Background
Following law school, I worked for about seven years as an attorney in the private sector. Ultimately, my passions for environmental and social justice and interest in the nonprofit sector, where I had worked before law school, led me to pursue degrees in public administration. While at the University of Colorado Denver, I had opportunities to research Hawaiiʻs renewable portfolio standard (RPS), energy policy in Rwanda, and hydraulic fracturing policy across the US. I also spent time in Uganda studying a network of nongovernmental organization (NGO) service providers. While I draw on my diverse background in the classroom, I believe we all have much to learn from each other and encourage students to share their experiences.
Education
- PhD, School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver, 2019
- MPA, School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver, 2013
- JD, University of San Diego School of Law, 2004
- BA, Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, New York University, 2000
Courses
- PUBA 609: Policy Analysis and Implementation
- PUBA 630: Nonprofit Management
Specializations
Nonprofit organizations and environmental policy.
Research
My research lies at the intersection of nonprofit advocacy and environmental policy. In particular, I am interested in how environmental nonprofits influence policy and how different contextual and organizational factors influence advocacy. With an eye toward environmental justice, my research also explores whose interests environmental nonprofits represent when they advocate and whether their advocacy supports (or undermines) democracy. While the majority of my research to date focuses on environmental nonprofits in the US, in the future I hope to study environmental NGOs in other countries as well.