Ethnography. Community. Resilience.
In the field…
I am a cultural anthropologist and ethnographer specializing in crisis, work, and resilience. I explore the precariousness and tenacity of labor through hands-on, mindful ethnographic observation and analysis. I am committed to designing care-focused, data-driven interventions that develop more resilient institutions, organizations, and people.
Specialties
Ethnography
Data Analysis
Public Speaking
Mentoring
Research Design
Writing & Editing
Community Outreach
Japanese Culture
Qualitative Researcher 2012-Present
Teaching Assistant Professor 2019-Present
Brewery Consultant 2021-Present
Craft Brewer 2017-2021
Featured Projects
Brewing by the Numbers
A collaboration with UNC’s Data Science Program, this project has two objectives: 1) To develop shared databases for large-scale mixed methods courses for UNC’s planned IDEAs curriculum, and 2) To conduct qualitative and quantitative research on the relationship between aesthetic choice, community demographics, and organizational resilience among NC craft breweries. This project shares data with UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences and the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild.
Crafting Resilience
What strategies and philosophies compose a practice of resilience? Does professional artisanship bolster or undermine one’s ability to navigate crisis? In what ways do our responses to precariousness generate entirely new crises?
Tacking between craft breweries and distilleries in North Carolina, Tokyo, and Okinawa, Japan, this multi-sited ethnographic project weaves participant observation, interviews, and surveys to explore the relationship between precarious people, professions, and places. In doing so, I work to create interventions that bring producers and consumers together to build more resilient, vibrant communities.
Teaching Portfolio
I view learning as a fundamentally collaborative endeavor. My goal as an instructor is to cultivate this ethos of collaboration in the classroom, laboratory, and workshop. Toward this objective, applied critical analysis, intellectual creativity, and engaged research are the elemental threads that structure my method and courses.
As faculty at UNC Chapel Hill, I’ve taught and developed six courses for in-person and online instruction.
Brewery Consultation
With over four years of professional experience in craft brewing, and over eight years intensively researching craft breweries, brewery communities, and drinking culture in the United States and Japan, I’ve developed an expertise in beer. Education, advocacy, and outreach are at the core of brewing and business method. I’m excited to collaborate with prospective and established brewery owners to build more resilient organizations!