Advocacy & Mentorship
Advocacy and mentoring in environmental and justice spheres are important aspects of my work. Main projects, both completed and ongoing, are highlighted below.
Teaching
At Harvard, I have served as a teaching fellow for courses in ecology and conservation biology. I have also given guest lectures for a leadership in research course (North Carolina State University, USA), a capstone conservation biology course (Rice University, USA), a biological diversity lab (Rice), and the Joint Summer Course on Biodiversity (Andalas University, Indonesia). As part of my Helen Fellowship, I designed and taught a nine-month internship for high school girls to answer scientific questions through R coding, during which I also led an Hour of Code event at a New York City middle school. As a Rice undergrad, I became certified as a student instructor to create and teach an undergrad-level course entitled “The Endangered Species & Why They Matter.” Since I believe strongly in the importance of mentors (shout out to Dr. Michael Domeracki for showing me this!), I have both sought out and provided research and/or career mentorship in a variety of contexts.
Relevant awards: Harvard Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Rice Student Taught Courses Teaching Award
Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (JEDI)
Within the Davies Lab, I actively contribute to JEDI initiatives such as the development of a fieldwork safety manual, community values webpage, and concrete JEDI commitments. I also completed a 1.5-year term on my department’s inaugural Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Committee, where I helped create the group’s organizational structure, initiate a safe space “teatime” for community members to discuss JEDI topics, and propose a professional development symposium for senior graduate students of diverse backgrounds. In October 2022, I will attend the SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference as a Harvard representative. At my PhD field site in Laikipia, Kenya, I am forming partnerships with Kenyan students, researchers, and institutions to help build local scientific capacity and dismantle neocolonial research systems.
I also write and speak about JEDI topics, particularly as they intersect with science and environmentalism; for example, I presented my journey as a Latina in ecology for AAAS Classroom Science Days 2018 and published a Nature correspondence encouraging early-career researchers to take action for a more equitable, healthy academia.
Conservation
Along with my applied conservation research, I promote intersectional conservation and coexistence whenever possible. In September 2021, I attended the IUCN World Conservation Congress, where I participated in a Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework working group and contributed to the Marseille Manifesto. My Watson Fellowship involved much conservation activism, including racing a half marathon for the #Run4Tigers campaign, writing an op-ed for the Houston Chronicle, and promoting just conservation via social media. For UN World Wildlife Day 2018, I organized a big cat photography exhibition to raise awareness of felid endangerment. This event included projecting the photos on a large outdoor screen at Rice’s Solar Studios.
