I was born and raised in Northern Virginia and moved to the UK at 18 to attend the University of Glasgow, where I obtained my degree in Sociology with Quantitative Methods. After graduating, I stayed in Glasgow until 2020 and undertook a postgraduate certificate at my alma mater in Sociology and Social Research Methods. During that time, I was particularly focused on studies of migration, public health, and inequality. I’ve always been an avid supporter of interdisciplinary collaboration, and have long been interested in the ways seemingly disparate systems and phenomena influence each other. Since moving to Hawaii to be closer to part of my family, I shifted gears and began working in veterinary medicine as a vet assistant and volunteering in animal rescue. My experience in vet med has solidified my interest in One Health, as I’ve seen first hand how nonhuman and human life are deeply intertwined. It gave me a precious opportunity to see from a less human-centric perspective, instilling in me a strong belief that if humanity is to solve its problems and thrive, we must understand that we need others – human and nonhuman alike.