Bio
Savannah, Georgia is home to a lot of things: low country boils, the second best sandwich in America according to Adam Richman, and an exhibition baseball team called the Savannah Bananas. It’s also home to a couple of Yanks (my parents), and all of my memories. It’s home to stomping around in the marsh with my brother and playing two-hand touch on 100 degree days. Eventually, I found another home in Seattle at the University of Washington, a school that first rejected me and then couldn’t get rid of me. I squeezed everything I could out of the Law, Societies & Justice and Creative Writing programs where I sprinted from short story workshops to The Daily newsroom to lectures on criminal justice reform. I took opportunities to venture outside of my comfort zone at every step including reshaping music coverage at the student newspaper, attending classes with inmates at the Monroe Correctional Complex, and living with an eccentric couple while writing poetry on the outskirts of London. I took pictures of it all. I podcasted about it all. I wrote about it all in stories and tankas and scribbles in my Moleskines.
In one of my final classes at UW, I learned about the exponentially growing plight of climate refugees, a cause that inspired me to seek out graduate programs where I could deepen my understanding of this topic. I landed in the University of Edinburgh’s Environment and Development program. There I learned about the greatest international development and environmental justice challenges facing the planet. I worked with incredible academics, attended COP 26, and completed a dissertation analyzing the methods that Costa Rica and the United States utilize to incorporate migrants into their healthcare systems. I was humbly awarded with the distinction of “Best Overall Contribution” to the program.
Since moving to D.C., I have continued to expand my storytelling skills and apply my energy towards giving immigrants and refugees a bigger platform. This has included serving as a storytelling and podcast volunteer with KAMA DC, a grassroots organization dedicated to highlighting the skills and stories of immigrants and refugees living in the DMV area. It’s also taken the form of concert photography and reviews for Parklife DC and continued walks with my notebook through the National Arboretum and to Lincoln Park.
- Gabe