About
I am a historian of the German, British, and Dutch empires, the history of science and the environment, and global history in the long nineteenth century. I am primarily interested in subjects related to natural history collecting and collections; non-human and multispecies histories; museums; botany and botanic gardens; taxonomy; and biodiversity loss and climate change, particularly in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa.
I hold BA degrees in History and Anthropology from the University of South Carolina and an MA in European History from UCL. I earned a PhD in International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science (2021) and have held teaching positions at the LSE (2021-22) and the University of Liverpool (2022-23), and worked as Director of Academic Programs at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society at LMU München (2023-24).
I have previously held research posts and fellowships at the University of Cape Town (2018), Freie Universität Berlin (2019), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2024), and Cambridge University Herbarium and Botanic Garden (2026). I have also received prestigious awards from funding bodies such as the LSE, the German History Society, the Royal Society, the Royal Historical Society, and DAAD. My PhD dissertation received Honorable Mention in the German Historical Institute London Dissertation Prize (2022) and the Division of History of Science & Technology Dissertation Prize (2023), and one of its chapters was awarded the German History Society Essay Prize (2021). My teaching practice has also been recognized: I was awarded the LSE Class Teacher Award (2022) and received several nominations for the LSE Student Union Teaching Awards (2022) for inclusive education and inspirational teaching.