John grew up in Wellington, Nova Scotia. He completed his Bachelor’s in International Relations at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. He is now completing a collaborative master’s degree at the University of Guelph in Rural Planning & Development and International Development Studies.

John has studied community-led organization strategies for combating regional decline between areas in and around Halifax, Nova Scotia and Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan, using a pre-existing sister-city framework. He has also collaborated on a New Rural Economy project presented to the town of Sackville, and developed smaller, bi-coastal research portfolios relating to themes of place-based development, rural community economic development, identity in place and town-gown relationships.

John is currently committed to a research assistantship, exploring the evolution of Ontarian municipalities’ responsibilities post-1990, and potential adaptations of business-like strategies over said period.

To learn more about John and his ongoing work, please contact him by email at [email protected].