Historian

Victoria has a PhD in the History of Science from the University of Toronto. She is interested in the history of science in Canada and the material culture of science of the past and present–the things used in scientific contexts. Her PhD thesis explored the material cultures of university departments of physics in Canada, c. 1890-1939 through their surviving collections of scientific equipment. It asks and answers what historical stories of people and places we can find in such departmental–often somewhat haphazard– collections. Her work has a particular focus on local workshops and makers.

Currently, Victoria is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Ingenium‘s Research Institute, conducting a project on the history of scientific and precision instrument makers in Canada, Precision Instrument Culture in Canada – La Culture d’Instruments de Precision en Canada

She also works with the University of Toronto Scientific Instruments Collection (UTSIC), where she is Assistant Curator. UTSIC collects, conserves and investigates the scientific material culture of the University of Toronto, from galvanometers to goggles. At UTSIC, Victoria has catalogued and researched artifacts from across the university, but especially those associated with the physical sciences. She worked extensively on the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics’ collection.

Since 2017, Victoria has been leading outreach and teaching activities at UTSIC. This includes, material culture workshops, historical lectures and tutorials focused on UTSIC’s artifacts and Toronto history, and events at Science Rendezvous and Black Creek Pioneer Village. She puts historical scientific artifacts into people’s hands, aiming to begin conversations about the history of science in Canada and beyond.

She is also interested in the spaces of science (e.g. observatories), science in public and museums of science, the history of science in Toronto, women in science, and photography associated with the history of science.

See Victoria’s CV.