Jessica Davey-Quantick

Originally from Kingston, Ontario, I moved to Yellowknife in 2016 after an exciting and diverse career journey. I earned my journalism degree from the University of King's College and worked as a journalist in Nova Scotia and Ontario. Later, I relocated to Doha, Qatar, where I joined Qatar Happening Magazine, eventually becoming the editor of Time Out Doha. This position led me to spend several years commuting between the UAE and Qatar.

Feeling the need to reconnect with my roots, I returned to Canada to pursue a Master's degree in Cultural Studies at Queen's University. My research focused on the 2014 dump fire in Iqaluit and environmental racism, which can be found here: https://qspace.library.queensu.ca/handle/1974/14356?show=full. Thanks to the Northern Scientific Training Program and the Nunavut Research Institute, I had the opportunity to visit Iqaluit as part of my research. This experience sparked my interest in the North and inspired me to stay in Canada to explore my country's untold stories.

The North seemed like the perfect place to do that, so I joined the Yellowknifer as a city hall reporter. Eventually, I became the editor of News North before moving on to Up Here Magazine. My time at these northern publications allowed me to learn a great deal and travel extensively within Nunavut. In collaboration with APTN, I visited Rankin Inlet and Pangnirtung in 2019 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Nunavut's establishment. In March 2020, I transitioned to communications, working as a communications planning specialist for the GWNT Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Outside of my professional life, I share my home with two rescue cats who often take center stage on my social media. My interests include virtual communication, with a particular focus on memes as cultural hieroglyphs. I am also honing my skills in video editing and have participated in several projects, winning awards for my Dead North film "Welcome to Tundradome" and the 2022 NWT 48-hour film competition.

My work has been featured in prominent publications such as the Globe & Mail, Vice, CBC, Reader's Digest Canada, Broadview Magazine, and more. A staunch advocate for the Oxford Comma, I even adopted it as my burlesque stage name, Oxford C’mon. In my spare time, I enjoy creating cheeky cross-stitch designs.