After finishing my research paper, I'm excited to present my poster and explain more about my paper later this month at the Summer Research Symposium at Barnard! As my research wrapped up, I've been reflecting on the past six weeks and how different my project ended up being. I had first expected that my research would focus in on the environmental impact of eminent domain, and how invasive species grew over land once farmed and owned by residents in what is now the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. I wanted to find environmental science reports to compare from pre-eminent domain and now, as the area is owned by the National Park Service. After many days of searching every science journal in existence, I found that these scientific reports did not exist, and that my initial project needed to shift. I wanted to include former residents in my research, because my initial research found very little about the social or environmental history of the area.

After interviewing many of these former residents, I shifted to focusing more on human perception of environment and the socio-ecological aspects of government intervention, rather than just ecological impacts. I'm really grateful for the amount of support I've received from former residents, and their interviews allowed me to truly write something new and fresh, rather than just review past literature. I'm even presenting my research in the coming weeks to one of the historical societies that I've been working closely with. I can't begin to describe how appreciative I am of how kind and wonderful the community and residents I've connected with this past summer are. My research would be nothing without their knowledge, expertise, and experiences.

Additionally, my research mentor, Professor Debbie Becher, was also incredibly crucial throughout my research project process. Her sociology expertise was super helpful when thinking through how to write about socio-ecological patterns and finding a throughline in all my research. While I put environmental science on the back burner, I was still able to find a way to combine my interests in human rights and environmental science in order to tell the story of the residents of the Delaware Water Gap, which I'm really proud of. I'm hoping to continue diving into this interest of socio-ecological intersections, whether in future classes or when I'm studying abroad in the Spring in Zanzibar through a Coastal Ecology and Natural Resource Management Program!