Profile

I'm a PhD student in the Environmental Sciences, Studies, and Policy (ESSP) program with Sociology as my focal department. I earned a BS in Marine Biology/Zoology with a minor in Women's Studies from Humboldt State University where I also had a pre-vet focus. In 2008, I completed an MS in Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University with a thesis titled: Behavioral development of dusky dolphins. I came to the UO in 2010 for their interdisciplinary PhD program (ESSP) which allowed me to combine multiple fields of interest. I completed a Master's Paper in sociology titled: The struggle of a small community for ethnic renewal in the face of coloniality: the whale hunters of Neah Bay in 2012. In 2013 I completed a Graduate Certificate in Marine Resource Management through OSU and passed my Comprehensive Exams in ENVS/SOC on Social Movements with a focus on Indigenous Resistance to Capitalism. For my dissertation, I am conducting a comparative analysis of the perceptions and experiences of Mekong (Cambodia) and Ayeyarwady River (Myanmar/Burma) communities with Irrawaddy dolphin conservation projects.

Research interests:

Environmental Sociology, Environmental Justice, Social Movements, Globalization and Development, International and Indigenous Issues, Marine Biology, Marine Resource Management, Human Dimensions in Marine Conservation, Wildlife Policy and Law