Crossroads
Crafting Social Change
As Director of the SHIFT Collective, she leads a team of researchers, graduate students, and trainees committed to advancing equity, well-being, and radical inclusion through research and action. Her work is grounded in critical disability studies, neurodiversity-affirming frameworks, and intersectional feminist theory.
Inspired perspective outside the Forrest
As health professionals we work hard to provide people access to health. While this is important, we must also prioritize inclusion to health services and supports. Inspired by the provinces’ goal to be accessible by 2030 this year’s Crossroads Interdisipinary Health Research Conference (held in March, annually) highlighted innovative and collaborative health solutions through an interdisciplinary lens to promote accessibility and inclusivity throughout health sectors, services, and supports.
Have you ever thought about what it would be like to volunteer and an interdisciplinary health research conference? Current MScOT student Samantha Meeker can fill you in.
Volunteering at Crossroads Conference
Before starting the MScOT program, I attended conferences for work and have always enjoyed the experience. Although I have loved the MScOT program so far, I found there aren’t many opportunities to connect with research happening here at Dalhousie. That’s why I jumped at the chance to get involved when I saw the request for volunteers for the Crossroads Interdisciplinary Health Research Conference!
I’m so happy that I did. Volunteering at Crossroads gave me the opportunity to learn about the exciting work being done at Dalhousie and other universities across Canada. It also allowed me to meet graduate students from other health-related programs like Health Promotion, Leisure Studies, and Kinesiology. Some volunteered, like me, and others contributed through posters and presentations. I even had the chance to chat with a second-year OT student, which was a great opportunity to hear about their experiences in the program and how they got involved with research.
We are quite close as OT students, but it can sometimes feel like we’re in our own little bubble. Connecting with peers from different programs and hearing about their perspectives was refreshing and inspiring. It feels very fitting that volunteering at the Crossroads Interdisciplinary Health Research Conference helped me build connections with fellow interdisciplinary peers! I would absolutely recommend volunteering to other students; not only did I get to learn and stay involved with current research, but it was also a fun and meaningful way to engage more with the broader graduate student community.
~Samantha Meeker