I am an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Biology Department and the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF). I am of European descent, born in the Ottawa, Ontario, Canada area (Algonquin Territory), and now split my time between Onondaga Territory (surrounding present-day Syracuse, New York) and Wágḷísḷa, Wáxv:w̓uísax̌vs Haíɫzaqv (Bella Bella, Heiltsuk First Nation Territory).
My research focuses on conservation in support of people and places, including dimensions of human-wildlife coexistence, ecology, wildlife management and conservation, and biodiversity-supporting food production systems. I am interested in a range of systems from intertidal organisms to terrestrial carnivores at scales ranging from British Columbia to the Central Coast, with much of my research occurring at smaller scales such as in the territories of, and in partnership with, the Haíɫzaqv, Wuikinuxv, Kitasoo/Xai’xais, and Nuxalk First Nations. Research areas include: 1) Ecology and stewardship of culturally important species, including wolves, black bears, and grizzly (brown) bears (see our Place of Wolves: Haíɫzaqv Wolf and Biodiversity Project website); 2) Place-based stewardship in support of people and biodiversity including the Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) First Nation-led Xvíɫm̓ístaƛ h̓ákq̓áṃ qṇtxv bákvḷásu (“Our food will return”) program restoring multiple linked marine and intertidal species and ecosystems throughout their territory, and 3) Inquiry into conservation and management approaches at scales from regional to continental including assessing the rigour of management systems themselves, the inclusion of scientific principles in wildlife management across North America, the role of values in environmental management, and the nascent potential of supporting resurgent Indigenous-led governance for just and effective conservation approaches.