Ricky is a first-year graduate student with an interest in human-environment dynamics of island and coastal communities. He works under the advisement of Dr. Scott Fitzpatrick and seeks to elucidate the reciprocal relationship between early island inhabitants and their encountered landscapes. During his graduate studies, he intends to investigate prehistoric dynamics of the circum-Caribbean region with regard to phytocultural development, climate change, and historical ecology.  His research utilizes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on methods from generalized archaeological excavation to paleoethnobotanical, palynological, geological and ecological analyses. His current research is based in Southwestern Puerto Rico and is part of a collaborative effort to reconstruct paleo-landscapes through analysis of lake sediment cores from the Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge.