The state of California has the largest number of homes in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). This is alarming since wildfires in these areas are becoming more frequent and intense, increasing the risk to local communities. WUI fires release harmful compounds such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which can infiltrate indoor environments, adhere to surfaces governed by their partitioning between behavior, and subsequently re-emit, allowing them to persist in indoor environments for long time intervals. This study aims to parameterize this indirect smoke exposure process using a small-scale sampling method. Common household surfaces, specifically carpet samples, are exposed to different concentrations of laboratory-generated smoke to study the effects of particle loading on VOC identity, concentration, and partitioning behavior. VOC off-gassing from the smoke-exposed carpets are analytically quantified through a Vocus, proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS). The data will be used to develop a kinetic model of fundamental indoor VOC persistence. The results of this study can be used to inform post-fire remediation strategies, re-entry timelines, and indoor air quality management following smoke exposure events.

Closely documenting the material realities of oil extraction infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico, this project uses architectural theory and visual representation to bring into space a variety of disciplinary approaches to energy systems, environmentalism, and infrastructure. Through a varied literature review, cartographic exercises, pairings of different forms of text, and the generation of visuals, a more comprehensive understanding of oil spaces--some of the most dramatic expressions of modern conditions--is found.

Hauntings of Santa Monica Bay is a narrative-based research project that explores ecological collapse through the metaphor of haunting. It examines how disease, toxic algal blooms, and chemical pollution reshape a once-thriving marine ecosystem into a landscape governed by invisible and lingering forces. The guiding question asks whether these ecological “hauntings” can be identified, understood, and ultimately undone. Combining marine biology, climate science, and environmental history with storytelling, the project traces disruptions across the coastal food web. It focuses on three linked case studies: the collapse of sunflower sea stars due to bacterial disease, the spread of harmful algal blooms driven by warming waters and nutrient runoff, and the contamination of California spiny lobsters through bioaccumulated toxins. These events reveal how predator loss accelerates kelp decline, how warming intensifies toxic blooms, and how pollutants magnify through the food chain. The project argues that current ecological crises are shaped by both present climate pressures and past human actions. Its significance lies in reframing environmental damage as a form of haunting—persistent, cumulative, and often unseen—while imagining the possibility of a restored, non-haunted ecosystem through ecological responsibility and care.