I was born in Vienna, but am a native of Memphis. I graduated from CDA in 2013. My great-great-great-great-great grandfather was the original underwriter of the Man Booker Prize, the international equivalent of the Pulitzer. I just found this out last month and think it is pretty cool.

I am in my second semester at Penn State. My research interests have to do with challenges to smallholder agricultural development in the global South. I have two specific interests right now — informal seed systems, and large-scale land acquisitions. My geographic focus for the time being is Southeast Asia.

I became interested in agricultural development in college. After college I worked with small farmers in Memphis in a variety of capacities — oral history, food policy, local food distribution, and urban agriculture. I pivoted to international agriculture at Penn State because other cultures interest me, and because some of the world’s most vulnerable populations are found in rural agricultural communities in the global South.

I came to CDA to become better at community development research and practice. I learned a whole lot from people like Craig Anne Heflinger, Jim Fraser, Doug Perkins, Paul Speer, and Kimberly Bess. They taught me to see research as both critical and applied — inquiry that speaks truth to power, contests injustice, and ultimately seeks to serve people who are oppressed. These lessons helped form the basis of the research program I am putting together at Penn State.

One thing I did while applying to PhD programs that seemed to be helpful was getting feedback on my application — specifically my personal statement — from current PhD students. Also, in terms of identifying a potential advisor, skim through their recent publications and then request to have a phone conversation with them. This gives you a feel for their personality and their research interests