collective members

Bernadette Atosona is currently a doctoral candidate in environmental science at the University of Ghana. Her research seeks to explore mining’s impact on toxin accumulation in food crops, water, soil and household compounds.

Bernadette holds an MPhil In Analytical Chemistry from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana.

For her master’s she worked on an international and interdisciplinary program funded by the National Science Foundation (USA) examining the environmental factors shaping a necrotizing skin infection called Buruli ulcer. For her thesis, she explored the chemistry of water and soil and its relation to Buruli ulcer incidence, across endemic and non-endemic areas in Ghana.

Bernadette has extensive experience working with international collaborators, from the NSF project and international NGOs to private sectors in Ghana and USA. Her expertise is in the fields of water quality, food safety, quality assurance, health and sanitation, and environment. She is also experienced and skilled in International Organization for Standardization (ISO) management systems and safety.

She has co-authored articles in Journal of Hydrology and World Development.

Contact: batosona@st.ug.edu.gh

Aberdeen is a master’s student in the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability specializing in Environmental Justice. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2018 with a B.A. in English and certificates in African Studies, Environmental Studies, and Global Health. As an undergraduate, she was heavily involved in the university’s African Studies Program and interned in Accra, Ghana with the NGO Days for Girls. After graduating, she worked in a variety of environmental education positions. Aberdeen’s current research with the collective spans the realm of human-wildlife dynamics and the bushmeat trade near extractive areas in Ghana. Outside of research, she enjoys backpacking, playing piano, and being near the ocean.

Alyssa Mathews graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo in 2022 with a B.A. in Geography with a focus in Environmental Studies. Her research interests include remote sensing, land-use change, invasive species management, and the use of Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UAS) in natural resource management. After graduating, she worked as a geospatial research assistant at UH Hilo. Her past research experiences include land-change analysis in Hawaiʻi before and after Hurricane Lane, shoreline change on Hawaiʻi Island, and monitoring Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death. Growing up in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, she loves the rain, being in the water and identifying native flora and fauna on hikes. Her other interests include stargazing, embroidering, playing music, and baking.

Rose Parham is a Master’s student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at Colorado State University. She is broadly interested in socio-ecological interactions, including how certain policies, land-use changes, and climate change might impact local ecosystems and people’s lives and livelihoods. Rose earned a B.S. in Ecology and B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Georgia. Since then, she worked as a biological field technician for several years, most recently studying tree health and forest dynamics for the USGS in Sequoia National Park. In her free time, Rose enjoys spending time outside hiking, mountain biking, and climbing, as well as playing and listening to music.

Zoey Walder-Hoge is a PhD student in the Department of Anthropology and Geography at Colorado State University working with Dr. Heidi Hauserman. Her research has focused on adaptations to environmental change by pastoralists and smallholder agricultural communities in East Africa. Currently her research focuses on the impact of US international development policies on climate change adaptations in Ethiopia.

Zoey has an M.A. in Archaeology from Simon Fraser University, a B.A. in History from Georgetown University, and has studied Turkish. Her M.A. consisted of ethnoarchaeological research in Tigrai, Ethiopia, interviewing farmers to learn how they adapt to environmental change in high elevation, drylands environments. Zoey has also worked in Kenya on fundraising for NGOs, and worked on projects under NAGPRA for the Bureau of Land Management in New Mexico.

Zoey grew-up in Colorado, milking goats and taking care of donkeys who were supposed to take care of the goats. Outside of academia, Zoey enjoys drawing in nature, street art, playing fiddle, and reading magical realism.

Shaylee Warner graduated from the Colorado School of Public Health with a Master of Public Health in 2023. Her MPH research focused on how agroecology and edible insects contribute to food sovereignty and sustainability. As part of this work, she interviewed coffee farmers and other stakeholders in Veracruz, Mexico in 2023.

Shaylee’s research and professional interests focus on health inequalities in environmental change contexts. She has been a big part of the NSF DISES project, assisting with various activities from conducting mercury surveys and ground truthing in Ghana to manuscript preparation. She will play important future roles on community outreach and education on mercury exposure in Ghana.

With the intention of transforming her passion for food justice and insect power into activism, Shaylee is leading a collaboration across entertainment, academic, and industries to develop a documentary on the roles regenerative agriculture and insects play in feeding future generations.

