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I received both a B.Sc. and an M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Victoria. After completing my Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, I held a post-doctoral research position at the University of British Columbia. During these years I had the opportunity to study sound patterns and some word-formation processes first hand in the Salish languages Ayajuthem (Mainland Comox), St’at’imcets (Lillooet), Halkomelem and the Wakashan language Nuu-chah-nulth. I am interested in and dedicated to studying Salish and Wakashan languages and have worked in a few communities on various language revitalization projects in addition to documenting and understanding the organization of sound systems and word structures. I am currently a co-investigator on a community-based research project on language revitalization of SENĆOŦEN and Hul’q’umi’num’, two Salish languages that are spoken on the southern part of Vancouver Island. Our partners in this grant are: the Saanich Native Heritage Society, the Hul’q’umi’num’ Treaty Group, the First Peoples’ Heritage Language and Culture Council and First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation. Some of the research that I do is also theoretical in nature --aimed at understanding the principles that underlie the production and patterning of sounds and words in languages. I believe that linguistic theories help to find patterns in language, which can inform documentation and the development of materials for learning Salish and Wakashan languages, and I try to combine the two approaches whenever I can. I have taught courses on phonology, phonetics, morphology, typology, linguistic field methods, and the languages of BC, and I like to introduce people to some of the fascinating features of Salish and Wakashan languages as often as possible.