I'm a first-year PhD student and historian of the United States from the late nineteenth century onward.  I received my M.A. in American history from the University of South Florida with my thesis, "No Simple Sort: Pet Cemeteries and Environmental Grieving in Twentieth Century Florida." My main passion and focus is animal-human history and how our relationships with other species have evolved. My research centers grief in environmental history and how those emotions have been expressed. Grief motivated change through the emergence of the pet cemetery industry in the late 1800s and radical environmental/animal liberation groups a century later. Outside of my studies, I am passionate about teaching and am excited to be developing my abilities as an educator.