I am a graduate student in the Integrative Anthropological Sciences (IAS) program at UC Santa Barbara.  My research is rooted in ecological immunology and human biodemography.  I am interested in variation in immune function and health and disease in individuals living in similar ecological contexts. Currently, my research focuses on health disparities, seeking to understand the relationship between the environment, culture, and biology in explaining individual variation in immune function, and resultant effects on health and senescence.  I am in my second field season on the island of Utila, Islas de Bahia, Honduras, looking at stress, perceptions of marginalization and metabolic risk in first and second generation Immigrants on the island.  I have happily been a Broom Center affiliate since 2012, and have received a Student Travel Research Grant in 2014 from the Broom Center.  My current research is also supported by a Summer Research Grant from the Anthropology Department at UCSB and a mini-grant from the Mellon-Sawyer working group at UCSB. I served as campus student representative for the CWess conference in 2014, and have recently been appointed as student representative for the Human Biology Association conference from 2015-2017.

Grants, Awards and Distinctions:
Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Grant 2017. $20,000
Academic Senate student travel grant. 2017. $585
Graduate Research Mentorship Program fellowship. 2016. $24,000