PhD (ABD) Nutrition, Tulane University, School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine

MPH Nutrition and Maternal and Child Health, Tulane University, School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine

B.S./RD Nutritional Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

I am an applied nutritionist/dietitian who explores how vulnerable populations, especially women and children, adapt to challenges to their health and wellbeing. Specifically, I am interested in how households and individuals in extremely stressed and low-resource contexts (e.g., conflict settings, complex emergencies) adapt to resource insecurity. My prior research has focused on maternal and child nutrition, HIV, and food and water insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa and South America. 

I have extensive experience conducting qualitative research among individuals with HIV, refugee populations, and in the context of nutrition intervention programs, and have managed large-scale mixed-methods research studies spanning 20+ countries. I was the senior research manager supporting development and validation of the Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) Study (www.hwise.org) and published the first paper exploring the consequences of water insecurity for the maternal-infant dyad in the first 1,000 days.

I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco from 2019-2020 where I led female empowerment classes and health education. I also served as the Gender and Development Committee Chair, where I developed the monitoring and evaluation strategy to assess gender-sensitivity in volunteer programming.

My dissertation centers around water insecurity measurement and application in humanitarian contexts.

I am currently a USAID Pathways Intern in the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (BRFS)