I am currently interested in the history of Portuguese and Spanish colonialism and the appropriation of botanical and medicinal knowledge. I am also interested in the study of drugs as a whole and the cultural and legal frameworks that are applied to them throughout the world.
My current projects seeks to uncover why certain plants and medical materials are circulated more broadly in European medicinal knowledge for reasons beyond purely medicinal use. In doing so, I expect to discuss how religious, socio-cultural, and economic factors influence human/plant histories.
Spring 2024 – HIST 22 Technology and the Modern World w/ Professor Patrick McCray
Winter 2024 – HIST 20 Science and the Modern World w/ Professor Patrick McCray
Fall 2023 – HIST 17A American Peoples w/ Professor Katie Moore
Conference Presentation, “‘O Cordeal Bezoartico’: Simple and Composite Bezoar Stones in Early Modern Iberian Medicine” July 9th, Lisbon, ASPHS.
Departmental Research Grant 2024
Departmental Conference Travel Grant 2024
UC Santa Barbara Regents Fellowship Recipient 2022-23
2021-22 Dean’s Undergraduate Research Award: “The Blood of the Nopal: A Case of Indigenous Cochineal Cultivation from 1521-1796”
Honors Recipient: UC Santa Cruz 2022