Jacqueline specializes in sustainable development, climate change, human ecology and health using community-based research, program evaluation, and gender-based analysis. In 2008, she founded Quintessential Research Group which is a community-based socio-economic research, health and environmental consulting practice.
Quinless is an award winning sociologist recognized by the Canadian Sociological Association (CSA) and the Angus Reid Foundation for her community based research that has advanced human welfare in Canada. In 2016 she was the recipient of a prestigious CLIR post doctoral fellowship through Washington DC and Digital Scholarship and Strategy at the University of Victoria where she was the principle investigator for a campus wide study with the office of the Vice President. The study focused on understanding research data management (RDM) practices. The report is open access and available at: https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/10509
In 2013 Quinless was a presidents scholar recipient at the University of Victoria along with a Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) holder for her doctoral research on Indigenous health and wellness in Canada. She has authored several peer reviewed articles and numerous research reports for all levels of government, Indigenous communities and non-profit organizations. She enjoys teaching on a part-time basis undergraduate courses in sociology and social policy at both Camosun College and the University of Victoria. Her forthcoming book with University of Toronto Press focuses on the intersection of social capital analysis, gender-based analysis (GBA +) decolonized research methods, human health & the environment, and Indigeneity.