Environment & Wildlife Researcher

I am originally from Chicago, Illinois but have since lived and worked throughout the United States, Europe, and Latin America. I hold a Bachelors of Arts in Social Thought and Political Economy from the University of Massachusetts and an Masters of Science in Marine Policy exploring fisheries co-management and conservation from the University of Maine.

I work at the intersection of society and ecology and am passionate about bringing together diverse bodies of knowledge to explore ecological phenomena and inform wildlife conservation and management. My research typically focuses on the local-regional scale and involves working closely with communities that rely on natural systems for subsistence and economic security. I am invested in employing participatory and collaborative approaches that include Indigenous and local knowledge holders in project design and implementation and in conducting multidisciplinary mixed-methods research to understand species movements, interactions, and environmental change.

During the past decade, I have contributed to a variety of environmental research and monitoring efforts across the United States and Latin America and most recently, led the design and launch of a participatory beluga monitoring program in Anchorage, Alaska. I currently reside in Canada and am pursuing a PhD in the Department of Geography at the University of Manitoba supporting collaborative beluga research in the Eastern Beaufort Sea.

Research Interests

Wildlife ecology and conservation; participatory environmental monitoring; multiple evidence base approaches; change in coupled social-ecological systems; collaborative and decolonizing methodologies