About Me

Hello, and thank you for visiting my website!

I am an environmental social scientist specializing in public policy and applied quantitative and mixed-methods research. My work examines how people, institutions, and communities respond to environmental, infrastructure, and technological change, with particular attention to public perceptions, policy design, institutional capacity, and the challenges facing small and underserved communities.

My research spans water quality and scarcity, drought and weather-related risk, water reuse, infrastructure governance and regionalization, energy systems, the water-energy nexus, and the public acceptance and governance of emerging technologies. Across these areas, I am especially interested in how new technologies, infrastructure investments, and policy innovations are evaluated, adopted, and implemented — and why those processes succeed in some communities but face barriers in others.

  • For a complete and up-to-date record of my journey, please see my curriculum vitae (CV).

Tulips on the Colorado School of Mines Campus (May 2022).

From Natural Science to Policy

My career began in the chemistry labs and manufacturing floors of my hometown, where I gained firsthand experience with applied science in complex industrial systems. That experience raised a more fundamental question that continues to guide my work: how do technical systems — and the risks they produce — translate into public understanding and decision-making?

I pursued that question at the Colorado School of Mines, where I shifted from studying systems in isolation to examining how they are governed, communicated, and contested. My work there focused on water and energy systems — not only as technical challenges, but as policy problems shaped by uncertainty, infrastructure, and human perception.

At the University of Oklahoma’s Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis and under the mentorship of Dr. Joe Ripberger and Dr. Hank Jenkins-Smith, I have developed a research agenda centered on water and energy, weather, infrastructure, technological innovation, institutional performance, and public response.

My work has continued through my role with the Water Finance Exchange (WFX) under Dr. Marley Bonacquist-Currin, where I translate research and analysis into practical solutions for communities and utilities at the intersection of water infrastructure, regionalization, and innovative financing.