felt very alone, out of place, and overwhelmed. Despite these challenges, I was lucky to be surrounded by amazing mentors who believed in me and dared me to dream big. I am thrilled to be part of this program and provide mentorship to other first-gen (and international) students.
View Colette Smart’s UVic profile
Crystal Tremblay
Assistant Professor
Dr. Crystal Tremblay is a faculty member and Co-chair of the Map Shop in the Department of Geography and Director of CIFAL Victoria at the University of Victoria, Canada. Dr. Tremblay received her BA degree with Honours in Geography and Human Environment from Concordia University (2001), an MA (2007) and PhD (2013) in Geography from the University of Victoria and held a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia (2015). Since 2018, Dr. Tremblay has been the academic lead of the Salish Sea Hub, an initiative of the UNESCO Knowledge 4 Change global consortium working to build capacity in Community-based Participatory Research in higher education and communities to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Through this work, Dr. Tremblay has led multi-institution and multi-lingual global research projects on community university research partnerships, transformative pedagogy and training in community-based participatory research. She has published widely on these topics.
View Crystal Tremblay’s UVic profile
Darcy Mathews
Assistant Professor
Environmental Studies
I was born in a small town in Alberta, and growing up, I split my time between there and Kelowna, BC. My father is Cree and was part of the 60’s Scoop, and my mom was a non-Indigenous woman. My family are all hard-working people, but money was always in short supply, and I was the first to go to university. I remember my first years at university—it was an exciting but stressful and confusing time. I made it and came to realize I love the academic life. Today, I am an archaeologist, ethnoecologist, and professor in Environmental Studies. I work closely with Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples and communities to understand and protect their places of cultural heritage. I now feel like the university is a place for me, but it has been challenging. Often, the academic work was not the hardest part of the experience. I am thrilled to be part of this community working with other first-generation students to navigate university life.
View Darcy Mathews’ UVic profile
Donn Feir
Associate Professor
Economics
I grew up in treaty seven territory living both in rural and urban areas and was the first in my family to attend university. I had never even considered that path until the encouragement of my teachers in high school. I then stumbled into economics and found an area of work that I am passionate about and excited by. While all disciplines have their limits, I am grateful to be working on questions related to how we can all achieve economic freedom. I hope I can support others in their journeys to work in areas that inspire them.
View Donn Feir’s academic website
Erin McGuire
Associate Professor
Anthropology
My dad was in the Canadian Armed Forces and so I grew up all over the place. Neither of my parents went to university, though when I was a kid, my mum took a bunch of courses at a college and via long-distance. It was always taken for granted that I would go to university, but I couldn’t seem to figure it out. I went to Fraser Valley for a couple of years to ease myself in. By the time I got to UVic, I ended up changing my major again. In the end, it took seven years, a lot of courses, and a huge amount of student debt before I finally finished with two BAs: Russian and Medieval Studies. I wish I’d known at the time that my brain was wired differently and that my meandering path was pretty typical for people like me. Now I teach anthropology and archaeology at UVic. I always appreciate meeting students who have come through colleges or who feel like they just don’t know what their focus is. I can relate to that in so many ways. I hope I can help students feel more at ease in their uncertainty.
Jon Woodend
Assistant Professor
Psychology
I am originally from Halifax, and I started at UVic in January 2022 after working as faculty in Australia. I am in Counselling Psychology I train students to be counsellors. My research involves supporting international career transitions (international students, immigrant workers). I am the first in my extended family to attend university and I started not knowing much more about it than I ‘should do it after high school’. I want to be a mentor so that others do not have to figure university out by trial and error, and instead feel knowledgeable and empowered to navigate the university experience.
View Jon Wooden’s UVic profile
Sarah Nutter
Assistant Professor
Psychology
Dr. Sarah Nutter completed her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her masters and PhD in counselling psychology. Although her older sister was the first person in her family to go to university, Dr. Nutter is the first person in her family to receive a master’s and PhD. Her work is influenced by her personal experiences with being treated negatively because of her weight. Her research specifically focuses on weight-based prejudice and discrimination as well as body image and eating disorders more broadly. As a first-generation university student, Dr. Nutter received support from graduate students and faculty members and hopes to pass that goodness on to others.
View Sarah Nutter’s UVic profile
Scott Watson
Associate Professor
Political Science
I grew up in Southwestern Ontario, in a working class family. I was the first person in my family to pursue post-secondary education, and worked several jobs to pay my way through university. As a result, I often felt out of place and that I had missed out on some of the experiences my peers were able to enjoy. That said, I enjoyed the challenge that this posed and felt that it fuelled my personal growth (so much so, that I haven’t left university), but as with other first generation university students, I was always aware that my experience was not the norm. I am currently an Associate Professor in Political Science, and Chair of the Department; and I look forward to supporting first generation students at Uvic.
Ulrich Mueller
Professor
Psychology
I grew up in Northern Germany (close to Hannover). My father (and his father, and his father’sfather etc.) was a carpenter, and my mother was a nurse. I was the first in my family to go to university. After my civil service (I was a conscientious objector to mandatory army service), I studied psychology in Germany, and then moved to Philadelphia to complete a graduate degree in Psychology. Between 1997 and 2004, I had several jobs in different parts on the East Coast of the US and in Toronto, and I have been at the University in Victoria since 2004. My research focuses on early child development, particularly the role language plays in cognitive development.
