New Student Welcome: Raphaëlle Boivin
Hello! My name is Raphaëlle (Raph for short), newest member of the FishPeoplePlace Lab. I am more than excited to be joining the team for my graduate research.
I was born in the Outaouais region of Québec, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe people. When I was two years old, my family moved to Dakar, Senegal, where I first met the ocean. My earliest memory is being on a beach, holding my father’s hand, and exploring tide pools filled with critters. After a few years, I moved back to Québec and didn’t get to interact much with the ocean as we were so far away. However, I always felt very connected to nature, especially water. The years I spent growing up in Québec were spent camping, hiking, and canoeing. Even when I moved away from home, my family and I would go on annual fishing trips to spend time together. Time spent outdoors has always been very precious to me, which I think led me to where I am today.
Catching my first fish!
Growing up with a biologist mother and geographer father, I was raised to be extremely curious about my environment, all the living and non-living things around me, and how they all connect to each other. I have been privileged enough to travel abroad throughout my life, and these travels have exposed me to different ways of life, different cultures and challenges. All these experiences led me to apply for a B. Sc. in geography which, surprisingly to some, is much more interesting than just learning flags and capitals. I like to think of geography as the study of the interactions between humans and their environment. Through my degree, I grew increasingly interested in agroecology and local food systems. I was so curious to understand how and why we choose to eat the way we do, and how those choices impact our environment and society. In my final thesis, I examined the foodshed of the Québec City area, which is the area from which we source our food, or fruits and vegetables in the case of my thesis. I created a few different maps (in true geographer fashion) to illustrate my findings and learned so much about the social and environmental impacts of food choices. Examining the world from different perspectives has always been important to me, which is why I love geography so much: it sits right at the intersection of social science and natural science.
Making a new friend on an Master of Marine Management field trip to the Huntsman Marine Science Centre (St. Andrews, New Brunswick).
Wanting to satisfy my craving for connection with the ocean, I moved to Halifax in September of 2025 to begin my Master’s in Marine Management at Dalhousie University. I have felt right at home in this program, which focuses on the intersection between policy and different knowledge systems. I have already learned so much in my journey and look forward to learning more: the ocean is an extremely complex environment and an endless well of curiosity. This summer, I am thrilled to be working with OceanWise and the FishPeoplePlace lab to examine the understanding and trust of seafood consumers in ecolabelling in Atlantic Canada. This project aims to understand how we can encourage more sustainable seafood choices and, in doing so, help protect our beloved ocean.