About
I am an associate professor of anthropology at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. My work focuses on the ecological and cultural interactions between humans and wildlife, particularly in the context of hunting and natural resource management. As a biological/environmental anthropologist, my research and teaching draw from multiple methodological and theoretical approaches within anthropology and ecology.
In my work, I combine quantitative spatial modeling with qualitative ethnographic methods, to develop approaches to co-management of natural resources that accurately capture ecosystem dynamics while also working within Indigenous ontologies and meeting the goals of Indigenous groups (rather than solely those of western conservationists).
Since 2012, I have been the Principal Investigator of the Konashen Ecosystem Health Project. In this role, I partner with the Waiwai, an Indigenous community in Guyana, South America, and a multidisciplinary team of researchers to study human-wildlife interactions, sustainable resource use, and shared human-animal health.