I am a Filipino-Canadian sociocultural anthropologist and my research program and training focus on comparative gender and/or (transgender) queer studies in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines). 

I am writing on the "disrupted" life cycles of Balinese and Singaporean transgender women sex workers by analyzing their diverse experiences and stories of transitioning and de-transitioning (in later life). This includes histories of hormone therapies and sexual reassignment surgeries, participation in beauty and/or sex work, religion, romantic and familial relationships, concepts of national belonging, and death. Data for this research was gathered during my ethnographic fieldwork in the region in summer 2017, in partnership with Project X - Singapore (Singapore) and Yayasan Gaya Dewata (Bali, Indonesia), and under the supervision of Dr. Gregory Forth.

In 2018, I was a Visiting Scholar and Fellow with the Chair in Transgender Studies and the Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria. I was honoured as one of Alberta’s Top 30 Under 30 for 2020. This is an annual award and campaign by the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation (ACGC) featuring “30 outstanding young people, nominated by their community and selected by a committee of peers, for their commendable work in making the world a more just, fair, and sustainable place for all.” In 2021, I was nominated and shortlisted for a Golden Balangay Award in Educational Excellence (Post-Secondary), a nationwide search for outstanding Filipino Canadians.

My other research interest is the anthropology of food. I was involved in an ethnographic research analyzing the connection between food, memories, and placemaking among Filipino immigrants in Edmonton. It endeavours to answer the following questions: (1) How do members of the Filipino community strategically decide on the presentation and marketing of their food/cuisine to both Filipino and non-Filipino audience? and (2) How do Filipinos in Edmonton define Filipino-ness through food, eating, and placemaking? Until recently, I was a PhD student with the above-mentioned SSHRC-funded research project and dissertation, supervised by Dr. Helen Vallianatos. I left the program in May 2023.

Currently, I am a faculty member in the Faculty of Business, Environment, and Technology at NorQuest College (Edmonton, Alberta) in the Machine Learning Analyst Diploma (MLAD) and Digital Information Careers (DGIC) Certificate programs. I teach courses on anthropology, communications, and writing and public speaking at the following institutions: NorQuest College (Introduction to Anthropology, Communications in the Digital Workplace, Scientific and Technical Writing, Public Speaking, and Ethics and Technology), the University of the Philippines Baguio (General Anthropology; Human Evolution), MacEwan University (Gender, Age and Culture; Intercultural Communication Skills, Business Writing, Canadian Workplace Culture, and Advanced Public Speaking and Business Presentations), and Portage College (Race and Racism in the Modern World). Outside research and teaching, I have worked full-time in Professional Development, Communications, Web Management, and Digital and Social Media in higher education.

In summer 2025, I am an incoming doctoral student (EdD) in Educational Research with a specialization in Leadership, Policy, and Governance (Post-Secondary Contexts) in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, under the supervision of Dr. Barbara Brown.

I split my time between Edmonton and Toronto. Often, you will see me dancing and sprinting on a spin bike.