About me

I am currently a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow placed in the USDA Office of the Chief Scientist. Prior to my fellowship, I completed a short postdoc in the Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment in Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs with Professor David S. Wilcove. In May 2022, I defended my dissertation in environmental policy, titled “Agriculture in flux, biodiversity in the balance: conservation implications of agricultural expansion and abandonment”, also advised by Professor Wilcove.

Prior to graduate school, I worked at the environmental nonprofit Sustainable Conservation in San Francisco, working to encourage river restoration in California’s Central Valley and prevent the use of invasive plants in gardening and landscaping through the PlantRight program. A proud Michigander, I grew up in East Lansing, MI and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in ecology & evolutionary biology in 2012. I now live in Arlington, VA with my wife, 1-year-old daughter, and dog. In my free time, I enjoy playing peekaboo with my daughter, baking sourdough, looking for birds, listening to Swedish music, and taking photos of clouds.

An old photo of Chris from his graduate school days, taken by Egan Jimenez (Princeton University) on December 10th, 2019, at the Princeton University Art Museum.