I am a native New Yorker with a passion for plant science and urban ecology. I have a PhD in Urban Forest Ecology from the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, under the advisement of Dr. Dwight T. Kincaid. My dissertation topic was “The Ecology of the Woodlands of Central Park, New York City”. I pursued my academic career while working full-time with the Central Park Conservancy, a job I had for 19 years. I started as a seasonal gardener and worked my way up to Director of Horticulture and Woodland Management. In 2011, I left the Conservancy to finish writing my dissertation thesis and to begin a new career as a college professor.
I currently teach for the City University at Queensborough Community College as an adjunct. I have revived their course called Plants and People, a fun course for non-science majors that fulfills their science requirement. In it we explore all the wonderful reasons plants are important to us.
In addition to urban ecology, I have done field work in forest ecology, forest restoration and ethnobotany in El Salvador, Panama and Easter Island.