Research Theme
I am an ecologist and epidemiologist interested in the interface of ecosystem service provisioning and human health, specifically in the context of global trends in biodiversity loss and ecosystem transformation. I am currently funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and jointly based at the Harvard University Center for the Environment and Harvard School of Public Health. I work with Sam Myers and Walter Willett at the Harvard School of Public Health to study the human health impacts of ecosystem services. Since 1999, I have been conducting ecological and public health research in Madagascar and am fluent in several local dialects of Malagasy.
Most broadly, I am interested in local people’s dependence on natural resources for obtaining adequate health. This interest has led to various studies into connections between wildlife consumption and the incidence of anemia, and the importance of botanical ethnomedicines and geophagy to local health. Through funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, and as a core member of HEAL (Health & Ecosystems: Analysis of Linkages), I am hoping to increase the geographic scale and depth of this research.
Most broadly, I am interested in local people’s dependence on natural resources for obtaining adequate health. This interest has led to various studies into connections between wildlife consumption and the incidence of anemia, and the importance of botanical ethnomedicines and geophagy to local health. Through funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, and as a core member of HEAL (Health & Ecosystems: Analysis of Linkages), I am hoping to increase the geographic scale and depth of this research.
