Tell us about your background. Where are you from? What brought you to Mpala? Where have you previously studied or conducted research?
I grew up in Chicago and went on to study epidemiology and disease ecology at Tufts University, Yale University, and the University of California, Davis. My research has taken me to a wide range of settings, working on malaria in Burkina Faso, cholera in Tamil Nadu, India, COVID-19 in Connecticut. Along the way, a field course at La Selva Biological Station and an internship at the Field Museum of Natural History helped solidify my desire to practice science outside of traditional settings.
I came to Mpala because I wanted a long-term research home. Mpala brings together many things that matter to me and my work: a landscape shaped and stewarded by millennia of coexistence between wildlife, livestock, and people; a community of researchers and field staff with deep expertise; and infrastructure that supports creative and interdisciplinary research. I’m grateful to be here and increasingly see Mpala as the place where I hope to build a long research horizon.
What projects are you currently working on at Mpala? What are your research goals?
My work at Mpala centers on disease surveillance and ecology in shared landscapes. I study how ticks, parasites, and other disease-causing organisms move across species boundaries, and how environmental changes and land use decisions shape animal health and disease risk. This research combines field sampling and laboratory diagnostics with time spent in households and bomas, learning how herders recognize disease in their animals and make decisions about care and management. Over the long term, I hope to build a research program that integrates ecological, veterinary, and social science approaches to better understand and mitigate diseases at the wildlife-livestock interface.
What is one of your favorite things about working at Mpala?
One of my favorite things about working at Mpala is how easily and informally ideas take shape. I often feels like I’m at science camp, with conversations unfolding over lunch or a sundowner rather than through scheduled meetings. Conservation biologists, herders, anthropologists, and veterinarians cross the same stretch of land each day for very different reasons. This mix creates an environment where people get to learn from one another and work together in ways that are hard to find elsewhere.
Mpala is also a place where bigger institutional and cultural shifts are unfolding. This isn’t just a research station; it’s a working ranch, an educational site, and a place where questions about expertise, land, collaboration, and benefit-sharing are being negotiated. Those dynamics can be challenging, but they make Mpala a rare space where the future of field research, and who gets to shape it, is taken seriously.
And, of course, it really doesn’t hurt that all this takes place in an astonishingly beautiful landscape. From reticulated giraffes and dwarf mongooses to the herds of elephants that occasionally block the road to work, it’s impossible not to be aware of where you are. You can see dozens of bird species in a single day. Even the difficult days are unforgettable.
What impact do you believe your time at Mpala will have on your professional career?
Looking ahead, I hope to remain connected to Mpala and contribute to work that is grounded in the realities – and the complexities – of the landscape and the people who live within it. Even if circumstances take me elsewhere, Mpala has clarified how I want to work: attentive to ecological and political contexts, invested in long-term collaborations, and focused on research that has relevance beyond academic settings. My time here has also heightened my appreciation for the many forms of expertise that make field science possible. Being part of this research community has influenced not only the questions I want to ask, but how I approach problem-solving, mentorship, and shared responsibility in the field.
