The Team

Shaping Nature:
The Pemberton Family's Construction of Victoria's Landscape

Home Surveying Gardening Play a Game Sources About Us







About the Authors


Ben BeresfordBenjamin Beresford: Ben is graduating from UVic in April 2006 with a BA (Hons.) in History.  A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ben specializes in European history, particularly the history of Russian culture.  He hopes to attend graduate school in either the United States or United Kingdom and to continue studying Russian and early Soviet history before entering academia.  He is also interested in microhistory and environmental history.  Ben's great great-grandfather was a gardener in Scotland and his great-grandfather was a land surveyor and MLA for the Province of Manitoba.


Eryk MartinEryk Martin: Eryk is a fourth-year honours history student at the University of Victoria. Originally from Sooke, Eryk is a researcher/writer for the British Columbia Institute for Co-operative Studies and will be starting his Masters in history at Uvic in September 2006. Eryk enjoys hanging out with his partner Kendra, his dog Diesel, sunsets, long walks on the beach, heavy-metal music, and tofu sandwiches.  Eryk is not related to any gardeners or surveyors, though he did see one once at a Canada Day barbecue.








Laura IshiguroLaura Ishiguro:
Laura Ishiguro was, during her research for this project, her final semester of an Honours degree in History at the University of Victoria, with a specialty in Aboriginal and British Columbian history.  Her interest in the Pemberton family, however, extends beyond an academic interest in the shaping of space and nature.  Laura was born into a family of gardeners, and is particularly interested in the ways in which individuals and societies express themselves through the act of gardening.  Her maternal grandfather was also an early mapper in British Columbia, and her research in the Surveyor Generals Branch reminded her both of how beautiful and of how influential a map can be.  More than anything, though, it was the Victoria landscape that pulled Laura into this project: born and raised in the city, this land - whether streets or gardens - will always be home, and there is never quite anything like learning how "home" got to be.




Eddie RobertsEddie Roberts:
Eddie is graduating from UVic this semester with an English major and a minor in History.  Eddie has been at UVic for four years, with a three-year stint in London as a dancer in the middle.  Eddie has been accepted into Uvic's Post Degree Education Progam and will begin teaching at Stelly's High School for his internship next fall.  His uncle was a land surveyor in Alberta.