Janet Adomako is currently a doctoral candidate at Rutgers University and advised by Heidi. Her research employs feminist methodologies and political ecology approaches to examine intersections of gender, small-scale mining and diverse understandings of gold. Janet earned a MA in Geography and Rural Development from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. Her Masters research explored the implications of urban expansion on peri-urban dwellers whose livelihoods depend on natural resources. Janet has also worked with local NGOs in Ghana to gain experience in health and environmental education. She has published in Human Geography, Journal of Land-use Science and Oxford Development Studies. Her research interests include political ecology, gender, health, ethnography and resource extraction.

Contact: janet.adomako@rutgers.edu.

Coming Soon

Stefanie Berganini is a PhD student and instructor in the Department of Anthropology and Geography at Colorado State University, co-advised by Dr. Heidi Hausermann and Dr. Kate Browne. As an economic anthropologist and political economist, Stefanie examines the nexus of governance, power, and capitalism; as an applied anthropologist, she’s committed to work that can help alleviate social and environmental injustice, and she loves participatory research and good science communication. Her MA thesis focused on the ways in which the economic valorization of urban public space affects the lives of people experiencing homelessness in Northern Colorado. Her dissertation research explores the governance of wellbeing economies – countries that have formally committed to elevating human and ecological wellbeing as a central component of national planning. Outside of academia, Stefanie is a textile hobbyist, avid reader, PC gamer, and friend to stray animals.

You can read a summary of her MA research at http://bit.ly/neoliberal-dirt.

Twitter: @burgerpanini

Morgan Lundy (she/her) is a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology and Geography at Colorado State University. Under the guidance of her advisor, Dr. Heidi Hausermann, she is working towards her Master’s in Anthropology. Morgan has assisted Dr. Hausermann in her research looking at refugee resettlement experiences and land use changes in Northern Colorado. Prior to her time at CSU, Morgan earned her Bachelor’s in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Arizona. After graduation, she worked for the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology (BARA). There she mentored undergraduate interns, lead a research team looking at food insecurity in Southern Arizona, and conducted oral history interviews documenting the history of the oil and gas industry in Southern Louisiana. After her time at BARA, Morgan worked as an intern at the Bureau of Land Management’s Tucson Field Office. There she developed an interest in the federal government’s relationships with Native American tribes, which guides her current thesis research. Specifically, Morgan’s thesis focuses on how individual actors shape the government-to-government relationship between the Bureau of Land Management and federally recognized Native American tribes. In her free time, Morgan enjoys spending time with her family, kayaking, gardening, and adventuring with her dog, Boots.

Contact: morgan.lundy@colostate.edu

Augustus Chang worked with Heidi as a research assistant at Rutgers University examining the impact of small-scale gold mining and landscape change on community health and livelihoods. In connection with this project, he performed collaborative fieldwork with Ghanaian students and researchers, conducting surveys in the communities of Pokukrom and Powerline, as well as in Bui, Ghana. He completed his Doctor of Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in 2019, where he conducted community health research examining barriers to care in underserved populations and is currently a resident at the Brown University Internal Medicine residency program, where his current research interests include thrombosis and anticoagulation in COVID-19 infections and lung cancer screening in primary care settings.

Justin Dodd Mullikin is a PhD candidate in geography at Rutgers University working with Dr. Kevon Rhiney and Dr. Heidi Hausermann. His research focuses on agrarian change and development policy in Rwanda. His dissertation examines how people navigate rapidly changing agrarian landscapes, the “coherence” of the state, and encounters with various discourses of "modernity." Along the way he explores themes such as agrarian nostalgia, poetics of landscape, place-making, and the commodification of communal rituals. While he dabbles in GIS and remote sensing, he finds qualitative methods much more interesting.

Justin grew up on a tobacco farm in Kentucky, an experience he only learned to appreciate years later. Prior to beginning his PhD he worked in agricultural development in Rwanda (2011-2016), taught English as a second language in Turkey, and briefly held jobs building hiking trails and managing a skeet shooting range. He holds an MA in international development (University of Kentucky) and a BA in philosophy (Georgetown College). He lives in Philly, the best city on the east coast, with his partner (who is a nurse) and two dogs. When he's not dissertating he pretends to play piano, reads sci-fi/fantasy, or is out watching birds. Justin hopes to hold a university position after completing his PhD but is keeping his options open.

Coming soon

Augustus Chang worked with Heidi as a research assistant at Rutgers University examining the impact of small-scale gold mining and landscape change on community health and livelihoods. In connection with this project, he performed collaborative fieldwork with Ghanaian students and researchers, conducting surveys in the communities of Pokukrom and Powerline, as well as in Bui, Ghana. He completed his Doctor of Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in 2019, where he conducted community health research examining barriers to care in underserved populations and is currently a resident at the Brown University Internal Medicine residency program, where his current research interests include thrombosis and anticoagulation in COVID-19 infections and lung cancer screening in primary care settings.

