Attending New York University provided a smorgasbord of opportunities to connect with communities, cultures and ideas. After a short stint at Merrill Lynch, I realized my passions lay outside the finance industry and was grateful for experiences with Matador Records (fulfilling my passion for music at one of the leading indie rock labels), America Counts (teaching, and learning, from the students at the Chinatown school who were fearless despite many being new immigrants to this country themselves), and the American Cancer Society (identifying ways to increase breast cancer resources and support for women in the Bronx, supported by the Susan G. Komen foundation). Working with various communities brought such joy and learning. The contradictions and plurality of New York City instilled a desire to explore further.

The Boren Scholarship provided an opportunity to study in Kerala, India in 2000. This also provided a chance to further test the microcredit research begun at NYU. Surveying and speaking with women in fishing and rural villages in Kerala drove home the dependence of so many, especially those in poverty and marginalized communities, on natural resources and the environment. They did not have the luxury of the buffers that socio-economically advantaged individuals and communities had, thus felt the impact of environmental or resource change intimately. The time in my ancestral land opened my eyes and heart immensely including grounding in my purpose - to do what I could do for the environment, communities and the agriculture that sustained them. This purpose was further reinforced while completing my MPhil in Economics at the University of Cambridge (Selwyn College) in England, with the support of the Gates Scholarship.

I returned to the U.S. to pursue a PhD in Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota and an MS in Statistics. Thanks to support from the DOVE fellowship and the U.S. Forest Service, my doctoral dissertation focused on decision-making under uncertainty, specifically as it related to managing invasive species in U.S. forests, and lion hunting and conservation. While completing my studies, Minnesota offered many insightful experiences such as working at the Federal Reserve Bank, St. Olaf College, the MN Office of Higher Education (MNOHE). At MNOHE, we focused on student financial aid and how delivery and impact could be improved. Through this work, it was very apparent that the pipeline to higher education and access to STEM fields was stymied from the early years. This motivated the founding of Teaching SMART to connect graduate and undergraduate volunteers from UMN to elementary schools in the Twin Cities. The hope was to help elementary students view higher education and STEM fields as an achievable reality and goal, especially in the segregated neighborhoods of the Twin Cities and amidst the systemic oppression and racism rampant in our society.