Language Sciences is pleased to announce that Mona Chu has stepped into the role of Research, Engagement, and Operations Manager, covering Adriana Osa Gómez del Campo's maternity leave until June 2026. Many of you already know Mona from her work as our Communications Specialist, where she brought creativity and strategic insight in her role. Mona brings over a decade of experience in journalism and cultural communications, working with international museums, universities, and consulates. Her academic background includes a BA in English Literature and Politics from the University of Hong Kong, and an MA in Performing Studies from King’s College London. Mona’s experience and institutional knowledge about LangSci make her perfectly-positioned to guide the team during this period. We are excited to welcome Mona into this new role and look forward to what this new chapter brings!
Mona shares her thoughts with us as she steps into this new chapter.
1. What are you most looking forward to in your new role?
There is so much to learn! The new role requires skills and knowledge that weren't core to my previous role. I am loving the learning curve! As usual, it is exciting to work with LangSci — both with the people and the subject matter. I had the pleasure of discussing and understanding LangSci members' research for the communications tasks I was completing. Based on the understanding I've built, I hope to explore new ways to support our members. This year is also LangSci's 10th anniversary. Spoilers alert — there will be a get-together occasion to celebrate our achievements and think about new directions. Please look out for details in upcoming newsletters!
2. You have a rich background in intercultural and interdisciplinary work. How do you see that shaping your approach to this new role?
LangSci members have always thrived in intercultural and interdisciplinary work. My background allows me to understand their effort with more ease and identify opportunities to enhance their work. I really hope we could work together as partners to bring ideas to fruition (and yes, that's to say ideas are always welcome!) I am also passionate about knowledge mobilization because understanding is the first step of collaboration. It'd be great to amplify LangSci's research to a more diverse audience and explore more collaboration with community partners. Vancouver is home to diverse cultural organizations with different visions, audiences, and focuses. There's potential for LangSci to learn from, work with, and support them in many capacities. I look forward to explore that!
3. What are you passionate about outside of work?
Languages (sorry, no surprise). In my free time, I help teach Cantonese at a century-old language school in Chinatown. The program is partially initiated and supervised by our member, Dr. Zoe Lam. I am really grateful for all her insights into language learning and teaching over time. At the moment, I'm trying to read up in this area. Also, gardening! Watching plants grow gives me so much joy. I also like watching the bugs and birds that now seem to cohabitate with my plants. My goal is to harvest one meal out of all my crops haha. And since summer is around the corner, I guess a bit of hiking and biking don't hurt 🙂