I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at the University of North Carolina—Asheville. My work centers on how residents identify environmental, health, and safety risks in the built environment. My recent research considers how residents understand the future risks posed by natural disasters, drawing from interviews with landslide survivors in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene.
My prior work examines how hazard communications and behavioral interventions can overcome the barriers to recognizing and addressing home health risks — such as lead, radon, and indoor air pollution — at both the micro and macro levels of analysis. I draw upon a variety of methodologies, including ethnography, interviews, experiments, and surveys, and I center interdisciplinary and community-engaged perspectives.
I received my Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from the University of Notre Dame, where my dissertation was titled "How Buildings Become Problems." Before joining UNC Asheville, I was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Colorado State University. As an instructor, I develop lessons that focus on applying research skills and sociological concepts to real-world environments and problems.