I am a doctoral candidate in UCLA’s Department of Urban Planning. My research centers on questions of spatial justice in the production, design, and governance of urban public space, and the role of planners, designers, and communities in shaping shared public environments and outcomes. My dissertation investigates the role of philanthropy in the production of urban public parks and implications for spatial justice. This work is supported by a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

I am also a Doctoral Fellow at cityLAB-UCLA, a research center that leverages design, research, policy, and education to create more just urban futures. With cityLAB, I lead community-engaged research efforts focused on understanding and intervening in the public realm to support the safety, well-being, and urban citizenship of youth and older adults in Los Angeles and beyond.

In my research and teaching, I explore transdisciplinary approaches to understanding and representing the city. I hold a graduate certificate from UCLA’s Urban Humanities Initiative, where I now teach as an instructor and teaching assistant. I am a founding member of the UnCommon Public Space Group, a collective that uses community-based events to explore pressing public space issues and to advance spatial justice. Before pursuing doctoral studies, I worked in policy research, advocacy, and community engagement in Toronto and New York City, with a focus on the public realm.

I have co-authored several publications and policy reports with many wonderful advisors, classmates, and colleagues, including Intergenerational public space design and policy: A review of the literature (Journal of Planning Literature), Caring public space: Advancing justice through intergenerational public space design and planning (Journal of Urban Affairs), Urban humanities as a framework for the study of public space during the pandemic (Journal of Urban Design), and The Road, Home: Challenges of and Responses to Homelessness in State Transportation Environments (Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives).