I am an (incoming) Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at New York University, where I am part of the Animal Studies program. My research is driven by growing awareness that the ecological crisis demands a profound shift in how we understand other animals and our place among them, leading to two intersecting lines of inquiry.

First, my work seeks to elucidate the complex dynamics of animal social life, and to apply this knowledge to foundational questions in animal ethics and conservation. Specifically, I investigate how animals manage and mitigate social disruptions, the emotional and motivational states that underlie those processes, and the cultural influences shaping them, with a focus on nonhuman primates.

Second, I am interested in how prevailing societal norms, values, and institutions shape contemporary scientific knowledge of other animals and the environment more generally. In particular, my recent work engages critically with human exceptionalism, and how this pervasive ideology—oftentimes hidden—biases scientific exploration of the more-than-human world.