I advise students conducting qualitative or ethnographic thesis research in a wide range of subject areas, but have particular topical expertise in the following fields: international urbanism; poverty and development; governance and statecraft; community mobilization and activism; the informal sector; housing and property; gender, family, and life course studies; identity politics; medical anthropology; food studies; urban natures; the politics of infrastructure. Whatever the topic, I encourage my advisees to privilege the perspectives of the people they work with, attend to the complexities of lived experiences, and remain open to having their assumptions challenged.

As an advisor, I help students identify how they want their research to fit into their academic and professional trajectories and support them in developing an appropriate project. I use a combination of one-on-one and group advising to ensure students have access to the academic, project management, and social supports they need to thrive during the thesis process. See below for a list of MA/MS theses I have advised or been substantively involved with. 
Author
Title
Year
Josh McLinden
Building Power: Tenant Organizing, Community Land Trusts, and the Right to the City - Winner UEP Outstanding Thesis Award 2023.
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2023
Lucy Perkins
Making Sense of Place: An Ethnography of Embodied Toxic Exposure in Pleasantdale, ME
2023
Joann Lai
Creating Value in Used Clothing: Circular Economy and Secondhand Businesses
2022
Anna Bury
Food Justice in City, State, and Regional Food Plans
2022
Danielle Jameson
Exploring the Role of Land Tenure in Climate Adaptation Ability on the Caribbean Island of Barbuda
2022
Connor Ring
Housing Discourse on Twitter: The YIMBY Movement’s Exercise of Power and Implications for the Housing Debate
2022
Meghan Tenhoff
A Gendered Analysis of Climate Action Plans in Boston and Seattle –
Winner UEP Outstanding Thesis Award 2021
​
2021
Anisha Nazareth
From the Green Revolution and Low Carbon Transitions: Implications for Inequality in India
2021
Guadalupe Garcia
Cada no Pa’ Su Casa: An Analysis of Home as Context
2021
Cyatharine Alias
​Just Energy: Generating Community Power in Holyoke, MA
2020
Rachel Dowley
Illuminations of Safety: Negotiating Security and Conviviality in Danehy Park - Winner UEP Outstanding Thesis Award 2020
2020
Alexis Washburn
​Cultivating Nature and Civic Ecology: A Boston Case Study
2019
David Morgan
Multispecies Planning: Locating Nonhuman Entanglements in Oyster Restoration Policy on the Massachusetts Coast. (Co-Advised with Ann Rappaport). Winner UEP Outstanding Thesis Award 2019
2019
Laurel Mire
What’s a Neighborhood Without Any Neighbors? Perceptions of Community Resilience in the New Orleans Short-Term Rental Debate. (Advised by Rebecca Shakespeare; Reader Kristin Skrabut). Winner UEP Outstanding Thesis Award 2024.
2024
Louisa Winchell
Negotiating Legacy, Aging, and Solidarity: How Senior Homeowners Decide to Transfer Property to Community Land Trusts. (Advised by Laurie Goldman; Reader Kristin Skrabut)
2024