Environmental & Climate Justice | Youth Geographies | Social Movements
Assistant Professor of Geography at Penn State University
About Me
I am a geographer with research interests spanning youth politics, social movement studies, storytelling methods, and climate justice.
I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) and co-Funded faculty member within the Institute of Energy and the Environment and the Social Science Research Institute at Penn State. I am the Creator and Director of the Global Youth Storytelling and Research Lab (The GYSRL) a collaborative research ecosystem based at PSU that aims to bridge youth-centered research, education, storytelling, and policy advocacy. I am also a faculty affiliate of the Institute for Human Rights at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I teach undergraduate and graduate courses focused on climate and environment, youth geographies, and creative research methods.
My current research focuses on: 1.) Transnational youth climate justice advocacy; 2.) Youth engagement in multilateral institutions (e.g. the U.N.); and 3.) Environmental and climate justice in the U.S. South.
Much of my work is built around a commitment to chronicling stories of advocacy among young people in regions and communities most impacted by climate and environmental injustice. Growing up just outside of Birmingham, Alabama, I have a deep interest in the U.S. South. My current work in the South aims to use multimedia storytelling and community-based participatory research to theorize and imagine climate and environmental justice in and from Birmingham, AL and North Carolina.
As a community-engaged public scholar, I have a commitment to engaging with and writing for publics beyond the university.
In addition to research, writing, and teaching, I am deeply engaged in climate policy and grassroots advocacy work. I currently serve as a Leadership Team and Board Member for the North Carolina Climate Justice Collective, and have previously been a several time delegate to the United Nations’ International Climate Negotiations.