Student research

Geography Master’s student Alessia Kockel explains her research on Marine Protected Areas in the Philippines. This film was produced by geography undergraduate student Levi Hildebrand.

Students undertake their own research for undergraduate courses, during an honours undergraduate degree, as a recipient of the Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Award, or during graduate degrees.

Presenting student research

Students have a variety of opportunities to share and present their research, both at UVic and elsewhere. Common options for early-career researchers include:

  • Bridging the Gap, an annual student conference organized by the UVic Department of Geography
  • JCURA Research Fair, a UVic undergraduate research fair for recipients of the Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Award (JCURA)
  • WDCAG Meeting, an annual meeting of the Western Division, Canadian Association of Geographers. The location of this conference changes from year to year.

Students are encouraged to present their research and attend conferences when possible, as this promotes networking, community building, development of presentation skills, and exploration of other areas of geography.

BRIDGING THE GAP

Bridging the Gap is an annual conference organized by the UVic Department of Geography to showcase student research.

General Information

  • When: usually in March
  • Who: all geography students (high school, undergraduate, and graduate) from any school are welcome to participate
  • Accepted presentation types: posters, hands-on demonstrations, videos, multimedia, powerpoint, and any other presentation style that a student would like to explore
  • Registration: Students who are interested in participating will need to register at least 2 weeks in advance. Detailed information about registering will be posted on the Geography website and social media accounts a couple of weeks before the deadline.
Since the presentations were so varied, everyone got a chance to talk about something new and interesting to them [during the breaks between sessions]. It was easy to make connections using the topics, and I expanded my understanding of geography beyond the technical side. I had a really cool conversation with fellow student Dana Johnson and professor Teresa Dawson about social and financial barriers to being zero-waste. That's not what I'm studying, but I care about it, and that conversation wouldn't have happened without Bridging the Gap. Needless to say, it lived up to its name.

Trilby Buck
BSc sudent

I found [Bridging the Gap] to be a great and fun experience to learn about the fantastic work being done in our geography department by fellow students. Geography is so diverse, and I think it's great to see how the sub-disciplines blend together to create practical solutions to real-world problems. And it was great to practice presentation skills!

Nalin Dhillon
BSc Honours sudent