About | Salt Maps and Design

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Leah Fulton

My Story

Hi, my name is Leah Fulton (she/they). My name is spelled a bit differently from how it is pronounced. I answer to both Lay-uh, or Lee-uh, but I prefer Lay-uh.

I grew up in Mi'kma'ki, otherwise known as Nova Scotia, and lived on the Eastern Shore, a stone's throw from an ever-changing coastline, shaped by the wind and waves of the Atlantic. I am a settler on these lands - my mom holds French ancestry, and my dad is of Scottish descent. When I was younger, I went to an Acadian francophone school, and I got used to being called lay-uh; that's why I go by that now.

Tracing my finger over photos, pictures, and maps, my love for the salt air and sea runs deep in my bones - it's the wind that'll git ya - but it's the people that make you stay. I have now found myself in the Pacific Northwest, where I feel lucky to live, work and play on the lands of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) people (known today as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations), who have lived here since time immemorial. I am an uninvited guest on these lands and actively participate in treaty responsibilities.

When I am not working, I can be found crossing contours. Nature is a source of inspiration for moving my body, whether through trail running or road biking. Endurance sports are a significant part of my life and have had a profound impact in many ways. It helps me think clearly and is a way for me to turn down the loud to find the quiet.

Education

2016-2020

Bachelor of Community Design (Honours in Urban Design and Planning) with a Minor in Geography,
Dalhousie University

Certificate in Geographic Information Science, Dalhousie University

I intended to go to post-secondary to study engineering, but I quickly realized my curiosity was driven by people and places. I enrolled in the Bachelor of Community Design and completed an Honours in Urban Design and Planning, with a minor in Geography. During this time, I completed a cross-institutional exchange and travelled overseas to the University of Western Australia to better understand rural and remote coastal economies.

Complementing my degree, I earned a Certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), through which I developed a spatial problem-solving lens. Post-graduation, I worked on projects concerning landscape connectivity in Prince Edward Island, and .

2020-2022

Master of Marine Management
Marine Affairs Program
Dalhousie University

Despite living so close to the ocean my entire life, there was a clear gap for me - what happens beyond the shoreline? As such, I continued my studies in the Marine Affairs Program, Master of Marine Management, at Dalhousie University, where I worked closely with Coastal Action to understand the economic impacts and spatial distribution of abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) in Canada's most productive lobster fishing area (LFA). To make this research accessible to fishers at the local and global levels, this work was translated into an ArcGIS Story Map and submitted to the 2021 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition for Restoring our Oceans, where it won 1st place in the University Track.

While conducting research, I held a summer position as a Park Planner for the Government of Nova Scotia, Department of Lands and Forestry, Parks and Outreach Division, where I primarily reviewed Martinique Beach Provincial Park to inform an update to the Martinique Beach Management Plan. Both my research and park planner positions led to a pilot project to integrate end-of-life fishing rope as barrier fencing for sand dunes at Lawrencetown Beach Provincial Park. My interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving was acknowledged, where I was awarded the Marine Affairs Millennium Prize Interdisciplinarian of the Year.

Upon graduating, I began working as a contract researcher, undertaking projects with organizations such as Parks Canada, the Ocean Frontier Institute, Ontario Parks, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and the Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq. Most of my projects focused on using GIS technology and analysis to support coastal planning and management initiatives, cartographic services and facilitating community mapping workshops. These experiences exposed me to the realities of taking a systems-thinking approach to GIS, and to the fact that Western knowledge is often dominant in GIS analyses and cartographic representation, with Indigenous knowledge filling gaps rather than being woven together.

2023-Current

Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Geography,
University of Victoria

I returned to academia to pursue a PhD, co-supervised by Dr. Chris Bone and Dr. Crystal Tremblay at the University of Victoria, with external committee member Dr. Peter Keller (emeritus), and became a member of the Simulating Resilient Landscapes (SURREAL) Lab. I am currently a PhD candidate, and my research examines how the representation of coastal environments influences whose knowledge becomes visible within marine spatial planning. Drawing on critical cartography and relational approaches, this study employs embodied methods, such as walking interviews, to develop recommendations for a relational cartography that puts wellbeing on the map.

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