I am a PhD Candidate in Marine Science and Conservation in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, based at the Duke Marine Lab. I am a human geographer, and my research interests are broadly focused on ocean governance and human relationships with marine and coastal environments. I am interested in how power and politics shape environmental decision-making across scale, particularly with respect to Small Island Developing States (SIDS). I am interested in how global processes and discourses shape what happens at the national, regional, and local level, and in turn, how smaller-scale processes can be reproduced and translated elsewhere. I also hold a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School, which enables me to understand and analyze complex legal regimes that intersect in global oceans governance. I graduated with my Masters of Environmental Management from Duke in 2020.