For my thesis, I researched the impact of the gut microbiome on people's lives. My thesis paper explains what the microbiome is, the microbiome-gut-brain axis, the effect of the standard American diet on the human microbiome, and why children might be the solution to fostering a more healthy and happy America. There is a direct connection between one's gut health and one's overall health and happiness. Since the microbiome influences many aspects of people's lives, it is important to take care of it and always protect it. Everything that people consume and expose themselves to will either enhance or destroy the gut microbiome. By bringing awareness of the importance of the gut microbiome to the general population and by providing better resources for Americans to cultivate a healthy microbiome, then more Americans will experience an overall greater quality of life.

Promoted by the city to increase land values and provide jobs in the barrios of South Phoenix, industry became a force of massive disturbance along Buckeye Road, interrupting the residential scale with large industrial lots, many of which have been abandoned. However, latent in the landscape are remnants of better times in the vibrant gestures of everyday urbanism.
Inspired by this palate of lively, idiosyncratic street designs—created out of necessity by people making-do—this project seeks to bring identity, value, and vitality to this challenging human environment.
This project uses concepts and processes of disturbance ecology and ecological succession, specifically the role played by pioneer species and biological legacies in the immediate aftermath of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, to develop an urban revitalization plan for Buckeye Road.