I am guided in my research by a transdisciplinary, critical, participatory, and innovative agenda to support community-driven climate action and sustainability work at the local, regional, and global level. Knowledge mobilization and exchanges are at the heart of my work. I view participatory action research (PAR) as a key force in these knowledge efforts where I work directly with community stakeholders on the research design, analysis, reporting, and implementation with a commitment to doing research and designing programming that adds meaning and value to strategic planning, reflection and evaluation, theory of change and action efforts in community-driven sustainability work.
In 2018-2019, I was a research affiliate with the Monteverde Institute (MVI) in Costa Rica, where I worked with a team of stakeholders from the Bellbird Biological Corridor in Costa Rica to examine the relationship between regenerative economies, community well-being, and conservation. .In 2016-2017, I was the principal investigator on two grants grounded in participatory action research – UMass President’s Creative Economy Fund and UMass Medical School Community Research Innovative Scholars Program (CRISP). Through these projects, I brought together multiple stakeholders (local farmers, food relief workers, educators, students, and community organizers) to engage in a participatory planning process to launch a community garden at my university and New Bedford High School
I am an Associate Professor in Sociology and I direct the Sustainability Studies Program and Minor at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. In my academic career, I find myself repeatedly drawn to teaching, mentoring, and learning with undergraduate and graduate students. I teach the following courses – Sustainability in Action, Sustainable Cities, The Social Construction of Whiteness, Media and Education; Gender, Class, Race, and Ethnicity in the Media; Research Methods, Internship Seminar, and Introduction to Sociology. My teaching builds on many years of community education in public health, sustainability, media democracy, and youth work. My classroom is a space for students to develop their ideas, their passions and interests and develop new and previously unexplored connections. I am moving towards a slower and deeper form of teaching and learning that allows students to take a longer look at specific cases and questions. I am also a strong proponent of applied learning and am constantly searching for ways to integrate “slow” and applied approaches in order to help students integrate reflection and action.
