I am an urban ecologist. As a scientist, educator, & adviser broadly trained in ecology and evolutionary biology, my research and pedagogical interests include the Calumet region, novel ecosystems, spontaneous urban vegetation, benefits of urban greenspace, plant diversity and local adaptation, environmental justice, and Indigenous land management practices and traditions.
I work as an ecology and biodiversity consultant at Ramboll, where I empower sustainability-minded clients to manage their land and projects to reach conservation and biodiversity goals.
I am an advocate for greenspace in the Calumet region. My small but ever-rewarding research programfocuses on spontaneous plant communities that develop and persist despite the harsh conditions of post-industrial urban landscapes. I live to tromp through the hidden places between railroads and steel mills and am inspired by the tough flora that thrive in novel ecosystems. The history of land use in this region tells the story of humans, industries, and cultures -- teaching in the Calumet Quarter at UChicago was a true joy across almost ten years.
Click below to see a recent feature in Medicine on the Midway about
Chicago's urban ecology, plus my own teaching and research!
NEWS AND EVENTS
June 2025: Bid a sad farewell to MSTP/UChicago and an excited hello to a new position in ecology and biodiversity consulting with Ramboll! May 2025: A project long in the making that grew out of my dissertation research is now available on bioRxiv showing that indeed, cool A. thaliana populations growing on beaches of Sweden's southeast coast have adaptations (primarily large seeds) that enable them to survive! December 2024: *Extirpated species alert!* Following around botanist Nathanael Pilla, we found a plant species last cataloged in the 1800s on the Southeast Side of Chicago! Check it out: The Rediscovery of Eleocharis geniculata October 2024: Mentioned in a great interview about the Calumet Quarter featuring faculty from 2024: "This is not a pipe", in UChicago Magazine. September 2024: Proud to represent the BSD as part of this year's cohort in UChicago's Executive Program for Emerging Leaders (EPEL) over the next 4 months. August 2024: Published with Maddie, Jesse, and Pete, Find Ch 6. of the special issue "Finding Fields" here, and the rest of the spectacular research in this issue, here. We did some fun field work groundtruthing LiDAR and historic aerial photos to uncover intact Native American-constructed ridged agricultural beds, near known cultural mounds. They are a sight to see! June 2024: Quoted in a lovely article by Sheryl Devore about the incomparable Victory Garden and Dunes at Rainbow Beach Park. May 2024: Gave an invited lecture about Calumet slag barrens and urban ecology to UChicago students in the Calumet Quarter (with Prof. Mary Beth Pudup). Very glad to be able to stay involved in this storied and important program! February 2024: Presented our slag research program at the Chicago Park District's Community Science and Research Summit, followed by two other slag talks (Nathanael Pilla and Erin Snyder)! Calumet slag aficionados are on the rise. December 2023: Happy New Year and hooray for a 2023 publication under the wire! We surveyed vegetation at a few extant ridged gardens in the Menominee Nation and found an interesting diversity of plant species, potentially suggesting differences in the vegetation legacy at ancestral agricultural sites. --More news and events--