Research Areas

My research examines Philippine botanical traditions at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. I approach my research questions through methods from history of science and with the tools of Science & Technology Studies to examine this period of colonial transition. Through my project I ask the following: On what epistemologies of nature did Spanish and U.S. botanists rely when describing flora of the archipelago? What distinguished Spanish and U.S. colonial botanical traditions to (mis)inform the notion of scientific rupture during the colonial transition? What was the role of local informants and local botanical traditions in the development of Spanish and U.S. colonial botanies? And while Spanish and English dominated intellectual production, what of Tagalog writings and craft production that also communicated knowledge of Philippine plants?

I am a native of Los Angeles, California. Prior to moving to the Bay Area I worked as a health educator for a community clinic that specializes in serving Southeast Asian immigrant populations. After arriving to Berkeley I began my seven-year career with an Oakland-based advocacy organization for the advancement of K-12 school-based health care. While there I took an eight-month sabbatical to intern as a specialist in reproductive health policy for the Center for Women’s Resources and the Gabriela Women’s Partylist in Quezon City, Philippines. What enlivened this time in my life—and remain most grounding—were my ties to transnational political organizing, local labor campaigns, and community theater projects in San Francisco. Since the start of my doctoral program my passions have expanded to include university-level Title IX compliance and teaching in the humanities.