Julia Smachylo is an urban designer as well as a registered urban planner in Ontario and the United Kingdom. As a doctoral candidate at Harvard, she is a member of the Urban Theory Lab, a Canada Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and has completed a doctoral specialism in Critical Media Practice. Julia’s research is situated in urban and landscape theory and political ecology, and aims to render visible the impacts of policy that connect resource territories to urban processes. Within this context her recent work traces the rise of incentivized environmental conservation in southern Ontario, focusing on forest landscapes. Using film as a method of investigation, alongside mapping, interviews and archival analysis, her research documents incentivized forest management to reveal the extent to which these landscapes are tied to the social, economic and political histories of production and conservation within the region. Within this framework she brings a particular focus on environmental stewardship as a form of collective praxis through which to engage the production of more environmentally sane and socially just cities and landscapes.

Jackie Hamilton, MFC, RPF (she/her) is a forester, arborist and admirer of trees and all the people that live with them. A 2015 graduate of U of T's MFC, she has worked on and led urban and peri-urban forestry and applied research projects in the GTA and continues to work on forest conservation in and around cities. Jackie has experience working in environmental science and forestry in the UK and eastern Ontario.

Jackie will discuss her career path from arboricultural consulting and backyard tree planting to research on urban forest monitoring and planning. Insights will include weird skills she learned at U of T that have proved useful, why she likes to work with Daniels and how to network
as an introverted tree nerd.
 

About the What's Next Speaker Series

AVSSU, GALDSU and FGSA are excited to bring to you What’s Next, an alumni speaker series. Speakers will be presenting their work and career paths since graduating from the different programs at Daniels. 

You will hear about the various industries and areas of work, skills you can transfer from university to the workplace, networking and more!

The lecture will start with a short presentation by the guest, followed by a moderated discussion with student(s), and ending with an open Q&A with the audience.

For the winter of 2021, we have an exciting line-up of speakers from the MFC, MUD, MVS, MLA, BAAS, and M.Arch programs, so be sure to mark the dates in your calendars. If you are unable to attend, please send in any questions you may have, and we will be sure to ask them for you. The talks will be recorded and can be found on Youtube. If you are a student and are interested in moderating a discussion, please reach out to your respective student union representative (see below).

AVSSU - Randa Omar
GALDSU - Juliette Cook
FGSA - Zoe Bedford

What's Next Graphic Credit: Randa Omar