science. policy. action.

I am an interdisciplinary environmental geographer and Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota working on urban nature, policy advocacy, and civic engagement as part of the National Science Foundation’s Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program at the Twin Cities site.

I received my Ph.D. in Geography in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy with a designated emphasis in Computational Social Science at the University of California, Davis in 2021 where I studied with leading environmental governance and policy scholars, Mark Lubell, Gwen Arnold, and Abigail York (Arizona State University). At the University of Minnesota, I work with expert scholars, Drs. Kristen Nelson and Forrest Fleischman, on policy advocacy, justice, and urban nature.

My research broadly focuses on drivers of environmental policy advocacy and change. I use these lenses to study a range of environmental governance challenges using quantitative and qualitative methods like (social)-ecological network analysis, text analysis, interviews, surveys, and statistical modeling. I bring 10 years of applied policy experience working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and I have an extensive network of collaborators, working with more than 25 scholars across nine universities and disciplines including Political Science, Environmental Science, Hydrology, Geography, Sociology, and Women and Gender Studies. The goal of my research agenda is to create equitable and sustainable governance systems that effectively adapt to climate change.

My current research portfolio includes work on the following:

  • California drinking water (quantity and quality), drought and extreme events, and climate change adaptation with Dr. Julia Ekstrom (California Department of Water Resources), Dr. Amanda Fencl (Millenium Change Corporation), Dr. Louise Bedsworth (Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment, UC Berkeley), and Dr. Zeke Baker (Sonoma State University).

  • Civic engagement, environmental justice, policy advocacy, and urban nature with Dr. Kristen Nelson (University of Minnesota), Dr. Forrest Fleischman (University of Minnesota), and Dr. Kelli Larson (Arizona State University). I am also working with governance and justice scholars across the National LTER network to develop an agenda on how to co-produce social-ecological knowledge with the diverse portfolio of partners (researchers, community members, policymakers, etc.)

  • Unconventional oil and gas drilling (fracking) in Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania with Dr. Gwen Arnold (UC Davis), Dr. Madeline Schomburg (Energy Futures Initiative), and Dr. Abigail York (Arizona State University)

  • Lake Erie harmful algal blooms with Dr. Rachel Lamb (Maryland Department of Environment Climate Change), Dr. Kelsey Leonard (Waterloo University), and Dr. Vanessa Vargas (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences). This work is supported by a SESYNC Graduate Student Pursuit proposal that I wrote and Co-PI’d with Dr. Rachel Lamb.

In addition to this core set of research, I also collaborate on:

  • Sustainability both at a professional level and as a pedagogical approach

    • Change agency, knowledge transmission, and immersive service-learning with Dr. Catherine Brinkley (UC Davis). I also served as the Onsite Coordinator for UC Davis’ Sustainable Cities of Northern Europe (SCONE) summer study abroad program in 2018 and 2019

    • The next generation of sustainable cities with Dr. Suad Joseph (UC Davis), Dr. Bryan Jenkins (UC Davis), Dr. Stephen Wheeler (UC Davis), and Bernadette Austin (Center for Regional Change). I planned, coordinated, and led a conference that brought academia, industry, policy, and nonprofits together to discuss how to move the sustainability agenda forward

  • Mapping the production of knowledge on women and gender in the Arab region with Dr. Suad Joseph (UC Davis), Dr. Nawary Golley (American University of Sharjah), Dr. Martina Riker (The American University in Cairo), Dr. Lena Meari (Birzeit University), Dr. Zina Sawaf (Lebanese American University), and Dr. Sara Mourad (American University of Beirut)

Prior to pursuing my Ph.D., I spent 10 years as a Policy Analyst working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water on:

  1. Drinking water operator certification and capacity development

  2. Communications and outreach relating to key EPA internet tools for watershed management

  3. Implementing the Clean Water Act, Section 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution Program

 

Architecture by Klasic.

social-ecological systems. governance. equity.