What I do
I work with local, tribal, state, and federal governments and agencies; small and large nonprofits; and businesses on complex environmental and civic challenges. I am a director, planner, policy analyst and trainer. I work most often in leadership development, strategic planning, organizational change management, and community and civic engagement processes.
As a professor in public administration, nonprofit director, and rural community member I work across institutional and disciplinary boundaries to translate ideas into resilient knowledge infrastructure.
Background
I am a Research Assistant Professor at the Center for Public Service in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University. In addition, I serve as Director of Community Environmental Services, a longstanding research and service unit leading student-powered sustainability work. My research and applied portfolio includes projects and programs in climate governance, public policy, workforce development, and leadership training. I work with organizations around the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, helping build leadership and change management capacity.
Prior to my role at CPS, I served as a teaching assistant professor in Public Administration at PSU with courses in civic engagement, leadership, environment and natural resources, and nonprofit management. Trained in ecology, evolution, and marine biology, I have studied the effects of environmental changes on valuable marine species (primarily fish) around the Pacific Rim, helped to develop a public-private education and conservation program in the Coral Triangle, and co-founded a nonprofit organization offering field-based university courses and collaborative research in southern southeast Alaska (Inside Passage Field Studies).
I hold a B.S. in Aquatic Biology, a M.A. in Comparative Physiology and a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara.