I am a Thai American researcher, writer, & advocate from Chiang Mai, Thailand & currently based in Durham, NC, USA. A PhD student at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, I tackle environmental health inequities associated with disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards and pollutants—particularly in the context of climate change and extreme heat events. I aim to quantify the adverse mental and physical health impacts of exposure to harmful pollutants particularly in disenfranchised, vulnerable communities to inform public health communication, disaster preparedness & response strategies, and environmental health policy. I conduct research that integrates principles of environmental justice and health equity to develop and evaluate interventions to prevent widening climate-related disease disparities and address socio-ecological drivers of inequity and/or disease distribution, especially in the face of proliferating health crises due to climate change and systems-level inequities. 

I have worked in Thailand, Morocco, South Africa, & the US, & am grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues & organizations across Asia, the Pacific, & sub-Saharan Africa. I have served as an inaugural Brown University Information Futures Lab fellow working to center citizen science in climate & air pollution action, a 2022 Emerging Voices for Global Health (EV4GH) fellow, a member of the Wedu (women’s leadership development nonprofit) Board of Directors, & an adjunct faculty at UNC Chapel Hill.

As a Climate Justice fellow with the Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH) at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, I work to use my community scientist “hat” to identify solutions rooted in environmental & climate justice in my communities.

I hold an MPH from UNC Chapel Hill & a BA (triple major in Neuroscience, Creative Writing, & Public Health) from Vanderbilt University. In my free time, I love hiking, reading, photography & videography, yoga (RYT 200), & spending time with my rescue & Thai bangkaew dogs.