How do we craft a food system and economy that prioritizes values of care, community, and reciprocity instead of unabated economic growth that subsequently leads to exploitation of the human and non-human world? With a background in biology, agroecology, museum studies, and ecological restoration, my research takes a transdisciplinary look at this question and how to approach just transitions within animal agriculture in the Vermont (the colonized lands of the Abenaki) working landscape. Using theory from political ecological economics, relational care ethics, and agroecology I explore how values manifest and inform the co-creation of working landscapes by farmers and their farm animals. I investigate how agroecological farming and framing may facilitate counter-movements and counter-narratives that can aid this transition and the stimulation of the care economy. My research is as much about the methodological process, based on reciprocity, co-learning, and creativity, as it is about discerning and acting upon the results. Subsequently, I utilize multispecies ethnography and participatory landscape design to break down barriers of who is/isn’t a scientist and what does/doesn’t count as data in academia. Beyond UVM, I hope to work to design, curate, and conduct research in outdoor "living museums" (e.g., farms deploying agritourism, botanical gardens, public parks) alongside farmers to educate and instigate this agroecological transition. Outside of the “office” my interests include local labor organizing, hiking with my dog, cooking, comedy, and creating in various mediums.

Advisor: Dan Tobin