Maria Dillard

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I am a doctoral candidate at the University of Pittsburgh, a research assistant with the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Veterans Administration Healthcare System, and a consultant with Water Island Consultants, LLC. I have professional experience in the areas of community development, health, environment, and policy, as well as in social science research and teaching. In the winter of 2008, I made a move from the Eastern Caribbean to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (I am not sure I ever recovered from the temperature change!) This seemingly crazy transition was brought on by a desire to seek out innovative ways in which to apply social science to understand and address complex problems facing human communities throughout the world.

My interest in the intersection of social science and ecology arises from the recognition that social science is often a missing element of research and policy where issues of economy, development, environment, and human well-being are concerned. There is a growing need for social scientists to engage with critical issues like climate change and sustainable development, whether at the global, regional, or community scale. Existing research methodologies and theories face significant challenges when studies of intersecting phenomena and complex systems are the focus. For these reasons, I am interested in developing new methodological strategies that better integrate ecological and social sciences and that address the intersection of the social and ecological as part of a complex, coupled system. My current research focuses on small islands, although I have studied rural, developing communities in the Southern US, Eastern Europe, and the Eastern Caribbean.

Although island life can be a challenge, I hope to experience it again and again. Winters really aren't for me. --MKD