Welcome to my page! Click the images below to explore...
My name is Marie. I'm a PhD student in Ecology with a Designated Emphasis in African American and African Studies at the University of California, Davis.
I'm committed to transdisciplinary science that aims to engage communities on the food-forest frontlines as agents of change in socio-ecological landscape restoration. I use participatory community-based methods in my research combined with biodiversity and soil analysis to understand cultural and ecological interconnections that shape and sustain important human-environment relationships and landscapes.
My current PhD research relates to community-centered approaches to bio-cultural land restoration (and re-envisioning) in the SAVA region of Madagascar. In this work I use methods such as focus groups and community-guided socio-cultural and natural resource mapping (participatory mapping and futures thinking), in addition to agroecosystem biodiversity analysis.
As a researcher I aim to relate science better to oral histories, Indigenous traditional and local ecological knowledge, and to diverse ways of knowing by creating spaces to listen deeply to land users.
I'm committed to transdisciplinary science that aims to engage communities on the food-forest frontlines as agents of change in socio-ecological landscape restoration. I use participatory community-based methods in my research combined with biodiversity and soil analysis to understand cultural and ecological interconnections that shape and sustain important human-environment relationships and landscapes.
My current PhD research relates to community-centered approaches to bio-cultural land restoration (and re-envisioning) in the SAVA region of Madagascar. In this work I use methods such as focus groups and community-guided socio-cultural and natural resource mapping (participatory mapping and futures thinking), in addition to agroecosystem biodiversity analysis.
As a researcher I aim to relate science better to oral histories, Indigenous traditional and local ecological knowledge, and to diverse ways of knowing by creating spaces to listen deeply to land users.
Gathered around the warmth of a campfire, the elders share stories and wisdom under the night sky. Ambanitaza, 2024.
