Mission Statement

The leading aspiration of Rachel’s career is to unite her passion for the natural world with providing functional information to solve complex issues related to how humans interact with the environment. She is a scientist, educator, and nature enthusiast who enjoys working with teams of different backgrounds and philosophies to tackle issues that affect humans, wildlife, and ecosystems. Rachel holds the belief humans are a part of their environment, not simply living in it, and that this perspective allows us to understand how our actions affect the world as a whole. She applies this philosophy to small niches that translate into case studies of how environmental issues affects all health.

As an environmental toxicologist Rachel investigates how environmental contaminants affect the health of humans, wildlife, and ecosystems coined One Environmental Health. This philosophy stems from the One Health concept which is a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach to better understand how the health of humans, wildlife, plants, and ecosystems, which share a common environment, are interconnected. She has 12+ years working in environmental research and conservation in collaborations between academic institutions, non-profits, and government agencies and believes connecting these sectors is essential to identifying and solving complex environmental issues.

As a science advocate and educator, Rachel has strong engagement with the community participating in citizen science initiatives, environmental education programs, national-level science programs, and policy initiatives with governmental agencies. She has given numerous scientific and educational talks and participated in workshops in both professional scientific organizations and open community platforms to share her expertise in environmental science.

Rachel’s career goals include blending the One Environmental Health concept with initiatives such as Blue Economy, Circular Economy, Green Chemistry to better align humans with the natural world and create a more healthy and sustainable future for all.

As a nature enthusiast, Rachel has worked with the great whales of the sea all the way down to the basic building blocks of life, bioluminescent bays, light pollution issues, fish, alligators, sea turtles, mangrove forests and coral reefs and dives the oceans, sails the sea, climbs desert mountains and explores complex caves systems.