Deatra Walsh, Ph.D.

Director of Advocacy and Communications

Deatra holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Memorial University in St. John’s, a Master of Rural Development from Brandon University in Manitoba and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Concordia University in Montreal. She began her studies at Carleton University in Ottawa as a journalist.

Deatra’s career stretches across employment in the post-secondary, government and now, non-governmental sector. She worked with the Government of Nunavut for four years, first as the manager of territorial labour market programming and later as the Director of Poverty Reduction. She has held teaching and postdoctoral research positions at Mount Allison, Memorial, York and Dalhousie University in Canada. She has also worked abroad at UiT: The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø as a postdoctoral researcher and an associate professor in methodology. She remains affiliated with UiT. Deatra uses both quantitative and qualitative methods in the social sciences and conducts research on wellness among aging populations, environmental change, labour mobility, homelessness and popular culture. She has had a long history of working and researching with rural communities in Canada.