Jill Mitchell (she/they) graduated from Colorado State University with a B.A. in Anthropology and Sociology, focusing on biological anthropology and criminal justice. As an undergraduate, Jill worked with Heidi researching food insecurity amongst refugees and immigrants in Weld County, spent a summer in the Czech Republic conducting a comparative analysis of Czech and U.S. prison systems, and completed an honors thesis on how structural issues within the criminal justice system impacts forensic anthropology. They will soon attend graduate school with a focus on prison reform and restorative justice. Outside of academics, Jill spends her time hiking, reading, or hanging out with their two cats.

Contact: jillmtchl3@gmail.com

Helen Elizabeth Olsen (she/her) is a global health researcher at Medic and was co-advised by Heidi as a graduate student in the Geography Department at Rutgers University. Helen also worked as a Research Assistant on Heidi's Fulbright-funded project examining the lived impacts of small-scale gold mining in Ghana. A geographer at heart, Helen’s career focuses on solving problems in global health through the power of data. Before joining Medic, she worked in research management positions at the Institute for Disease Modeling, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation. Her passion is translating evidence into action, particularly to help inform interventions in low resource settings for vulnerable populations. As a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Helen received her M.A. in Health Geography from Rutgers University conducting mixed-methods research on cervical cancer screening programs in East Africa. A native of Seattle, Helen loves coffee, cooking, and exploring new outdoor spaces with her labradoodle, Tilly.

Twitter: @heleninthepnw

LinkedIn

Google Scholar

Alec is a Master’s student in a joint Urban Studies program at the Universities of Brussels and Vienna. He will research topics in Human Geography, specifically the gentrification and commodification of queer nightlife. Alec is also an emerging techno DJ in Brooklyn’s underground electronic music scene. As a DJ and party planner, Alec is in a unique position to study the production of space in night-time economies. In 2015, he graduated from Rutgers University with degrees in Environmental Policy and Portuguese. He previously worked on nature-based solutions to climate change at Conservation International, National Wildlife Federation, and Environmental Defense Fund. Alec has published in Climate and Carbon Law Review on availability of forest carbon credits for the international aviation industry. Most recently, he worked in NYC’s kafkaesque public housing bureaucracy managing an affordable housing development for homeless seniors.

You can listen to Alec’s DJ mixes at https://soundcloud.com/vulgar_vulgate.

Twitter: @vulgating

Natasha Sastri earned her Master of Public Health from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016. Her interests are in confronting communicable diseases affecting large, diverse and vulnerable populations (e.g. influenza, pneumonia, COVID-19), particularly using evidence-based research and epidemiological tools. She currently works at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health as an epidemiologist/data monitor assisting with COVID-19 response efforts. She has prior quantitative research experience working in industry and academia, on topics ranging from oncology to food safety. Natasha was a co-author on Heidi’s 2018 paper in World Development looking at livelihood impacts of land-grabbing and land-use transformation in Ghana’s recent gold rush. Natasha is also exploring mental health and well-being space as a recently certified life coach. She is intrigued with better understanding the human experience, and enjoys providing a safe space for those who want to live more authentically. In her free time, Natasha loves to be in company with her life-long friends, discover new music, reconnect with her Indian roots through cooking, hike and be by the ocean. She also likes to reset at the gym, play competitive tennis, and root for the Brooklyn Nets.

Contact: nsastri02@gmail.com

Jacob Stewart (he/they) is a postgraduate student pursuing a Master of Science in Environment, Policy, and Development at the University of London. Their research interests include the cross-sections of nomadic epistemologies of environmental conservation and religion, and deep mapping as a methodology for understanding desert landscapes from an environmental justice perspective. Jacob earned his B.A. in International Studies at Colorado State University in 2018. While there, they had the opportunity to work as a research assistant with Heidi, analyzing the political-economic underpinnings of the decommissioning of Bears Ears and Escalante National Monuments. Outside of academia, Jacob grew up as a TCK (third culture kid) living across the United States and Japan for his formative and adolescence years. More recently, they have lived in Japan to study Japanese Language and Culture at Kagawa University and work as an English educator in the public school system. They enjoy queer Japanese literature (Yukio Mishima), rock climbing/backpacking, landscape photography, and Mexican food (specifically tacos al pastor).

Website: https://bhadpoet.com

Karen Vasquez-Romero is currently a graduate student in Columbia University’s Education Policy Program. She is passionate about inclusive and comprehensive education policy and hopes to someday work in education policy development. Karen studied sociology and anthropology at Colorado State University, where she met Heidi and helped research refugee dynamics in Weld County. She is a co-author on that research, published in Sustainability. Karen finished her undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she also worked as a Professional Research Assistant with the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence. Outside of academia, Karen loves to be outdoors, spend time with family, travel, and read.

LinkedIn