BIO

Geography was a passion and field I stumbled into during the latter part of my undergraduate experience as an environmental studies major at UC Santa Cruz. I studied abroad at the University of Ghana in Accra and took part in a research project looking at the mass resettlement that came with the construction of the Akosombo Dam. I realized then that the questions I wanted to ask (and continue to pursue) were spatial in nature: what draws people to place, what keeps them there and how to our perceptions of place effect how we interact with it? ​

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My research interests now lie at the intersection of human-environment interactions. As a master's student, I found a passion in the world of hazards, with the bayous of south Louisiana drawing me into the nitty gritty of floodplain management and the nuances of flood policy in the United States. My current work has shifted towards how disaster risk is perceived by marginalized groups, especially indigenous communities in New Mexico and in Latin America. I use a political ecology lens to more critically look at hazards research and adaptation globally. I am interested in the intersection of hazards, vulnerability, risk perception and indigeneity.