As an environmental sociologist, my research centers around land management politics, environmental justice, and settler colonialism, with a particular focus on wildfire. I draw primarily from qualitative, historical, and participatory action methods to explore how communities across the western U.S. are reimagining what it means to live and work with fire. As a non-Indigenous scholar, my work also examines possibilities for collective action to resist settler colonial power structures and reinstate Indigenous sovereignty. I have engaged in interdisciplinary and community-based collaborations with diverse partners including the FireGeneration Collaborative, InterTribal Timber Council, the UO Tribal Climate Change Project, and the Ecosystem Workforce Program.
My dissertation is titled "Fire as a window: envisioning beyond colonial land and labor relations with the FireGeneration Collaborative." I draw from sociological and settler colonial theory to examine historical roots of contemporary wildfire politics, and engage participatory methods with youth firefighters and fire practitioners to envision just transition in the fire management workforce.
I bring an interdisciplinary background in forest management, policy, and governance to my current sociological work. I have a B.S. in Forestry and Natural Resources from UC Berkeley, an M.S. in Forest Ecosystems and Society from Oregon State University, and an M.S. in Sociology from UO. I am a current Firefighter Type 2 / prescribed fire volunteer, and serve on the Board of Directors of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology.
