Community Centered Work
Using Participatory Science to Explore Bird-Flower Interactions
In collaboration with Dr. Liba Pejchar and Morgan Stickrod (UC Riverside), we are investigating songbird-flower interactions using iNaturalist, for two California Jepson Floristic Provinces link. We hope to create plant-pollinator networks for these two adjacent regions to highlight participatory science as an exciting tool to explore interactions.
Graduate Student Mental Health Access
Mental health in graduate studies is a critically important issue, as the pressures of academia can disproportionately affect students with marginalized identities, amplifying the need for accessible mental health resources and support systems. I am a co-leader on a survey-based project exploring barriers to accessing mental health for graduate students in life sciences. Our data collection is complete and we have submitted a manuscript that is in review.
Nature in the City: Evaluating social and ecological outcomes of community-driven urban restoration projects in Fort Collins
Mid-sized cities, such as Fort Collins, are often expanding more rapidly than large metropolitan areas, but the paths forward for sustaining biodiversity for nature and people in these spaces are less well understood. In recognition that a growing population could lead to the loss of green space, community concern prompted the City of Fort Collins to launch the Nature in the City (NIC) Program which focuses on increasing connectivity, fostering stewardship, and providing access to experiences and functional habitat for people, wildlife, and plants. Our team's goal is to understand what contributes to project success and longevity, identify coverage gaps, and evaluate biodiversity outcomes to ensure the NIC program's long-term effectiveness. We further aim to explore how community and city perspectives on project success align or diverge.
