Title and Department: Graduate Research Assistant, School of Environment and Natural Resources
Describe your work: I work in the environmental social sciences and, more specifically, study the adoption of agroforestry practices. A growing number of farmers and forest landowners are choosing to combine trees with crops and/or livestock, and I am interviewing some of them to better understand why they are using these practices, what challenges they've run into getting started, and what resources and connections have been helpful to them in learning about and implementing agroforestry. I also work whenever I can on actual farms. That is the work that keeps me going.
How long have you been with OSU?: This is my second year at Ohio State, I am in the 2-year MS-ENR program.
Tell us about your family/pets: I am the youngest of six siblings, and most of my family is still in Ohio. We are scattered around the state but after having lived away from home for awhile, it's great to be back in Ohio and close to my parents and siblings again, especially my nieces and nephews who I get to see more often now. Last August, I adopted a 13-year-old cat named Katara. She is very shy around other people but cuddly with me.
What is your hometown?: I grew up in Columbus, not far at all from Kottman Hall.
What is something you would like to learn?: I enjoy cooking and it would be neat to learn how to develop new recipes. I experiment a bit and cook without recipes, but to actually understand what makes a recipe work or not work, and how to fine-tune my ingredients and proportions to get something just right, is a skill I'd love to learn. I like to cook with foraged ingredients, and there aren't that many recipes out there for some things.
What is your favorite restaurant or food?: There's a small Indian restaurant near my parents' house called Taj Palace. It might just be sentimental for me because we went there a lot when I was in high school, but I think they have some of the best samosa in Columbus.
What is a talent or superpower you wish you had?: It's so unimaginative, but I do dream of flying. I had the opportunity to go hang-gliding once and that was terrifying, because there are so many things that could fail. But if I could jump off the top of a mountain and not worry about it? That'd be amazing. Alternatively, it would be cool to be able to hang-glide on my own.
Where is your favorite place to vacation?: I've been lucky to visit a lot of beautiful and interesting places, but Appalachia/the Blue Ridge Mountains will always be special to me. A backpacking trip or a cabin weekend there is probably my favorite kind of getaway.
