Academic

I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina Wilmington (2013) and a Master of Science in Cultural and Environmental Resource Management from Central Washington University (2021). My master’s training was interdisciplinary, integrating anthropology, geography, economics, and policy, and provided a foundation for applied research on food systems and institutional decision making.

My master’s thesis, Higher Education and Food Access: A Case Study of Food Access Initiatives and Their Community Impact [1], examined how institutional structures, community initiatives, and lived experience shape food access on a university campus. Through more than 200 hours of ethnographic fieldwork, I documented campus food systems, hunger relief efforts, and community-driven food security initiatives. Findings from this work informed institutional responses to food insecurity and contributed to expanded student support services, strengthening connections between social systems, policy, and food access outcomes.

[1]  Wheaton, Rebecca. "Higher Education and Food Access: A Case Study of Food Access Initiatives and Their Community Impact." https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1795/. (2022). 

Professional

I bring over a decade of experience working at the intersection of environmental nonprofits, applied research, and community-based programs. Throughout my career, I have worked closely with county and state agencies to develop community-informed solutions, using qualitative and mixed-methods evaluation to understand what works, what does not, and why.

My work has taken me across North Carolina, Colorado, and Washington, where I have collaborated with farms, nonprofits, and community organizations in a wide range of roles. From hands-on field and education work to program coordination and social impact evaluation, these experiences have shaped my commitment to applied, collaborative research that supports thoughtful decision-making and real-world change.