About Me

I grew up just outside of downtown Toronto to Turkish and Canadian parents. I also spent my high school years in Dubai where my dad worked for an airlines, I had the amazing opportunity to travel and grow up in an international and diverse community while also being exposed to humanitarian challenges that we are often sheltered from in Canada. This experience exposed me to many global challenges and played a major role in motivating me to pursue a life where I could have a positive impact. I moved to Vancouver in 2015 to begin my Bachelor of Arts at UBC where I originally hoped to major in International Relations. However, working as a tour guide in the Rockies and experiencing the wildfire seasons of 2017 and 2018 deepened my interest and passion for the environment. In response to this, I changed my degree to major in Geography and minor in International Relations. After graduating in May 2020, I moved to Ucluelet to work for Pacific Rim National Park Reserve as a Visitor Services Attendant. I’ll be volunteering here for the duration of my Ocean Bridge Placement, where I’ll mostly be doing work in GIS and ecological restoration of coastal habitat.

Living on a lowland peninsula on the outer west coast, my lifestyle is very much connected to the ocean and I spend a good chunk of the week in coastal habitat or in a wetsuit. My hobbies are ever-changing but right now they mostly include surfing, birdwatching, snorkeling, food-gathering and hiking. I’m also very interested in ecology, world history, geography, and culture. In the future I hope to do work in ecological restoration, management and communication. I hope that I can play a role in preserving the integrity of ecological systems and help people develop an appreciation and understanding of their connection to nature. I am particularly interested in marine ecology, which continues to fascinate and inspire me the more I learn and explore those systems.

• My Interests
  Climate Change, Cultural Diversity, Education, Environment, Food, Global Citizenship

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• Countries I've visited
  Belgium      Costa Rica      Denmark      France      Indonesia      Ireland      Italy      Oman      Portugal      Spain      Switzerland      Thailand      Turkey      United Arab Emirates      United Kingdom      United States      Vietnam