As a research intern with the Ventana Wildlife Society, I contributed to multiple interdisciplinary projects that integrate psychological science, public health, and environmental policy. My work has centered on designing and implementing applied research that supports environmental equity and community wellness.

One of my primary projects involved developing a survey-based evaluation of Shinrin-Yoku (forest bathing) programming. This study measured changes in adolescent anxiety and depression using the PHQ-2 and GAD-2, brief instruments validated for use in both clinical and field settings. I conducted a pre-post assessment and analyzed mood shifts associated with guided green space exposure. The methodology was grounded in clinical and environmental literature highlighting the psychological benefits of nature contact, including reduced rumination (Bratman et al., 2015), autonomic recovery (Alvarsson et al., 2010), and gender-differentiated impacts of dynamic versus static forest bathing sessions (Wen et al., 2023).

To inform a broader conservation strategy, I also designed and led data collection for the Monterey County Environmental Attitudes & Access Survey. This project captured public sentiment around climate change, barriers to outdoor access, and sustainable behavior through a mixed-methods design rooted in the Theory of Planned Behavior and Value-Belief-Norm Theory (Ajzen, 1991; Stern et al., 1999). Administered using bilingual, mixed-mode protocols, the survey included stratified demographic sampling, Likert-based measures of environmental concern, and indicators of access disparities based on disability status, income, and geographic region. The study responded directly to literature on environmental justice (Byrne & Wolch, 2009; Agyeman et al., 2016) and included community-grounded dissemination strategies such as follow-up focus groups to interpret findings.

In addition, I developed and implemented the From Self to Sustainability study, which investigated how environmental identity and climate hope predict pro-environmental attitudes. This project employed validated measures such as the Environmental Identity Scale (Clayton, 2003), the Climate Hope Scale (Geiger et al., 2023), and the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (Milfont & Duckitt, 2010). The aim was to explore emotional and cognitive predictors of sustainability engagement within community-based conservation programming. During the spring 2026 semester, I will be taking on three undergraduates to train in using the R package RedditExtractor, NVivo, and providing workshops on urban stressors and their impacts on social, emotional, and biological health.

Beyond data collection and analysis, I authored technical reports, created infographics and educational materials, and delivered public lectures, translating psychological research into applied recommendations. My work has been shared with regional collaborators, including ParksRx, CalFresh, and the Big Sur Land Trust, contributing to cross-sector dialogues on nature access, health equity, urban environments / spatial barriers, and environmental education.

These experiences have shaped my long-term commitment to research that informs policy and supports inclusive, evidence-based programming.

You can click the photo to be brought to my employee page.

As an Educational Research Specialist with Outside the Box Education, I collaborated with nonprofit organizations, local school districts, and educators to design and evaluate programming aimed at supporting student success. My work involved both original research and consulting, with a focus on understanding how institutional narratives and attributional patterns shape academic outcomes.

Central to my role was the development of an instrument to assess deficit-based experiences, grounded in Richard Valencia’s framework of deficit thinking. This tool was used to capture how students internalize structural barriers and how those attributions impact motivation, perceived self-efficacy, and academic identity. Through this work, I provided data-informed insights to help shift institutional language and programming toward asset-based perspectives.

I conducted multi-method assessments of educational interventions, incorporating both survey and observational data, and analyzed outcomes related to student performance, persistence, and perceptions of belonging. Where appropriate, I employed control group comparisons to strengthen causal inference and conducted statistical analyses using tools such as Jamovi, SPSS, and R.

Beyond data analysis, I regularly advised nonprofit and school-based partners on translating findings into actionable strategies, whether for curriculum revision, grant proposals, or program redesign. These consultations emphasized the use of psychological theory in particular, attribution theory, stereotype threat, and expectancy-value models to inform the creation of equitable, evidence-based educational environments.

This work continues to inform my broader research interests in educational psychology, attributional retraining, and equity-centered intervention science.

At the Furnace Teen Center, I served as a Grant Writer and educational collaborator, supporting a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to mental health literacy, college readiness, and academic enrichment for underserved youth. My work focused on securing funding for innovative, evidence-based programs rooted in psychological theory and responsive to community needs.

I completed formal training with the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), where I gained specialized expertise in writing grants that emphasize programmatic outcomes and data-driven justifications. Drawing on this training, I authored successful proposals that integrated outcome metrics, logic models, and evaluation strategies to demonstrate program efficacy and scalability. These grants supported the expansion of youth-centered workshops on topics such as mental health first aid, mindfulness, statistics, and educational attribution theory.

Working closely with community partners and educators, I also helped design educational programming that translated psychological research, particularly theories of attribution, identity, and resilience, into accessible curricula for high school students. These programs aimed to foster self-awareness, cognitive flexibility, and academic self-efficacy among adolescents navigating complex systemic barriers.