Bridging the gap from science to community

On foot and by canoe, the masters student I supervised sampled the water and sediment at 6 different local dams.

We found: Plastic gets trapped behind dams and enters the sediment. But not so many that the next dam downstream ends up receiving a noticeable amount less.

Citizen scientists enthusiastically contribute to plastic pollution datasets. But are the methods they're told to follow creating useful data?

I compared app-based Litterati citizen science data to randomized litter audits from the same years & locations. I found Litterati lets us learn more about people-patterns than litter patterns, and I identify some easy method improvements to better honor volunteer's efforts.

As a project manager with Thriving Earth Exchange, I guided scoping and stakeholder identification for a community group in need of scientific expertise.

Now, I facilitate their meetings between government, NGO, and academic stakeholders to drive the project forward on budget ($10k) and on time (2yr). By December we'll have a detailed advocacy campaign for reducing food waste & greenhouse gases, supported by community-tailored scientific analysis.