Research Interests
My research interests lie at the interface of ecology and conservation, with a particular focus to date on human-livestock-wildlife interactions and resultant effects on characteristics and function of ecosystems. My research aims to understand interrelated human-animal-environment conservation issues through the multiple lenses of ecology, geography, and sociology and to make use of tools from each to answer fundamental questions regarding impacts of humans, their livestock, and wildlife on ecosystem processes.
My dissertation research explored how large ungulate grazers impact grassland resilience by looking at effects of grazing on plant community composition and grassland soil carbon, as well as how socioeconomic and political factors affect impacts of human-managed livestock populations through their influence on herders' management & movement decisions.
My postdoctoral work with The Nature Conservancy and Princeton University explores further the impacts of grazing on grassland soil carbon. As a significant finding of my previous work indicated that effects of grazing intensity on soil carbon differ depending on the dominant grass type, my current research compares the effects of large grazers managed under different spatial and temporal grazing patterns across two types of semi-arid/sub-humid grasslands: temperate C3 grasslands in the northern Patagonia region of Argentina and tropical C4 grasslands of north-central Kenya.
You can read more about these research projects by clicking on the images below.
My dissertation research explored how large ungulate grazers impact grassland resilience by looking at effects of grazing on plant community composition and grassland soil carbon, as well as how socioeconomic and political factors affect impacts of human-managed livestock populations through their influence on herders' management & movement decisions.
My postdoctoral work with The Nature Conservancy and Princeton University explores further the impacts of grazing on grassland soil carbon. As a significant finding of my previous work indicated that effects of grazing intensity on soil carbon differ depending on the dominant grass type, my current research compares the effects of large grazers managed under different spatial and temporal grazing patterns across two types of semi-arid/sub-humid grasslands: temperate C3 grasslands in the northern Patagonia region of Argentina and tropical C4 grasslands of north-central Kenya.
You can read more about these research projects by clicking on the images below.