About Me
My name's Alice. Bright, queer, and hopeful. I've spent my whole career trying to make the world better: first in plant ecology, then game design, and now in open source software.
The common thread is systems thinking: understanding how structures and incentives shape behavior, and how to intervene to get the results you want. Overwhelmingly, I'm convinced that a gentle touch works best: thoughtful nudges, subtle feedback loops and the occasional decisive intervention. You need to work with the grain of the wood, not against it.
Ideas about gardens illuminate code, and ideas about code illuminate gardens. Imperfect self-similarity all the way down.
Who I am
These days, I'm a full-time, paid maintainer of Bevy, a thriving open source Rust game engine. There, I focus on API design, documentation and the social infrastructure of open source. My goal is to grow complex systems of software, both technically and socially.
If you're interested in my work outside of work, Consensus | Together is a great little bit of game design that I made to explore the ideas of consensus decision making. Subtle, playful, hopeful and biting: just like me!
I live on Vancouver Island with my partner, garden, and workshop. I occasionally leave the Island, but I find the quiet isolation, friendly Canadians and endless nature suits me well. I find my friends online, across the world. I'm so grateful that I get to be part of such vibrant, thoughtful communities without sacrificing the solitude that I need to thrive.
What I believe
I am, fundamentally, an optimist. I believe that we can build a better world, and that both science and technology are indispensable for doing so. I dream of a just, solarpunk future that does not spurn the marvels of modernity. I'm searching for a path to actually get there that doesn't require burning everything down first.
Politically, I am a transhumanist and a liberal: I take the idea of rights both seriously and expansively. My worldview has been fundamentally shaped by my experiences with disability, poverty and queerness: pushing me towards empathy and self-determination as foundational Goods. I care deeply about equality, obsess over policy details, and do my best to update my beliefs in response to new information. Everyone deserves to flourish; to shape themselves and their future however they please.
What this blog is for
In the modern age, it feels more important than ever to have a place of your own. A slower place: to write, to think, to share your ideas with the world. A place where your ideas are quietly absorbed into the collective consciousness, rather than dissolving away into the roaring void of social media.
I want to talk about how I shape systems, and how you can too. Thoughtful, playful and occasionally passionate writing about systems thinking, plants, programming, and making. Maybe a photo or two that I'm particularly proud of. Weird projects, strange ideas and reflections on interesting things I've read.
Expect the eclectic and delight in the details. The unspoken connections are the point.
Contact
The best way to reach me is via email: alice.i.cecile@gmail.com.
Want to chat about something I wrote? Please, drop me a line! Do note that while I don't have the bandwidth for more paid work right now, if you like how I think, I can absolutely find excellent people who are looking for work.