Shaylee has a B.A. in Kinesiology from Occidental College and an eclectic background as an online course developer, epidemiologist, public health consultant, geospatial intern, and Peace Corps volunteer. In her free time, you can find Shaylee practicing yoga, paddle boarding, or spending time with her people.  

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Janet Adomako finished her PhD in geography at Rutgers University in 2023 and is an Assistant Professor at Bucknell University. Her research employs feminist methodologies and political ecology approaches to examine intersections of gender, small-scale mining and diverse understandings of gold. Janet earned a M.A. in Geography and Rural Development from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. Her Master’s research explored the implications of urban expansion on peri-urban dwellers whose livelihoods depend on natural resources. Janet has also worked with local NGOs in Ghana to gain experience in health and environmental education. She has published in Human Geography, Journal of Land-use Science, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, and Oxford Development Studies.

Augustus Chang worked with Heidi at Rutgers University examining the impacts of small-scale gold mining and landscape change on community health and livelihoods. In connection with this project, he performed collaborative fieldwork with Ghanaian students and researchers, conducting surveys in the communities of Pokukrom and Powerline, as well as in Bui, Ghana. He completed his Doctor of Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in 2019, where he conducted community health research examining barriers to care in underserved populations and is currently a resident at the Brown University Internal Medicine residency program, where his current research interests include thrombosis and anticoagulation in COVID-19 infections and lung cancer screening in primary care settings.

Riley Demorrow Lynch completed her M.A. in Anthropology at Colorado State University in 2023. Her research will center around water resources, environmental justice, and political ecology. She earned her B.S. in Watershed Science with a minor in Environmental Affairs from Colorado State University. Heidi and Dr. Matt Ross supervised her dual honors thesis which is in process of publication. She has also co-authored articles in Sustainability and Earth and Space Science Open Archive. She has worked as an Instructor for CSU’s Upward Bound program and interned with the City of Colorado Springs’ Water Resources Engineering Division. In her spare time, she enjoys painting, snowshoeing, and spending time with her friends and family.

Sydney Holden graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Geography from Colorado State in 2023. She worked with Heidi on mercury contamination from small-scale gold mining in Ghana, and did a land-use change analysis of mining between 2013 and 2023 for her senior capstone. Sydney will eventually go to graduate school after taking time off. As a Colorado native, Sydney enjoys camping, skiing and spending time with family and friends.

Eliot Hutchinson graduated in 2023 from Colorado State University. He majored in Geography with a double minor in GIS and Environmental Affairs. Eliot, Heidi and Zoey are working on a research project analyzing how the U.S.-Mexico Border Wall has expanded over time, and its impact on jaguar habitat in the Borderlands. Eliot enjoys biking, playing guitar, skiing, and doing anything outdoors! Eliot plans to spend time working in GIS before graduate school.

Morgan Lundy (she/her) completed her MA in Anthropology at CSU. Her thesis focused on how individual actors shape the government-to-government relationship between the Bureau of Land Management and federally recognized Native American tribes. Prior to her time at CSU, Morgan earned her Bachelor’s in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Arizona and worked for the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology (BARA). At BARA she mentored undergraduate interns, lead a research team looking at food insecurity in Southern Arizona, and conducted oral history interviews documenting the history of the oil and gas industry in Southern Louisiana. After BARA, Morgan worked as an intern at the Bureau of Land Management’s Tucson Field Office where she developed an interest in the federal government’s relationships with Native American tribes, which guided her MA thesis.

In her free time, Morgan enjoys spending time with her family, kayaking, gardening, and adventuring with her dog, Boots.

Contact: morgan.lundy@colostate.edu

Coryanne Mansell (she/her) is the Client Services Strategist at Center for EcoTechnology (CET). CET is an environmental nonprofit that helps people and businesses save energy and reduce waste. Cory supports CET’s Wasted Food Solutions efforts by leading stakeholder engagement processes and providing on-site technical assistance and toolkits to businesses and institutions. She has a B.S in Environmental Policy and B.A in Planning and Public Policy from Rutgers University. Cory had the opportunity to work with Heidi on research on land-grabbing and mining in Ghana. Cory enjoys most, if not all, outdoor activities, especially if her dog, Pepper, is able to join, traveling, and visiting breweries.

