I am a field ecologist and researcher interested in the socio-ecological causes of environmental change in wetland and forest ecosystems and the consequences for marginalized people and rare/sensitive plants and animals. I have over 20 years of experience in field-based data collection in remote, rugged areas of the US and abroad, including shipboard in the Antarctic, a 30-acre uninhabited island in the Gulf of Maine, and the forests and peatlands of Chilean Patagonia. In my dissertation research, I used a theoretical framework drawn from the ecosystem resilience and political ecology literatures, and methods from the fields of plant community ecology, dendroecology, paleoecology, and sociology to investigate how drought and fire are driving a dramatic ecosystem transformation in western Patagonia – from cedar forests to peat moss wetlands – and the impacts on local people’s lives and livelihoods.
In the US, I have been engaged in wetland mapping, monitoring and research for over 15 years. I strive to make wetlands and wetland diversity visible to planners, assert the relevance of wetland type (e.g., plant community and water regime) to sound management and restoration decision-making, and create opportunities for people of all backgrounds to immerse themselves in these delightfully dynamic ecosystems. I am especially passionate about monitoring wetland water levels. We need to understand how wetland hydrology is changing under intensifying drought so that we can better protect or restore wetland benefits.