Darrien Morton

Hello! My name is Darrien and I am currently a third-year PhD student in Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. I previously completed a BA (honours) in Health Sciences from Simon Fraser University in 2014 and a MSc in Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba in 2018. Having been trained as a medical anthropologist, much of my previous research-related experiences have involved using ethnographic, participatory, and Indigenous research approaches at the intersection of youth engagement and public health. Under the co-supervision of Dr. Nathan Nickel and Dr. Robert Lorway, my PhD research has shifted to focus on the historical and present-day development of data and policy interventions among institutional and community elites in Manitoba’s child welfare system.

My interest to become a SPECTRUM Fellow was sparked by the opportunity to learn about emerging data-policy initiatives in Manitoba as well as enhance my skills and knowledge in data science. Given the experimental space SPECTRUM offers to engage in innovative ways of collaborating within complex data ecosystems, I am excited to bear witness to the emergent ways partnerships are developed. Through my ongoing work with urban Indigenous community organizers for the past decade in Winnipeg, I also wish to share what I have learned. These learnings centre ethical principles of action, relationality, and helpership that I believe can progress partnership-based research in important ways.