Jill Mitchell (she/they) graduated from Colorado State University with a B.A. in Anthropology and Sociology, focusing on biological anthropology and criminal justice. As an undergraduate, Jill worked with Heidi researching food insecurity amongst refugees and immigrants in Weld County. They also spent a summer in the Czech Republic conducting a comparative analysis of Czech and U.S. prison systems. Most recently, Jill completed an honors thesis on how structural issues within the criminal justice system impact forensic anthropology. They will soon attend graduate school with a focus on prison reform and restorative justice. Outside of academics, Jill spends her time hiking, reading, or hanging out with their two cats.

Contact: jillmtchl3@gmail.com

Justin Dodd Mullikin holds a PhD in geography from Rutgers University. His research focuses on agrarian change and development policy in Rwanda. His dissertation examined how people navigate rapidly changing agrarian landscapes, the “coherence” of the state and encounters with various discourses of "modernity." Along the way he explored themes such as agrarian nostalgia, poetics of landscape, place-making and the commodification of communal rituals. While he dabbles in GIS and remote sensing, he finds qualitative methods much more interesting.

Justin grew up on a tobacco farm in Kentucky, an experience he only learned to appreciate years later. Prior to beginning his PhD he worked in agricultural development in Rwanda (2011-2016), he taught English as a second language in Turkey, and briefly held jobs building hiking trails and managing a skeet shooting range. He holds an MA in international development (University of Kentucky) and a BA in philosophy (Georgetown College). He lives in Philly, the best city on the east coast, with his partner (who is a nurse) and two dogs. When he's not dissertating he pretends to play piano, reads sci-fi/fantasy or is out watching birds. Justin hopes to hold a university position after completing his PhD but is keeping his options open.

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Rachel Nyhart (they/them) is a PhD student in the Department of Anthropology and Geography at Colorado State University. At the intersection of health equity, environment, and climate justice, her research interest is focused on community resilience to disasters and climate change. As a public health emergency planner during the coronavirus response, Rach is interested in disaster anthropology's role in bridging local governments with communities they serve.

Rach completed CU Denver's Master of Urban and Regional Planning Program in May 2020. During their master's program, Rach focused on human-(built)environment interactions through walkability assessments, bicycle and pedestrian systems planning, community center master planning projects, and environmental planning projects. These projects focused on involving communities in planning processes and decision-making. Rach received bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and English Literature from Kansas State University. Rach enjoys camping, hiking, trail running, mountain biking, kayaking, and videography.

Website: www.rachnyhart.com

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Helen Elizabeth Olsen (she/her) is a global health researcher at Medic and was co-advised by Heidi as a graduate student in the Geography Department at Rutgers University. Helen also worked as a Research Assistant on Heidi's Fulbright-funded project examining the lived impacts of small-scale gold mining in Ghana. A geographer at heart, Helen’s career focuses on solving problems in global health through the power of data. Before joining Medic, she worked in research management positions at the Institute for Disease Modeling, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation. Her passion is translating evidence into action, particularly to help inform interventions in low resource settings for vulnerable populations. As a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Helen received her M.A. in Health Geography from Rutgers University conducting mixed-methods research on cervical cancer screening programs in East Africa. A native of Seattle, Helen loves coffee, cooking, and exploring new outdoor spaces with her labradoodle, Tilly.

Twitter: @heleninthepnw

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Diya was an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Cottey College in Missouri until recently. Life then took some unexpected turns and now she lives in Dilijan, a small town in Armenia. Diya is looking forward to exploring the region and learning more about the Caucuses and will soon teach Geography and Environmental Studies to students at the United World College. Diya intends to pursue her quest towards a more sustainable and just world for humans and non-humans through conservation, research and education.

She earned a PhD in Geography in 2018 working with Heidi and Dr. Laura Schneider at Rutgers University. Her dissertation research examined wildlife presence in lived landscapes in south India with a focus on the coexistence of humans and wildlife. She used mixed methods to understand species distributions, land-use/cover, livelihood diversity and the lifeworld of a traditionally forest dependent community in the Eastern Ghats. Diya’s research contributes towards more integrated research in conservation that considers how human-environment relationships are constantly being co-produced and shaped in unintended ways. Prior to pursuing a PhD, she worked in the development sector in India with a focus on natural resource management and climate change adaptation in rural farming communities.

