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“Born and raised in Willimantic/Mansfield, CT, I’ve spent nearly a decade in community organizing throughout eastern Connecticut. I’ve held leadership roles in grassroots organizations such as the Windham Community Food Network, Grow Windham and the New Connecticut Farmers Alliance. During this time, I enjoyed building partnerships with Eastern professors and hosting students as interns for various projects. When I entered into academia Eastern felt like the natural choice to pursue as the University’s commitment to community closely aligns with my own engaged scholarship goals.”
“Geography of food! In that class we get to delve deep into the history of United States food policy and the industrial food system, but we balance such a heavy topic by also highlighting local efforts to build alternative models. Students get to visit the Willimantic Food Co-op, advocate for the Willimantic Farmers Market and design their own project to address food insecurity issues at the local level. Students get to see first-hand how the individual can have an impact on their own community.”
“My research focuses on building more sustainable local food hubs throughout the state of Connecticut. Using GIS mapping and stakeholders input we develop solutions to help increase food access for consumers that also support economic viability for small farmers.”
Doing one thing well is much better than doing a bunch of things poorly. Find your niche.
“The students and sharing my community with them. There is nothing more rewarding to me than bumping into a student at the Co-op, Third Thursday or another local event they learned about in one of my classes.”
“The community is the most powerful classroom there is. In all my classes I incorporate some kind of field trip, volunteer opportunity, guest speaker or applied case study.”
“I always enjoy attending the Earth Day events on campus.”
“Doing one thing well is much better than doing a bunch of things poorly. Find your niche.”
“You don't need to have your whole career planned out senior year! Life is full of unexpected twists, the more you're able to roll with those changes the happier you'll be. Everyone gets where they need to go in their own time.”