About ME

I'm a fire ecologist interested in fire behaviour, pyrodiversity, and supporting Indigenous-led fire stewardship. In 2021, I began a jointly appointed Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of British Columbia and The Bulkley Valley Research Centre. My research focuses on understanding historic fire activity and how fire suppression has eroded wildfire resiliency in subboreal forests in northwest British Columbia.

My PhD research reconstructed Holocene fire activity, climate, and vegetation in temperate rainforests located on the Central Coast of British Columbia. I assessed ecological legacies associated with long-term cultural burning and using fire as a tool for resource management. This work has contemporary applications in forest management such as reducing wildfire risk, and establishing prescribed and cultural burning programs in British Columbia that are informed by Indigenous knowledge and western science. 

After living in California and the Pacific Northwest for several years, I’ve recently returned to my roots in northwest British Columbia. I enjoy communicating my research findings through non-academic channels including magazines, radio, and blog posts. I'm equally divided in my love of the mountains and oceans and spend as much time as possible outside with my family.