Alec is a Master’s student in a joint Urban Studies program at the Universities of Brussels and Vienna. He will research topics in Human Geography, specifically the gentrification and commodification of queer nightlife. Alec is also an emerging techno DJ in Brooklyn’s underground electronic music scene. As a DJ and party planner, Alec is in a unique position to study the production of space in night-time economies. In 2015, he graduated from Rutgers University with degrees in Environmental Policy and Portuguese. He previously worked on nature-based solutions to climate change at Conservation International, National Wildlife Federation and Environmental Defense Fund. Alec has published in Climate and Carbon Law Review on availability of forest carbon credits for the international aviation industry. Most recently, he worked in NYC’s kafkaesque public housing bureaucracy managing an affordable housing development for homeless seniors.

You can listen to Alec’s DJ mixes at https://soundcloud.com/vulgar_vulgate.

Twitter: @vulgating

Jonah Rupe (he/him) is a geography undergraduate at Colorado State University. He graduated from Red Rocks Community College in 2022 with an Associate of Arts in Geography. As one of Dr. Hausermann’s research assistants, he compiled literature reviews characterizing smallholder agroecology systems in Ghana. His research has investigated intercropping systems, gendered impacts of climate change, climate-smart agriculture, and land use and land cover change. Like most geographers, Jonah relishes in conceptual intersections, striving to be, in the words of his community college geography professor, a true “hyperinterdisciplinarian.” In his free time, he enjoys reading, language learning, hiking, and snacking on Colorado’s many wild edible plants.

Contact: jonah.rupe@colostate.edu

Patrick Ryan recently finished his M.S. in Ecology at Colorado State University in May 2023. Like many geographers, his interests are diverse and transdisciplinary but tend to focus on human-environment interactions, climate change, biogeography, land-use/land-cover change, resource extraction, vulnerability and adaptation. Using political ecology and mixed methods, Patrick’s thesis focused on how State-implemented dam projects in northern Ghana have impacted agricultural practices, land-use, and livelihoods in communities surrounding dam sites.

Patrick loves to learn about the world wherever he can through reading, podcasts, GoogleEarth gazing, listening to and watching experts do what they do best, and other tangentially stumbled-upon internet searches and media sources. He is an avid CrossFit athlete, hiker and loves exploring new outdoor spaces with his wife and their pup, Fritz.

Natasha Sastri earned her Master of Public Health from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016. Her interests are in confronting communicable diseases affecting large, diverse and vulnerable populations (e.g. influenza, pneumonia, COVID-19), particularly using evidence-based research and epidemiological tools. She currently works at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health as an epidemiologist/data monitor assisting with COVID-19 response efforts. She has prior quantitative research experience working in industry and academia on topics ranging from oncology to food safety. Natasha was a co-author on Heidi’s 2018 paper in World Development looking at livelihood impacts of land-grabbing and land-use transformation in Ghana’s recent gold rush. Natasha is also exploring mental health and well-being space as a recently certified life coach. She is intrigued with better understanding the human experience, and enjoys providing a safe space for those who want to live more authentically. In her free time, Natasha loves to be in company with her life-long friends, discover new music, reconnect with her Indian roots through cooking, hike and be by the ocean. She also likes to reset at the gym, play competitive tennis, and root for the Brooklyn Nets.

Contact: nsastri02@gmail.com

Jacob Stewart (he/they) is a postgraduate student pursuing a Master of Science in Environment, Policy and Development at the University of London. Their research interests include the cross-sections of nomadic epistemologies of environmental conservation and religion, and deep mapping as a methodology for understanding desert landscapes from an environmental justice perspective. Jacob earned his B.A. in International Studies at Colorado State University in 2018. While there, they had the opportunity to work as a research assistant with Heidi, analyzing the political-economic underpinnings of the decommissioning of Bears Ears and Escalante National Monuments. Outside of academia, Jacob grew up as a TCK (third culture kid) living across the United States and Japan for his formative and adolescence years. More recently, they have lived in Japan to study Japanese Language and Culture at Kagawa University and work as an English educator in the public school system. They enjoy queer Japanese literature (Yukio Mishima), rock climbing/backpacking, landscape photography and Mexican food (specifically tacos al pastor).

Website: https://bhadpoet.com

Karen Vasquez-Romero is currently a graduate student in Columbia University’s Education Policy Program. She is passionate about inclusive and comprehensive education policy and hopes to someday work in education policy development. Karen studied sociology and anthropology at Colorado State University, where she met Heidi and helped research refugee dynamics in Weld County. She is a co-author on that research, published in Sustainability. Karen finished her undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she also worked as a Professional Research Assistant with the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence. Outside of academia, Karen loves to be outdoors, spend time with family, travel and read.

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