Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes
On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated so:
"Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges.
"Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!"

—Rudyard Kipling, "The Explorer"

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As an environmental geographer, I research how people make healthy and sustainable use of natural resources in contexts characterized by societal and environmental change. two major research projects, separate in terms of research questions, methodologies, and funding sources, but which share theoretical underpinnings and some field site locations. Each is described below and publications resulting from these projects are available on the CV and Publications page. 

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Breadfruit agroforestry: cultural and sustainable connections

This project investigates the use of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), a tropical tree native to Oceania that abundantly produces large, starchy fruits, for sustainable development. My research connects breadfruit’s global history with modern efforts to bring the crop to food-insecure regions of the tropical world and considers the effects of future climate change, which is predicted to expand the habitability range of this cold-sensitive crop, thus possibly allowing it to expand into new world regions. My next monograph, tentatively titled Breadfruit, is under contract with Columbia University Press for publication in 2025.

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Cultural, environmental and human-health implications of whaling in a changing ocean environment

This project began with my doctoral dissertation on the impacts of climate change, pollution, and environmental activism on traditional whaling activities in small island states. The study has grown over the years to address new questions—many of which have been suggested by local community partners—and to expand to new field sites. My 2018 monograph, The Wake of the Whale, published by Harvard University Press, interweaves findings and narratives from this project. My research team includes academics, government conservationists, and local community members from each site where we work with coastal and island communities in the Arctic, Caribbean, and North Atlantic. Our interdisciplinary expertise allows for the integration of methods ranging from the collection of local environmental knowledge (LEK) through interviews and focus groups to the analysis of animals’ feeding ecologies and habitat ranges through stable isotope analysis.