Past work & Projects

My PhD focused on how cover crops and no-till systems shape soil carbon dynamics, microbial communities, and greenhouse gas emissions in soybean systems of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. The work blended field research, microbial sequencing, and biogeochemical modeling. Check out the results:

Dissertation

Soil Bacterial Community Dynamics

Soil Carbon Dynamics

Balancing Climate-Smart Ag Tradeoffs 

I was the project manager for One Good Idea, an online public platform that shares producer-led soil health practices across the Mississippi River Basin. The site was designed to amplify local knowledge and conservation storytelling. I worked closely with farmers, technical specialists, and researchers to translate in-field practices into accessible, visual formats. Check it out here. 

Before I was a soil scientist, I co-managed Nolina’s Heavenly Organics, a small, mixed-vegetable farm in central New Mexico that specialized in garlic and sold at local markets. It was my first introduction to agriculture as something intimate, creative, and tied to land in real time.

A fire eventually took the farm, but the experience shaped how I see resilience, land stewardship, and the emotional weight of growing food. It’s where I first learned to pay attention to soil with my hands, not just my head.

As a Southern SARE Graduate Grant recipient, I led research on how migratory waterfowl contribute nutrients to organic and low-input rice systems by foraging in flooded fields during the winter. We found that these ecological interactions supported soil microbial health, reduced the need for synthetic fertilizers, and maintained yields—offering a model where wildlife conservation and regenerative agriculture can work in tandem. The project gained national attention for its practical implications in the Mississippi Delta. Check out some of  the pubs and media:

A Bird on the Water is Worth Two to the Farmer

SARE Report

Low-External-Input Ag

Pathogen Transport

STARS is a professional development program that brings together researchers, landowners, NRCS staff, and Extension educators to explore conservation practices in real-world settings. Through my work with REACH, I participated in workshops and field days across Mississippi, helping translate sustainable agriculture concepts into practical, field-based learning. The program emphasizes collaboration across agencies and equips professionals with tools and knowledge they can apply directly on working lands.

I was a featured guest on several episodes of the Coffee & Conservation Podcast, hosted by my PhD advisor at Mississippi State University. These conversations covered topics like soil microbiology, antimicrobial resistance, and my experience managing Nolina’s Heavenly Organics. The podcast offered a chance to speak about soil health in a more personal and accessible way, allowing me to connect research with real-life questions about food, land, and care.

I spent a season with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Invasive Species Strike Team, traveling across the New Mexico and Texas to manage invasive plants on national wildlife refuges. Much of my time was spent chainsawing down salt cedar in hot, riparian areas where it crowds out cottonwoods and alters water flow. This was where I began to see the blurred lines between natural and working landscapes, and to question the idea that those categories are as separate as we often treat them.

At the University of Minnesota, I worked on the B4WARMED study, a long-term forest ecology experiment examining how warming temperatures affect tree seedling survival and forest composition.  I spent my fall monitoring growth, collecting phenology data, and learning what climate change looks like at ground level. It was my first real experience with long-term ecological data, and it shaped how I think about scale and resilience. It was also very cold. 

As an AmeriCorps intern at Sevilleta NWR, I trapped and relocated Gunnison’s prairie dogs from conflict areas across New Mexico back onto the refuge, where they play a critical role in maintaining native grassland health. Prairie dogs can be frustrating and are often seen as a nuisance, but they are also essential to the ecosystems they shape.

This work was about finding balance: supporting ecological restoration while acknowledging the real tensions that come with land management. It deepened my understanding of conservation as something physical, complex, and deeply connected to the relationships between people, place, and species. Watch my silly educational video. 

I spent a season at Padre Island National Seashore assisting with the recovery of the endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, the smallest and most imperiled sea turtle species in the world. My work involved monitoring nests, relocating eggs, and supporting hatchling releases along the Texas Gulf Coast. It was my first time participating in endangered species conservation at this scale, and it gave me a lasting respect for the coordination, care, and urgency behind every nest. 

I was a research technician in Moulis, France where I contributed to research on how oxidative stress influences reproductive strategies in wild house sparrows. This work helped me understand the physiological costs of reproduction and shaped my interest in how organisms manage stress at both cellular and ecosystem scales. Read about the results here. 

During my undergraduate years, I immersed myself in research through two NSF REU internships (SF State and University of Akron) and two years as a lab technician working in a microbiology lab studying frog genetics. I explored everything from fish evolutionary biology on the California coast to urban ecology in Ohio, gaining early experience with molecular tools, experimental design, and field methods. These projects shaped my scientific foundation and helped me understand research as both a technical skillset and a way of seeing the world.