As a second-year doctoral student, I study the politics of conservation and sustainable development in Central America. My previous fieldwork has dealt with a variety of topics, including community-based ecotourism, the preservation of Q’eqchi’ traditional ecological knowledge, and the socio-cultural impacts of hydroelectric development within Naso (Teribe) territory in northeastern Panama. At the University of Maryland, my doctoral research revolves around the political ecology of climate change and forest conservation in Panama and Costa Rica, with a focus on stakeholder engagement and indigenous rights. More specifically, I am examining how indigenous communities perceive, experience, negotiate, contest, and adapt to changing policies and projects under the international climate agenda.