Elle is a Ph.D. candidate in Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park. With a passion for wildlife and conservation, Elle transitioned from a business background to conservation and explored various aspects of the field, including public advocacy and environmental education. During her master’s at Duke University, Elle researched overgrazing in giant panda habitats, animal behavior, and wildlife laws and policies. Before joining UMD, Elle worked with several NGOs in China and Southeast Asia on illegal wildlife trade projects. At the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Countering Wildlife Trafficking program, Elle liaises with international stakeholders to combat transboundary wildlife trafficking. Her current research integrates spatial analysis and crime science to develop crime prevention solutions for conservation crime.

Haley (she/her) is a PhD student in the Geographical Sciences department at the University of Maryland. Prior to her doctoral work, Haley completed her Master's degree at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, where she specialized in Environmental Justice and Geospatial Data Science. At Michigan, Haley wrote her Master's thesis on environmental justice screening tools and worked as a research assistant in the Institute for Social Research, where she created spatial measures of segregation. She has also taught both graduate and undergraduate courses as a Teaching Assistant. 

In GEOG, Haley works with Dr. Kathleen Stewart on projects related to health disparities and environmental justice. She uses methods from the fields of GIScience and epidemiology to investigate social determinants of health that contribute to health disparities, such as segregation and redlining. Broadly, Haley aspires to apply spatial data science towards the pursuit of environmental justice and the alleviation of racialized health disparities.