1. Local Landslides

Riverside Ave, in Burlington, VT has a history of slope instability and landslides, the consequences of which are ongoing. I'm investigating what causes these landslides, how many have occurred, and where along the slope they're occurring, using a combination of local newspaper archives, historical images, documents, maps, and more. This work will inform local land management and future land use. I hope that this research will help to emphasize the ongoing risk along this slope, and encourage local governance to step in and provide necessary solutions to landowners along the slope. 

Publication accessible here: https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/abs/10.1144/qjegh2023-032 (or reach out via email for a PDF copy)

2. Access and Inclusion

Science disciplines, particularly geoscience and environmental science, are not adequately recruiting and retaining members of minoritized groups. There are many reasons for this problem, namely systemically embedded racism and bias that gatekeep, deter, and/or disqualify actively interested scientists from pursuing higher degrees and careers in these fields. There is much to be done to confront and change these critical problems. One of my projects seeks to create a model of broadly applicable skill building through summer research projects for motivated early career scientists at the undergraduate level. This program, Authentic Undergraduate Geoscience Research (AUGR), was piloted in 2022 with an incredible group of inaugural participants. I am looking forward to sharing our approach and findings in manuscript format in 2024. Funding for this program was granted by AGeS-DiG and the Gund Institute Equity and Justice Awards in 2022. 

3. Tropical Erosion: Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is a tropical Island with a complex colonial history that still defines and affects many aspects of the Island's governance. I seek to better constrain the background rates of erosion in Puerto Rico to then compare with contemporary, human induced erosion rates. This will help us to better understand how common and important land use changes such as deforestation, agriculture, and other uses affect the landscape of this Island. I am using cosmogenic Beryillium-10 and several short-lived radiogenic isotopes to measure these rates of erosion. I am also looking at stream water chemistry to determine rates of rock dissolution at depth. One aspect of this project that I am particularly invested in is determining how this information will be directly useful to the people of Puerto Rico, and how best to deliver our findings to the communities it most pertains to across the Island.  Funding for this research was granted by AGeS-DiG and the Gund Institute Equity and Justice Awards in 2022, the Rubenstein School for Environment and Natural Resources Chrysalis Award, and Gund Institute Graduate Enrichment Funds in 2023.