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My work focuses on finding solutions to inequities in food security and access to healthy diets by studying how urban policies and planning affect these issues. I lead mixed-methods research projects that use food systems as a way to create coordinated solutions that address health, social, environmental, and policy challenges.

I am developing three main areas of research under the theme of food systems planning:

1. Understanding Complex Challenges: Using my expertise in systems science and participatory modeling, I design group model building workshops that help communities explore the causes of food insecurity and other related issues. For example, I have worked on food insecurity in cities, barriers to federal food assistance in Indigenous communities, and the commercial determinants of healthy hydration.
2. Urban Planning and Policy Solutions: I investigate how urban planning tools and policies can turn big-picture systems thinking into practical solutions. I co-lead the StOREE Study, which examines how structural racism—through practices like redlining, urban renewal, and highway development—has shaped food environments and obesity disparities in six U.S. cities.
3. Building Social Networks for Change: I study how social connections can influence food systems policy and community health. For example, I’m exploring how urban farming can improve health and create change in historically marginalized neighborhoods in Buffalo, NY, and Minneapolis, MN.