In Action at the 2011 US Senior Nationals

I was born in Cambridge Massachusetts, in 1988.  I grew up in the town of North Andover Massachusetts.  I wrestled while in high school and competed in judo since I was 12 years old.  After high school I focused on trying to make the US Olympic Judo team.  I was the 2007 USJA Junior National Champion and finished my junior career as number 2 in the country.  I initially attended the University of Massachusetts Lowell, majoring in biology and minoring in history. 

During my time at UML my focus was predominantly on judo, and I did substantial traveling for the sport.  This included a six-week stint in Japan and time in Scotland, as well as many trips around the continent of North America.  I trained under my life long hero Jimmy Pedro, who instructed me from the first day I started judo.  Following a lackluster performance at the 2010 US Senior Nationals, I made the decision to transfer to Merrimack College to focus more on school (though I did continue to try to make the team).  I would continue my judo career until January 2013, when I made the decision to retire.  While I did not make the Olympic team, I was a training partner for the team leading up to the games and I attended the 2012 Olympics as a spectator.

  

         At Merrimack College I graduated cum laude with departmental honors.  I continued my major in biology and added a minor in chemistry (Merrimack had different requirements for their history minor, so I was unable to keep it).  During this time period I increasingly became interested in climate change and how it impacted our world.  This was intensified during time spent in the country of Belize, and two and a half years of research on whales off the coast of New England working under Dr. Dave MacLaren.  A long-term interest in politics pushed me towards looking at how science can influence policy.  These interests would be further stoked by time spent educating the public with the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation and doing grassroots organizing with Environment Massachusetts later on.  After graduating from Merrimack, I was accepted to Harvard University for one year as part of the Special Students and Visiting Fellows Program. 

With 2012 Olympic gold Medalist, training partner, and friend Kayla Harrison

With the Climate Change Activist Bill McKibben

            While at Harvard, I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to continue being involved in scientific research with the Richardson Laboratory.  I was also deeply involved with the Students for a Just and Stable Future.  Through them, I became engaged in climate activism, as part of the nation wide divestment campaign to combat the fossil fuel industry.  I wrote articles for the crimson, and manned the social media infrastructure for Divest Harvard.  I was lucky enough to work alongside young leaders in the climate movement such as Chloe Maxmin and Craig Altemose.  While at Harvard I took coursework in environmental science and policy.  I was admitted to the prestigious School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) at Indiana University in Bloomington Indiana.  My focus while at SPEA has been the integration of environmental benefits into economic analysis and in policy analysis.

At SPEA, I focused my studies on the economics of environmental regulation, and how to integrate ecosystem services into conservation planning. While I am ultimately interested in how best to engage climate change, my studies have given me some great intellectual opportunities. This included a study on the feasibility of a large scale solar panel system for Indiana University, and a stint as a journalist for the Newsrecord.co (formerly The International).

In the summer of 2015 I was the Clinton Climate Change Initiative Forestry intern. I provided support to the Resilient Communities and Small Islands program (supporting their renewable energy efforts), the Ecosystems and Liveilhoods program (where I did a project on harnessing smart phones for ecosystem services payments), and the Blue Guardians program. I also met President Bill Clinton! 

I graduated in December 2015 with two Master's Degrees in Environmental Science and Public Affairs. My concentrations for these degrees are Policy Analysis, Environmental Policy and Natural Resource Management, and a specialization in climate change.

Meeting President Bill Clinton in August 2015