My interdisciplinary research program draws on diverse theories and methods from ecology, bioacoustics, anthropology, and conservation, to better understand primates, people, and our shared worlds. Since 2005, I have lived and worked with Indigenous and local communities in Indonesia, cultivating deep relationships and partnering on meaningful research that matters to them. Through the co-construction of participatory research and capacity-sharing programs around soundscapes, biocultural diversity, and human-environment connection, my partners, collaborators, and I seek to highlight the critical importance of local knowledge, values, and voices in conservation science and practice.
Beyond research, I love developing and delivering education, outreach, and training programs with and for local communities and partners that celebrate and reinforce more-than-human relationships. And as a first-generation college student, I am committed to mentoring and lifting up talented and dedicated leaders – especially those who face economic and social barriers – to advance knowledge and pursue careers in science and conservation.
Beyond research, I love developing and delivering education, outreach, and training programs with and for local communities and partners that celebrate and reinforce more-than-human relationships. And as a first-generation college student, I am committed to mentoring and lifting up talented and dedicated leaders – especially those who face economic and social barriers – to advance knowledge and pursue careers in science and conservation.
At the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, I am leading three major programs in Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) as the principal investigator of the Engaged Research in Bioacoustics (ERB) Lab.
In Kutai National Park, East Kalimantan, I direct the Kutai Orangutan Research Group (KEPO Kutai). By generating high-quality longitudinal data and delivering education and outreach programs to local communities, we work to support the conservation of orangutans and their habitats in Kutai National Park and surrounding areas.
In Nusantara, East Kalimantan, I lead a team of natural and social scientists – in collaboration with local community partners – to conduct social-ecological research across Indonesia's new capital city in Borneo. By combining bioacoustics and ethnographic research with community-led, participatory biocultural monitoring, we are documenting Nusantara's wide-ranging impacts on forests, people, and wildlife.
In the Mungku Baru Education and Research Forest, Central Kalimantan, I work with local community members and researchers to monitor endangered apes' and other indicator species' responses to environmental change and wildfire smoke. Our goal is to realize the potential of passive acoustic monitoring – combined with traditional monitoring approaches – to support conservation and management strategies across the Rungan landscape.
In Kutai National Park, East Kalimantan, I direct the Kutai Orangutan Research Group (KEPO Kutai). By generating high-quality longitudinal data and delivering education and outreach programs to local communities, we work to support the conservation of orangutans and their habitats in Kutai National Park and surrounding areas.
In Nusantara, East Kalimantan, I lead a team of natural and social scientists – in collaboration with local community partners – to conduct social-ecological research across Indonesia's new capital city in Borneo. By combining bioacoustics and ethnographic research with community-led, participatory biocultural monitoring, we are documenting Nusantara's wide-ranging impacts on forests, people, and wildlife.
In the Mungku Baru Education and Research Forest, Central Kalimantan, I work with local community members and researchers to monitor endangered apes' and other indicator species' responses to environmental change and wildfire smoke. Our goal is to realize the potential of passive acoustic monitoring – combined with traditional monitoring approaches – to support conservation and management strategies across the Rungan landscape.
With my research partners, I have compiled multi-year behavior, ranging, and sound-recording datasets for simakobu (Simias concolor), saddleback tamarins (Leontocebus weddelli), and Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) as well as soundscape recordings of dipterocarp, peat-swamp, mangrove, and heath forests across Borneo. Students and early career researchers with an interest in collaborating on any of these research topics, please visit this page for more info and don't hesitate to get in touch!
