My work examines the cultural dynamics of environmental change in North America. I study how Indigenous nations and rural communities are impacted by changing ecosystems tied to land-use practices, climate change, and settler colonialism. My academic background is situated in environmental anthropology, Indigenous environmental studies, human-environment geography, and forestry/forest ethnoecology. My methods draw from the social and environmental sciences and include: participant observation, semi-structured interviews, oral history interviews, household/field surveys, archival research, and spatial analysis. The foundation of my research practice is long-term ethnographic fieldwork conducted in collaboration with local communities.

Landscapes are being reshaped by land use practices and climate change. These changes have profound impacts on the well-being and livelihoods of Indigenous and rural communities. I am interested in how people experience social belonging and navigate place-making under conditions of social and ecological change. In my collaborations with Indigenous communities, I examine how climate and land use change are affecting traditional foods and important cultural practices on ancestral homelands. I also study environmental governance and how rural communities, Indigenous nations, and federal government agencies interact over contentious land management issues. My work informs cutting-edge public lands policy and practice for diverse rural communities with strong cultural ties to landscapes across North America.

My research is funded through external grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wenner-Gren Foundation, National Science Foundation, Yale University, and University of California.

Recent work on the long-term impacts of land dispossession and forced migration for Indigenous peoples in North America: https://nativelandresearch.org/