I work as a Research Assistant in Professor Chris Elphick's lab for PhD student Kelsey Miles. One of the main things that I have been working on is analyzing herbivore damage on leaves that Kelsey has collected from street trees across New Haven, Connecticut. Kelsey collected leaves from individuals of seven tree species throughout New Haven and took pictures of them. I have been analyzing them using a digital software called LeafByte, which analyzes photos of leaves for herbivore damage. When analyzing the leaves, I upload one of the pictures Kelsey took to the LeafByte app and then the app calculates the total leaf area, consumed leaf area, and percent of the leaf consumed. The information I record for each leaf is tree species, site ID, leaf #, neighborhood, total leaf area (measured in cm^2), percent damage (%), amount consumed (measured in cm^2), and any additional notes I have on the leaf. The tree species for which I have analyzed leaves for so far are American Basswood, Ginkgo, Norway Maple, Japanese Flowering Cherry, Pin Oak, Red Maple, and Honeylocust. From this information, I am able to draw conclusions about the herbivory that is occurring in different urban neighborhoods and for different tree species.

I promote and serve the UConn College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources (CAHNR) as well as promote its continuing advancement of human, animal, and environmental health and well-bring through the applied sciences. The mission of the ambassador program is founded on three pillars: leadership, recruitment, and service.

As a Student-Athlete Success Program (SASP) tutor for UConn Athletics, I provide tutoring services to UConn's D1 athletes, helping them bridge content gaps and succeed in their classes.

As a facilitator for the First Year Honors Seminar course (UNIV 1784), I managed, guided, and instructed 20 first semester college students. I also communicated effectively with my co-facilitator, a university professor, and outside organizations to efficiently present information to the students. Lastly, I collaborated with a co-facilitator to develop a variety of weekly lesson plans from academic and professional development to helping foster an inclusive Honors community

I help to enact the OS's critical university programs and encourage sustainable practices on campus. I do this in a variety of ways, including hosting campus sustainability engagement events, carrying out UConn's strategic sustainability plans, and researching best environmental practices to improve sustainability at UConn.Some of the events I have helped plan and run include bringing students to the NYC March to End Fossil Fuels, Green Game Day, and the Haunted HEEP. I also write and lay out the OS monthly newsletter and am a team leader for the EcoCaptain Interns. Additionally, I am on the communications team and design posts for the OS social media pages. Lastly, I am working with some of my fellow interns to develop a sustainable purchasing plan for UConn.

I lead sustainability related programming and educational activities in my residence hall (Lester E. Shippee Residence Hall) as well as promote and attend events put on by the UConn Office of Sustainability.

In this position I am involved in several monitoring projects. One is a fish study where I survey for demersal fish and other invertebrates using a beam trawl. For this project I oversee high school student volunteers, assist in identification of collected species, and record data. Another project I work on is the Unified Water Study, which is water quality data collection throughout the water column at various sites throughout Norwalk and Saugatuck Harbors starting at sunrise. I also work on a macrophyte survey project that involves qualitative and quantitative data collected on the amount of macroalgae present throughout the harbor. Sampling is done via simple rake tosses and video analysis. The last project I work on is pathogen monitoring, which involves field and lab work to monitor pathogens and other water quality parameters in rivers throughout Fairfield County.

I worked in the creative studio for Board and Brush where I helped everyone in the workshops, doing everything from setting up and cleaning up to getting paint for people attending the workshops to helping touch up people's signs to checking people in. I worked with a variety of different ages and groups of people because the workshops range from kids' birthday parties to bachelorette parties to family workshops to moms night out events.

While in this program, I will be collaborating with my cohort of fellows and working on a project on my college campus to strengthen democracy. Through this program, I will develop my organizing and leadership skills as well as enact positive change on campus.

I was a Fellow for the inaugural class of the Democracy House Young Leaders Summer Institute (YLSI). This program introduced me to methods of democratic problem-solving as well as skills for navigating my future career. I worked with other students as well as top experts and leaders focused on advancing areas like voter protection, racial justice, and climate action.

This internship involved me monitoring pre-existing field study plots on the NFA properties, collecting data and inputting it into the Harvard Forest Monitoring Database to keep a record of my findings, identifying and controlling invasive species in the area, and propagating and caring for native species as a part of restoration efforts. I also oversaw a group of high school interns. I also wrote Facebook posts for the NFA about my experience as an intern and to educate the community on invasive plants, ecosystems, and much more.

I was a field research intern on the Big Island, Hawaii, and this involved me working with a team of about 20 students from all over the world to hike a lot of the trails on the Big Island to collect data. Each student had a specific topic they were researching and I was researching the trails on the island (looking at the logistics of how to get there and what to bring, the terrain, the difficulty, the distance, etc.) and the species on the island. In order to do this, I hiked and explored many places on the island with my team and collected information about the trails and species as well as did species identification. I also learned about the culture in Hawaii and how it is integrated into almost everything on the island. For example, a lot of the trails have cultural significance. I did this through going to farmers markets, visiting culturally and historically significant areas, and talking to locals and people native to the island. Before going on the expedition, I had to do pre-research, which involved me using peer reviewed journals, travel blogs, and other websites to learn about the Big Island and the trails and species on the island.After returning from the trip, I analyzed and summarized my findings in writing. I'm a contributing author of Global Treks and Adventures's nature and culture guide for the island (Trails and Secrets of the Big Island, Hawaii) that was officially published in the summer of 2024. I'm so grateful that I was selected for this program because it was a life changing experience where I got to meet so many amazing people, make a lot of friends, learn about a variety of ecosystems different from the one I live in (the Big Island contains 8 of the 13 different climate zones in the world), improve my interviewing skills, gain experience hiking in environments I haven't been in before, gain snorkeling experience, learn about the culture in Hawaii, gain experience with field research, and gain experience with species identification.

I was a notetaker for ENVS 2000 for the UConn Center for Students with Disabilities. I wrote organized notes and submitted them in a timely manner.

During my years as a soccer referee, I have refereed recreational, travel, and premier soccer for players in elementary school through 12th grade. This job has helped me gain many valuable skills, including leadership, teamwork, quick decision making, problem solving, and communication.

As a media and public relations intern, I worked on various marketing campaigns and reached out to journalists and environmental influencers. This internship allowed me to learn more about marketing techniques and become more knowledgeable on solutions to the climate crisis.