I am currently a master's student at The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources of the University of Vermont (UVM). I am wokring on a Master of Science degree in Natural Resource Planning with a concentration in Environment, Society and Public Affairs. I am particulary interested in economic development and its relationship to environmental protection, community justice, and a sustainable quality of life for the people who depend on economic and environmental systems. My coursework at UVM has focused on environmental conflict resolution, business and the environment, supply chain dynamics and management, design and analysis for public policy and public participation, and ecological economics. For the 2005-06 school year, I was a Tiffany Scholar and received funding from The Tiffany Foundation to collaborate with Dr. Saleem Ali on a research project to study the social and environmental impacts of artisanal and small-scale gemstone mining in Madagascar, Brazil, and Burma (Myanmar). My master's thesis proposal, From Mines to Markets: Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development, grew out of this project. My thesis research aims to summarize several cases where actors have attempted to improve social, environmental and economic conditions for small-scale miners through jewelery supply-chain iniatives, and to highlight factors that have contributed and detracted from the success of these types of policies.
I am a voluntary member of Communities and Small-Scale Mining (CASM), and have been lucky and grateful to participate in two of their annual meetings with artisanal and small-scale miners (in Antsirabe, Madagascar in 2006 and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in 2007). I am honored to be a part of CASM's Fair Trade Working Group because I believe in the power of building relationships along supply chains to improve the lives and sustainable livelihood options of small-scale miners and their communities. Currently, I am writing my thesis and working as a public education consultant for UVM's environmental coordinator. I expect to finish my degree in spring 2008, and will then be looking for employment as a researcher, writer or educator for a organization with a mission to support sustainable, economic development.
