We are happy to welcome Shayla Auld and Amanda Merrit to the POLIS family! Shayla is settling into her role as Communications Assistant with the POLIS Water Sustainability Project and Amanda recently joined the team to provide research and event support.
Shayla Auld joined our team in the fall as a Communications and Graphic Design Intern, and is now settling into her role as Communications Assistant. Her work primarily focuses on developing creative awareness and outreach strategies through a wide range of digital design mediums.
Shayla completed her undergraduate degree at Lakehead University (LU), specializing in Environmental Sustainability and Wildlife Management. She conducted LU’s first research study on students’ single-use plastic use and waste knowledge, which led to the reduction of on-site plastics and reform of the University’s Sustainability Plan. Later, she was proudly nominated and awarded the Lakehead Leader Award in the Sustainability Category. Since graduating, Shayla has worked for a variety of non-profit organizations that focus on environmental stewardship, youth leadership, and community-based activism. Shayla is also an active freelance artist, designer, and communications student at North Island College.
Amanda Merritt joined the POLIS Water Sustainability Project in 2023 as Researcher and Event Assistant. She also works at the University of Victortia’s Centre for Global Studies (CFGS) as the Events and Administrative Assistant. Previously, she worked with CFGS as the Program Coordinator of European Studies.
A poet by trade, Amanda teaches writing classes at the University of Victoria and is presently working on her second full-length collection, supported by the generosity of the Canada Council for the Arts. Her debut collection, The Divining Pool, was shortlisted for the 2018 Gerald Lampert Memorial award, and her poetry can be found in The Literary Review of Canada, The Threepenny Review, Grain, Prairie Fire, and Hart House Review, among others. In another life, Amanda was founding editor of The Scores.
For more information about Amanda’s workshops and publications, visit her website.
