I'm an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, jointly appointed in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies and the Program in the Environment. I'm also an associate of UM's African Studies Center and core faculty in UM's Science, Technology, and Society (STS) Program.
I'm a political ecologist interested in environmental governance, resource politics, and rural development in Africa. My recent work examines local-level governance institutions in Madagascar’s artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector; the production of “mineral commons;” the role of “indigenous” or “customary” institutions like Malagasy dina (codes) in situated contests over resource access and authority; and the rise of “flexible extraction” and mobile subjectivities across northern Madagascar’s resource frontiers.
I'm currently working on a book manuscript (Everyday Exploitation: Extraction and Accumulation in the Mines of Madagascar) that investigates strategies of livelihood production, wealth accumulation, and capitalist expansion in Madagascar’s goldfields. Other topics of my ongoing research include the production and use of artisanal geological knowledge; notions of belonging in extractive frontier settings; and the political-economic and socio-cultural dimensions of rural infrastructure projects.
At the center of my work is a commitment to producing policy-relevant research informed by interdisciplinary analysis aimed at achieving more equitable and sustainable outcomes for smallholder resource extractors and rural communities—in Madagascar, and across the globe.
Prior to entering academia, I worked at a range of organizations in Washington, DC focused on international development and environmental policy. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar from 2010-2012, and earned a B.A. in political science and international peace studies from the University of Notre Dame in 2008.
I was born and raised in Hawai‘i—and try to get back as frequently as possible.
I'm a political ecologist interested in environmental governance, resource politics, and rural development in Africa. My recent work examines local-level governance institutions in Madagascar’s artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector; the production of “mineral commons;” the role of “indigenous” or “customary” institutions like Malagasy dina (codes) in situated contests over resource access and authority; and the rise of “flexible extraction” and mobile subjectivities across northern Madagascar’s resource frontiers.
I'm currently working on a book manuscript (Everyday Exploitation: Extraction and Accumulation in the Mines of Madagascar) that investigates strategies of livelihood production, wealth accumulation, and capitalist expansion in Madagascar’s goldfields. Other topics of my ongoing research include the production and use of artisanal geological knowledge; notions of belonging in extractive frontier settings; and the political-economic and socio-cultural dimensions of rural infrastructure projects.
At the center of my work is a commitment to producing policy-relevant research informed by interdisciplinary analysis aimed at achieving more equitable and sustainable outcomes for smallholder resource extractors and rural communities—in Madagascar, and across the globe.
Prior to entering academia, I worked at a range of organizations in Washington, DC focused on international development and environmental policy. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar from 2010-2012, and earned a B.A. in political science and international peace studies from the University of Notre Dame in 2008.
I was born and raised in Hawai‘i—and try to get back as frequently as possible.