Chef for 24 years. Now a geographer.
I work at the intersection of food systems, urban environments, and political ecology. Two decades of sourcing, logistics, and community-facing work in professional kitchens inform how I think about supply chains, cities, and the landscapes people live in.
I spent 24 years in professional kitchens, most of it as Head Chef at The Last Resort Grill in Athens, and running LRG Provisions, its large-scale catering operation.
That career gave me a ground-level education in food systems: where food actually comes from, who controls it, and what gets lost between farm and plate.
Now I'm finishing a Geography degree at UGA with a minor in Environmental Design and a certificate in Urban Studies. My work centers on how people, places, and systems shape each other.
Kitchens
at French Broad Gage
Vietnam to Athens
Climate History
Four projects that mark the shift from kitchen to fieldwork.
Urban Heat Vulnerability in Athens-Clarke County
GIS-based heat risk analysis connecting surface temperature and canopy data to socioeconomic gradients. Which neighborhoods bear the heat burden, and why that matters for public health and equity.
Tracing Vietnamese Cinnamon to Athens
A commodity chain analysis following Badia-brand cinnamon from producer communes in Yên Bái Province, Vietnam to grocery shelves in Athens. Primary research including direct contact with the importer.
Flood Frequency and Hurricane Helene on the French Broad
Quantitative hydrologic analysis of USGS gage 03451500, covering 130 years of discharge records. Helene as the largest flood on record at 113,000 cfs, set against long-term recurrence intervals.
Environment and People in the Holocene Atacama
A synthesis paper weaving pollen records, sediment cores, and preserved wood with the archaeological record, tracing how Holocene moisture shifts shaped human mobility across the hyperarid Atacama Desert.
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2020 — 2026B.S. Geography, Minor in Environmental Design, Certificate in Urban StudiesUniversity of Georgia · Dean's List · Compass Award (inaugural recipient)
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2018 — 2024Head Chef and ManagerThe Last Resort Grill, Athens, GA
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2016 — 2018Head Chef and Catering ManagerLRG Provisions, Athens, GA
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2000 — 2016Head Chef and ManagerThe Last Resort Grill, Athens, GA
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1999Cook (Seasonal)Yellowstone National Park, WY