In college, in Aaron Ellison's lab, I inadvertently became a spider taxonomy expert. In the decade that followed, I conducted several studies and advised many students in their own studies of arthropod food-web dynamics and biodiversity. Today I still advise students in spider research, and I ogle spiders wherever I go, but my primary scholarly interest is in science communication and social justice.

With colleagues Rick Harper, Eric Griffith, and Jay Dampier, I launched a social science research project (2016 to present), analyzing the role of firewood banks in supporting fuel-poor households around the US. Explore our 2022 research paper on lessons from 21 interviews of U.S. wood bank leaders. We also now advise a larger, policy-focused initiative with Sean Mahoney, Jessica Leahy, John Ackerly, Darian Dyer, and leaders from the US Forest Service, to expand our research on successful praxis, and to build a community of practice of wood bank leaders across the private and public sector. Together, we aim to ensure equitable and effective wood bank support to tribes, municipalities, and community groups. We also continuously update my map of US wood banks and welcome your suggestions for additions.

With colleagues Danielle Ignace, Nia Holley, Tyler White, Meghan Graham MacLean, Rafael Viana Furer, Lehua Blalock, Emily Johnson, and Jennifer Albertine; and students Langa Siziba (Harvard '25), Jaidyn Probst (Harvard '23), Santiago Alvarado (RISD '24), Rachel Carrethers (Wellesley '24), Charitie Ropati (Columbia '24), and Anagali Duncan (Stanford '26), I have been working to amplify Indigenous voices in STEM and specifically to create new mechanisms for land sovereignty and rematriation, co-development of ecological research questions, restoration of cultural lifeways, and legal self-determination for the Nipmuc here in their ancestral territory. This includes using my education and outreach platform to 1) interrupt the pervasive "extinction" narrative of Native peoples in the region; 2) re-interpret land-based research and conservation narratives in New England, which tend to center an unproblematized view of colonialism, and 3) work collaboratively with tribal leaders, land trusts, non-profits, and state agencies to expand tribal land access and rematriation and the policies that support sovereignty and self-determination. We regularly conduct ecological research on questions important to the tribe, give persentations and create educational materials for non-Indigenous-led groups, and convene meetings between tribal members and state agencies and land trusts. 

With colleagues Tim Rademacher, Taylor Jones, Flossie Chua, and Tina Grotzer, I co-manage the Witness Tree Social Media research and outreach project. This work has benefitted from a grant from the Harvard Climate Change Solutions Fund (2020-2023), vital contributions by students Shawna Greyeyes (2019) and Kyle Wyche (2018), and Brooklyn public school educator Elisa Margarita.