Claire Elizabeth Stiles has a passion for reimagining cities through a feminist lens, centring the safety, mobility, and belonging of women and gender diverse people. Her research focuses on how transit systems, public space design, and urban policy can reduce gender-based violence and create more equitable cities.

She studies the relationship between infrastructure and power, connecting the lived experience of navigating streets, stations, and digital spaces to global patterns of exclusion. Her work highlights how planning decisions shape who feels welcome in a city and who is pushed to the margins, and she advocates for mobility systems that prioritize care, community, and accessibility.

Claire’s experience includes strategy work on provincial and federal political campaigns, research roles in the non-profit sector, and contributions to national and international efforts to prevent gender-based violence through the Canadian Femicide Observatory and the Femicide Watch Platform.

At the University of Guelph, she co-founded the Guelph International Conflict Observatory, the first student-led initiative focused on global affairs and gender justice at the university. She also serves as President of the International Development Society.

Claire is currently pursuing a dual degree in political science and international development with a focus on feminist urbanism and the gendered experience of public space. Her academic work investigates the links between transit design, urban governance, and structural violence in cities around the world.

Outside of her professional career, Claire is an avid backpacker who finds joy and inspiration in travelling the world and broadening her understanding of diverse cultures and political landscapes.