Chris is a Ph.D. student in Princeton's environmental policy program (STEP), studying biodiversity conservation through the lens of agricultural land use change. As demographic, technological, and environmental forces change the spatial distribution of agriculture, Chris is particularly interested in regions where agriculture is being abandoned or repurposed, and the environmental trade-offs these changes represent. Where does abandonment occur, and to what extent is it durable? Where will these transitions present opportunities for habitat regeneration in former agricultural fields, and how might policy be designed to harness these opportunities and encourage conservation? Where agricultural expansion is necessary, can spatial land-use prioritization tools help minimize biodiversity loss, and how should we represent biodiversity when doing so? Chris aims to answer these questions by leveraging global datasets and geospatial analysis tools while drawing on the fields of ecology, environmental science, and economics.

Prior to graduate school, Chris worked at the nonprofit Sustainable Conservation in San Francisco, working to encourage river restoration in California’s Central Valley and prevent the use of invasive plants in gardening and landscaping. Chris graduated from the University of Michigan in 2012, and likes riding his bicycle, taking pictures of clouds, and listening to Swedish music.