• MEM Environment Concentration: Coastal and Marine Systems (CAMS)
• MEM Management Concentration: Environmental Analytics and Modeling (EAM)
• Expected Graduation Date: May 2025

What is your previous work experience?

After graduating in 2019 from UNC-Chapel Hill with degrees in Biology and Environmental Studies, I worked as a data research fellow for an environmental nonprofit housed on UNC's campus. Since 2020, I have worked for the Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes National Program Office where I manage grants from creation to closeout, focusing on Great Lakes protection and restoration.

Why did you choose the Nicholas School?

The summer before my junior year of undergraduate, I worked as the research intern for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality at the Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort, NC. The Duke Marine Lab was right next door to where I worked, and I had the opportunity to assist Duke professors and students with their research while there. Going back to Beaufort to complete work of my own has always been in the back of my mind and I am excited to make it a reality!

As I was researching programs to attend, most comparable programs were far from North Carolina. A main goal for my time at the Nicholas School is to understand what it means for communities to be resilient to climate change, and I am delighted that this program is in my home state where I can study environments that I love and have been living and visiting my whole life.

What are you looking forward to as an incoming Nicholas School student?

I am looking forward to attending interesting classes in and outside the Nicholas School and interacting with fellow students and professors who have different backgrounds and expertise, but the same core interest of environmental management. 

Do you have any areas of interest or special focus you will undertake during your time at the Nicholas School?

I am in the Coastal and Marine Systems environmental concentration, so will hopefully be completing research related to the coast and climate resiliency. I am also in the Environmental Analytics and Modeling management concentration and am excited to learn how to create a narrative out of data and apply it to real world issues. Smaller interests also include citizen science, GIS mapping, and community planning.

What are your current career aspirations?

I would love to return to government service after graduating, specifically in a scientific role. My goal in attending this program is to gain research skills related to climate change and to be immersed in an interdisciplinary setting, incorporating policy, economics, and environmental justice into my research and school of thought.