I ground my work in community-based collaborative research, using integrative approaches to to build work that is conversant in natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. My research is on three key areas for solving socio-environmental challenges: 1) how to conserve and govern forest mosaic landscapes in culturally sensitive ways; 2) how to maintain cultural and environmental rights in the face of tremendous change; and 3) how to make science more collaborative, via processes that build theory and incorporate multiple voices. Initially trained as an ecologist, my career has developed through work with multiple stakeholders and diverse disciplines in the U.S., China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and Panama. I work collaboratively with community members and multidisciplinary teams to respond to environmental challenges and sustain complex systems, publishing for academic and non-academic audiences.