As a Ph.D. in Human Behavior & Design at Cornell University, I focused on outdoor environments, youth, and leisure and play through community-engaged research and evaluations of community spaces. I utilized community-based participatory research methods to create sustainable and usable environments that can improve and support overall community health and well-being. I completed my M.S. in the department of Design & Environmental Analysis (DEA) at Cornell University with a concentration in Environmental Psychology & Human Factors and a minor in Horticulture. I explored human-environment relationships through post-occupancy evaluations, employing a variety of methodologies including surveys that capture nuanced perceptions, in-depth interviews that reveal individual experiences, and behavioral observations that provide empirical data to better understand the factors that affect space utilization and how individuals and groups interact with and perceive the physical environment. I attended Wellesley College for my undergraduate degree, where I majored in Biology and Psychology with a concentration in Evolution.

In the interim between college and graduate school, I was a Senior Research Associate at Temkin Group - a customer experience research, consulting, and training firm (now the Qualtrics Experience Management Institute). Here, I focused on employee engagement, communicating brand promises to customers, and how to be an effective and purposeful leader. My time at Temkin Group reignited my passion for research and showed me the power of a strong, positive company culture.