My name is Eric (he/they) and I am an ecologist and conservation biologist currently pursuing my PhD at Rice University.
I grew up and attended public school in a suburb in southeastern Massachusetts, USA. My love for the natural world, particularly threatened animals, developed at an early age. I was heavily influenced by the books and documentaries I consumed as well as family visits to forests and wetlands, museums, and zoos during my childhood. I spent summers as a teenager volunteering at a local zoo engaging with visitors and youth programs and eventually served as an educator there.
I attended University of Massachusetts Amherst for my undergraduate degree and majored in Natural Resources Conservation. I also minored in Anthropology and completed a certificate through the Integrated Concentration in Science (iCons) program. While at UMass, I studied a range of topics from renewable energy to wildlife habitat management to Indigenous culture & sustainability. I was also fortunate enough to participate in several research experiences as an undergraduate, including an opportunity to conduct independent work for my honors thesis on lemur ecology in Madagascar in collaboration with an international team of scientists.
After I completed my undergraduate degree, I served as a field research assistant studying vervet monkey ecology in South Africa and as a land stewardship coordinator supporting conservation with local land trusts in Rhode Island, USA. I began my PhD at Rice in August 2021, where I am currently.
Check out the photos below to see some of the places I have been fortunate enough to visit and work!
I grew up and attended public school in a suburb in southeastern Massachusetts, USA. My love for the natural world, particularly threatened animals, developed at an early age. I was heavily influenced by the books and documentaries I consumed as well as family visits to forests and wetlands, museums, and zoos during my childhood. I spent summers as a teenager volunteering at a local zoo engaging with visitors and youth programs and eventually served as an educator there.
I attended University of Massachusetts Amherst for my undergraduate degree and majored in Natural Resources Conservation. I also minored in Anthropology and completed a certificate through the Integrated Concentration in Science (iCons) program. While at UMass, I studied a range of topics from renewable energy to wildlife habitat management to Indigenous culture & sustainability. I was also fortunate enough to participate in several research experiences as an undergraduate, including an opportunity to conduct independent work for my honors thesis on lemur ecology in Madagascar in collaboration with an international team of scientists.
After I completed my undergraduate degree, I served as a field research assistant studying vervet monkey ecology in South Africa and as a land stewardship coordinator supporting conservation with local land trusts in Rhode Island, USA. I began my PhD at Rice in August 2021, where I am currently.
Check out the photos below to see some of the places I have been fortunate enough to visit and work!