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Overview: While it depends on the day and person, I would broadly say I am an ecologist. That is, my work centers around the interactions of wildlife and their environment. Within the discipline of ecology, my PhD work focuses primarily on urban spaces and uses cross-cutting methodologies, including framing my research around One Health, social theory, environmental justice, and how climatic shifts will alter future interactions. The breath of my interest is reflected in my PhD committee, which is made up of a diverse array of disciplines, including my PI, Dr. Nyeema C. Harris, a wildlife ecologist with expertise in carnivores, economist Dr. Ken Gillingham, climate change and public health scholar Dr. Daniel Carrión, and urban ecologist and forester, Dr. Morgan Grove.
Michigan Biodiversity: As an intern and technician, I worked on the NSF-funded multi-city camera trap study Mesoniche, which broadly sought to understand the relations of mammals across Michigan. Work included remote fieldwork in the Upper Peninsula to urban fieldwork in Detroit, often navigating new communities, deep snow, and precarious driving situations to place camera traps along an urban-rural gradient. Other fieldwork this time also included small mammal trapping. Lab work included stable isotopes to understand diet partitioning, social media curation, and public outreach events. While I had entered into research, I wanted to explore how humans entered the story, too.
Detroit Energy Efficient Housing: My master's degree concentrating in environmental justice was the pivot I needed. While I still volunteered for wildlife fieldwork, my primary tasks were funded by the Harvard Public Health JPB Fellowship under the guidance of Dr. Tony Reames. As a graduate assistant, I led data collection on indoor/outdoor air quality, temperatures, and informal interviews on the coping mechanisms of residents. This work, connected with my previous wildlife work, led me to my PhD.
Black Perceptions of Indoor Plants: While working as a graduate student assistant, I also conducted independent research for my master's. My thesis focused on the perceptions of indoor plants' thermal qualities and health benefits between generations of black residents.
Wadden Sea Stakeholder Engagement and Biodiversity: Between my master's and PhD, I had the opportunity to work internationally in Germany, understanding stakeholder engagement in the Wadden Sea to protect biodiversity.
Philadelphia Rodent Study: Combining my wildlife and energy research, I now study the drivers of urban rodents and their pathogens in Philadelphia. I am particularly interested in how novel dynamics of cities, like energy burden, shape rodent communities and the potential for zoonotic disease spread. For this research, I lead teams in rodent/scat sampling across different Philadelphia neighborhoods. To answer these questions, I am using different statistical and molecular techniques. This work would not be possible without collaboration, including the Philadelphia Data Lab, Friends of Gorgas Park, Dion Lerman, Dr. Marieke Rosenbaum, Dr. Fedrico Costa, and many, many more.
Future Work: I plan to use my experience to springboard into solutions-based work to facilitate cities that thrive in coexistence between humans and nonhumans. I also see my work as multidimensional, incorporating art, religion, and science to reach broader audiences.
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