I am interested in participatory processes for conducting applied research that aim to reach mutually agreed upon goals. My work attempts to step beyond ethnographic description by using a problem-oriented lens that addresses topics with management implications, especially in the ancestral lands of indigenous peoples. This lens necessitates a context-specific approach that rigorously assesses the ecological, political, and economic dynamics of an area at a particular point in time. It also accepts the continual processes of adaption and change inherent in any people-land relationship.

To assess ecological knowledge, I engage species (plants, mushrooms, mammals, birds, etc.) and landscape knowledge as well as place-based spiritual values.  I also address various population demographics, such as degree of market integration, age, gender, and western-style education level. I utilize linked quantitative and qualitative methods to identify predictors of knowledge and the nuances specific to individual experience. For example, in my doctoral research with the Khumbu Sherpa I utilized a Multiple Regression Analysis to view the demographics that were significant predictors of LEK, and Life Histories, to better understand how political and economic forces influence the lives of the participants. I like to think that the quantitative data builds the house and the qualitative data furnishes it.