She conducts research on the social and political economic dimensions of climate change mitigation particularly in forest ecosystems, as well as associated finance mechanisms including carbon markets, taxes and funds. She also leads the Climate Alliance Mapping Project, which is a collaborative effort between academics, environmental NGOs and indigenous organizations working for a socially-just response to climate change through research, maps and digital stories. Her work has been published in top geography and social science journals and she has presented her work internationally including at the Conference of the Parties climate change meetings. She received her PhD from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley.