People

My research interests center on plant-environment interactions and their applications to sustainable and resilient cities, prairie and woodland restoration, and sustainable agriculture. I collaborate with Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) Working Group colleagues and urban stakeholders to advance the science and practice of integrating green infrastructure with human social and built infrastructure. See Research for more information. My teaching emphasizes systems thinking and engages students at the interface of science and society, promoting awareness of ecological principles, ecosystem services and steady state economics, and their role in developing sustainable and resilient human-environment interactions.

Bio

Publications

I am an environmental geographer with several research interests, most revolving around water or green infrastructure. For example: (1) the use of green infrastructure to improve environmental quality, social equity, and community livability; (2) investigating the policies driving decision making for all things water: flooding, drought, groundwater, stormwater, and water quality; and (3) evaluating the effectiveness of water and other environmental management policies with spatial analysis. I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow working with the Urban Green Infrastructure Working Group in the Environmental Resilience Institute. I was an NSF fellow in the interdisciplinary Ecosystem Services for Urbanizing Regions collaboration at Portland State University, where I received my PhD in Environmental Sciences and Resources. I have a MBA and an MS in Marine Biology from Western Washington University in Bellingham, and completed my bachelor degree in biology from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.

I am interested in trophic interactions among herbivores, plants, and soil communities. I received my master’s degree in Biology with a concentration in Ecology and Evolution at Montclair State University. For my master’s thesis, I investigated the role of above-and below-ground herbivory in plant-soil interactions. Prior to beginning my master’s research, I received a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Fairleigh Dickinson University, where I studied the effects of stream urbanization on macroinvertebrate communities.

My research focuses on social and ecological determinants of restoration efforts in urban areas. Prior to starting at Indiana University, I graduated from Earlham College with a major in Environmental Science and a minor in Museum Studies.

My research focuses on how crop management practices spread and are adopted in the US and the resulting ecological impact. I received my undergraduate degree from College of Wooster (in Ohio) in Religious Studies and Molecular Biology while working part time in the Plant Pathogens department at the Ohio State Agricultural Research and Development Center. Before I came to IU, I also worked in Healthcare IT. At IU, I am part of the Complex Systems and Networks NSF-NRT program, which provides training to apply methods from complex systems to different research areas, such as Ecology.

I am a freshman at IU majoring in environment and sustainability studies. As an IU Sustainability Scholar, I’m currently conducting research on green roofs in Bloomington. I’m interested in how green roof connectivity to other green infrastructure could possibly affect the plant diversity of the green roof.

Questions?

Contact the lab: 812-855-0841
Last updated: February 5, 2021