About Me
I am a Professor at California State University Monterey Bay, where I focus on environmental education and fostering healthy and sustainable communities, primarily through The Engagement Lab. Fundamentally, I am interested in work that celebrates and cares for people and the planet.
For more than 30 years, I have engaged children, youth and communities in participatory research and projects in both rural and urban settings, including with Indigenous communities of the Southwest, Spanish land grant communities, Latine and recent immigrant communities. My recent research has focused on children, nature, and environmental care in the U.S., Mexico, and Latin America.
From 2012-2016, I was a faculty coordinator for Growing Up Boulder at the University of Colorado, where I facilitated children and youth participation in design and planning of child-friendly cities, including parks, open space, transportation, resiliency, and neighborhood projects. This work led to the publication Placemaking with Children and Youth: Participatory Practices for Planning Sustainable Communities. Prior to Growing Up Boulder, I ran Crane Collaborations, which focused on youth engagement, environmental education, and community forestry in New Mexican communities.
I have also been a professional textile artist, and will travel anywhere there are beautiful textiles, nature and culture intertwined. I carry my textile interests forward through participation in the slow fiber movement, which seeks to increase sustainability of the textile industry and mindfulness to textile practice.
For more than 30 years, I have engaged children, youth and communities in participatory research and projects in both rural and urban settings, including with Indigenous communities of the Southwest, Spanish land grant communities, Latine and recent immigrant communities. My recent research has focused on children, nature, and environmental care in the U.S., Mexico, and Latin America.
From 2012-2016, I was a faculty coordinator for Growing Up Boulder at the University of Colorado, where I facilitated children and youth participation in design and planning of child-friendly cities, including parks, open space, transportation, resiliency, and neighborhood projects. This work led to the publication Placemaking with Children and Youth: Participatory Practices for Planning Sustainable Communities. Prior to Growing Up Boulder, I ran Crane Collaborations, which focused on youth engagement, environmental education, and community forestry in New Mexican communities.
I have also been a professional textile artist, and will travel anywhere there are beautiful textiles, nature and culture intertwined. I carry my textile interests forward through participation in the slow fiber movement, which seeks to increase sustainability of the textile industry and mindfulness to textile practice.