Lucas Mollame

My name is Lucas Mollame and I currently a Master's Candidate at the School of Planning in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo. I completed a Bachelor of Social Sciences Degree with a Honours Specialization in Anthropology at the University of Ottawa in May 2019. My practicum work there focused on how commuting plays a role in people's relationship to their work.

Under the supervision of Dr. Michael Drescher, I am a Research Assistant at the Natural Resources Conservation Planning and Management Research Group. My research looks to advance municipal natural asset management (MNAM) through monitoring and engagement tools. By establishing a standardized evaluation methodology, following up with MNAM projects, and communicating findings of the evaluations to stakeholders, this research will enable communities to make evidence-based decisions regarding effective management of natural assets.

I am currently a Mitacs Accelerate Intern working with the Municipal Natural Assets Initiative (MNAI) to evaluate their first cohort projects. I have previously worked as a Student Labourer for the City of Cambridge, Ontario. I was also a Research Assistant for the Multimedia Anthropology Collaboratory (CAM/MAC) at the University of Ottawa.

Most of my research skills centre around qualitative methods such as interviews, ethnographic study, and focus groups. I am familiar with both NVivo and MAXQDA coding software. With my Master's research, I am learning and engaging with methods of program evaluation, policy analysis, and plan implementation.