David Morgan

David Morgan's passion for community outreach, resilience, and positive adaptation first arose during his undergraduate work at Dalhousie University. While participating in a two-month field study tour in East Africa in 2008, David was struck by communities' remarkable capacity to cope with adversity, even in the face of drought or genocide. His ensuing field placement with a local organization in Uganda cemented this newfound appreciation, as he witnessed first-hand the strength inherent within communities residing in the most challenging of contexts.

Upon his return to Canada, David mobilized these inspiring experiences into personal research and career objectives. Funded by a SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship, his master's thesis at the University of British Columbia examined peacebuilding initiatives in post-conflict environments, focusing on demobilization and reintegration processes in northern Uganda. Upon the completion of his degree in 2011, David became involved in the launch of the Networks of Centres of Excellence's Children and Youth in Challenging Contexts Network, where he worked to identify best practices in research and practice and to break down disciplinary silos in order to scale up more effective resilience programming for children and youth exposed to violence and trauma. David's work with the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative further expanded on many of these themes, as David joined a number of research and training initiatives addressing the issues of child recruitment and civilian protection in conflict areas.

David returned to Dalhousie University in September 2012 to pursue his doctoral degree in political science. At Dalhousie, his research has explored the changing landscape of humanitarian assistance, and the ways in which aid agencies have engaged with questions of crisis and reform. David remains involved with the Children and Youth in Challenging Contexts Network and the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, where his work as a research assistant continues to explore issues of resilience and positive adaptation among the most vulnerable populations in Canada and abroad. David is also a doctoral fellow with Dalhousie's Centre for Foreign Policy Studies and a research associate with the Humanitarian Coalition, an Ottawa-based group that seeks to coordinate the activities of humanitarian organizations in Canada.