Connecting Children with Nature
Research shows that connecting children with nature is critical for their long-term wellbeing. People who love and are connected to nature are more likely to experience the restorative effects of spending time in nature and are willing to engage in pro-environmental behaviors. But children today are often over supervised and over scheduled. How then do we reconnect children with the planet as a means to building their wellness and also solving the climate and biodiversity crises?
My work is twofold. First, I organize a nature play time for local children called Nature Savers, where we meet regularly at a local forest preserve. Children are then free to play, run, explore, and socialize in nature. In four months, we have seen children develop physical skills, emotional regulation, bravery, cooperation, and independence! Second, I advocate for ecologists to think about how we can bring children into the fold, not just through places where children already are (such as schools) but through finding ways to harness the power of connection to help both future generations and the planet they live on.
My work is twofold. First, I organize a nature play time for local children called Nature Savers, where we meet regularly at a local forest preserve. Children are then free to play, run, explore, and socialize in nature. In four months, we have seen children develop physical skills, emotional regulation, bravery, cooperation, and independence! Second, I advocate for ecologists to think about how we can bring children into the fold, not just through places where children already are (such as schools) but through finding ways to harness the power of connection to help both future generations and the planet they live on.
Urban Greening for Social Justice
It has been well established that areas in American cities that were classified as "hazardous" through the federal, race-based process of redlining have fewer trees, lower biodiversity, higher environmental risks, and less access to high quality nature. Proposed interventions at the municipal level often have unintended consequences such as increased gentrification, and so some of the best practices in rectifying these environmental injustices include partnering with local community organizations.
In this work, I partner with Women for Green Spaces in Pilsen to establish native plant gardens in schools, yards, and parkways and advocate for increasing biodiversity, protecting the environment, and connecting communities with nature. To date, we have given away over 1000 native plants, conducted 6 workshops for local residents, and established a thriving learning garden at Orozco Academy (pictured above).
In this work, I partner with Women for Green Spaces in Pilsen to establish native plant gardens in schools, yards, and parkways and advocate for increasing biodiversity, protecting the environment, and connecting communities with nature. To date, we have given away over 1000 native plants, conducted 6 workshops for local residents, and established a thriving learning garden at Orozco Academy (pictured above).
Legacies of Borders and Walls
The Berlin Wall isolated the capitalist island of West Berlin from the surrounding communist German Democratic Republic (GDR). This wall, arguably the icon of the Cold War, divided families, commerce routes, transportation, and histories frim 1961-1989 and resulted in the deaths of 136 people. This wall most famously divided the city, but it also divided the surrounding forests. As a Fulbright Fellow, I am examining the forests around Berlin, examining how border walls leave lasting legacies on our landscapes.
This project has two major components:
Stay tuned for updates, or find me at the 2019 IALE World Congress in Milan, Italy!
This project has two major components:
- Examining historic aerial photographs from pre-war, post-war, Cold War, reunification, and contemporary sources and evaluating changes in forest cover and configuration.
- Conducing field work in 8 persistant forest patches along the border of Berlin to assess community composition and structural differences within forest tracts on opposite sides of the border.
Stay tuned for updates, or find me at the 2019 IALE World Congress in Milan, Italy!
Vacant Lot Ecology
Vacant lots are abundant on the south and west sides of Chicago. All told, there are about 700 hectares of vacant land in Chicago, but these lots are not distributed randomly. Instead, they are clustered in low-income, minority neighborhoods. And while they often get a bad rap for being ugly and dangerous, vacant lots actually have a surprising amount of life in them! I am interested in how humans shape these patterns of biodiversity and what kinds of benefits we recieve from these spaces.
In 2015 and 2016, I collected plant and pollinator samples from vacant lots across Chicago. I am using this data to examine the ways in which we create small-scale patterns of diversity on a landscape.
In 2015 and 2016, I collected plant and pollinator samples from vacant lots across Chicago. I am using this data to examine the ways in which we create small-scale patterns of diversity on a landscape.
Urban Greening and Restoration
Urban greening is a promising framework for envisioning the future of the nature of cities. In 2015, I set up an experiment that evaluates 4 different methods of planting to see how well they grow and how communities change over time. Each treatment uses the same proportion of 8 robust native prairie species (A. tuberosa, S. rigida, E. purpurea, E. pallida, H. occidentalis, P. virgatum, D. candida, R. hirta), planted in by seed-bombing, broadcast seeding, abandoned plugs, or weeded/watered plugs.
I let the gardens grow undisturbed for 3 years, taking measurements of the target plants and any spotaneous plants each fall. Some species, such as Stiff Goldenrod and Black-eyed Susan, did very well, providing habitat for diverse insects and birds!
I let the gardens grow undisturbed for 3 years, taking measurements of the target plants and any spotaneous plants each fall. Some species, such as Stiff Goldenrod and Black-eyed Susan, did very well, providing habitat for diverse insects and birds!