I’m a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Urban Planning, Policy, and Design program at McGill University in Montreal. I have more than a decade of professional experience in public policy, urban planning, and higher education research. My current research looks at the role of finance on new multifamily housing construction in North America. I use qualitative methods and spatial analysis to investigate current and historical phenomena related to housing, urban planning, and political economy.
Dissertation Topic
Exploring the role of the finance sector on the production of the urban built environment.
Advisors
Dr. David Wachsmuth
Dr. Richard Shearmur
2021-present
Doctoral student
School of Urban Planning
McGill University
2017
Master of City and Regional Planning
The Ohio State University
2011
Bachelor of Arts, History
Summa cum laude
The Ohio State University
Housing —
*production
*finance
*policy
*affordability
• Planning theory
• Zoning and land use
• Urban history
• Suburbanisms
FRQSC Award Recipient
2023-2025
Fonds de recherche du Québec — Société et culture / Québec Research Fund — Society and culture
UNIVERSITY INVOLVEMENT
2022—
Appointed Member
Senate Committee on Physical Development
McGill University
2021—2023
PhD Representative Organization of Urban Planning Students
McGill University
McGill Engineering Doctoral Award Recipient
2021-2023
Competitive funding from McGill’s Faculty of Engineering awarded to PhD students
WHAT STUDENTS SAY
URBP 641: Reading the Urban Landscape
School of Urban Planning, McGill University
Required for first-year graduate students in the Master of Urban Planning program, this course offers an overview of techniques to assess the congruence between urban environments and people in order to develop students’ ability to observe, document, analyze, interpret, and communicate knowledge about the built environment.
Matthew did an excellent job teaching this class and I was very surprised to hear it was his first. He was extremely knowledgeable
and accommodating, which facilitated a great learning environment. I hope to have him as an instructor again in the future.
I can already notice myself engaging with the urban landscape differently after this class and look forward to cultivating a more observant eye as a result of the concepts we were taught.