I am a Ph.D. student in Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences at UNC Chapel Hill, where I study how barrier islands change—and what that means for the people and wildlife that depend on them. My research integrates coastal geomorphology, wildlife ecology, and human dimensions to examine shoreline change on developed and undeveloped coastlines under climate change. On Hatteras Island, I use numerical modeling and remote sensing to evaluate management strategies, such as beach nourishment and groin installation, alongside stakeholder input from communities, agencies, and conservation organizations navigating real decisions about infrastructure and managed retreat. In parallel, I model shorebird habitat dynamics on the Virginia Coast Reserve to understand how geomorphic change shapes species persistence over time. The coast doesn't separate ecology from geomorphology from people, and neither do I.