Research Statement

My research agenda is ontologically and axiologically based, examining the philosophical, ecological, and sociocultural conditions shaping contemporary education, and advancing a multidisciplinary program grounded in curriculum theory, environmental philosophy, queer theory, and multicultural education. Rooted in over a decade of K–12 teaching in the South Bronx and New Haven, and shaped by my doctoral dissertation—A Critical Dehumanist Curriculum Theoretical Inquiry into Inter and Nondisciplinary Ecocentric Education as Necessary Through a Queer Theoretical Lens—my scholarship seeks both to theorize and to transform educational practice. Across my work, I focus on how ecocentrism, human rights, queer and LGBTQ+ cultural studies, and critical philosophy can cultivate more just, survivable, and sustainable futures in a rapidly degrading ecological context.

Core Research Program: Ecocentrism, Philosophy, and Educational Futures

The central pillar of my research agenda investigates how curriculum and pedagogy must be restructured amid accelerating climate collapse and sociopolitical fragmentation. In my dissertation, I articulate a dehumanist ecocentric onto-epistemology—a philosophical framework that decenters the human, rejects neoliberal anthropocentrism, and positions ecological entanglement, relationality, and survivability as the ethical foundations for educational transformation. This work draws from curriculum studies (Pinar, Slattery, Greene), queer theory (Edelman, Muñoz, Butler), environmental education, and post-qualitative inquiry to propose nondisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, and place-based models of schooling aligned with ecological reality.

My ongoing research extends this philosophical trajectory by examining how ecocentric and queer theoretical paradigms can reorient K–12 education, multicultural education, and teacher-education systems toward ethical coexistence, ecological literacy, and adaptive resilience. I have an extensive archive of unused qualitative and post-qualitative interview data with environmental educators and pre/in-service teachers that I am currently analyzing, allowing me to pursue several forthcoming manuscripts and empirical studies at the intersection of ecological curriculum, climate grief, pedagogies of discomfort, and environmental justice. Additionally, I intend to divest my dissertation into respective manuscripts for publication over the course of 2026 and 2027.

Queer Theory, LGBTQ+ Cultural Studies, and Human Rights in Education

A second strand of my scholarship advances queer theoretical, human-rights–oriented, and LGBTQ+ cultural research within both K–12 and higher education. My published work—including contributions to Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, and multiple book chapters—examines allyship, queer pessimisms, arts-based trauma pedagogies, LGBTQ+ teacher experiences, and anti-heteronormative curricular reform.

I am committed to expanding conceptualizations of LGBTQ+ cultural communities as distinct, understudied cultural groups within multicultural education. My future scholarship will continue to integrate queer ecology, critical ontology, and human-rights frameworks to explore how sexual- and gender-diverse communities experience, resist, and transform educational spaces—particularly amid rising anti-LGBTQ+ policy environments.

Multicultural, Social Justice, and Equity-Based Curriculum Research

The third major strand of my work focuses on multicultural curricular development, teacher preparation, and equity-oriented pedagogy. I have published and presented widely on social justice education, pre-service teacher preparation, anti-racist multicultural practice, and arts-based responses to trauma. My mixed-methods work on culturally responsive teaching and social-emotional learning—currently under review at AERA—integrates content analysis, interviews, and validated survey data to illuminate equity gaps in teacher-preparation programs .

My scholarship here is united by a commitment to human rights, dignity, and the ethical responsibilities of educators, particularly for students and communities marginalized by race, sexuality, gender identity, language, immigration status, or environmental precarity.

Future Research Trajectory: Expanding a Coherent, Multi-Pronged Program

With eight manuscripts currently under review, two in active development, and a book chapter already slated for publication in 2026, I am entering the next phase of my research career with a clear, interconnected agenda spanning conceptual, empirical, and applied domains.

In the next five years, I plan to pursue the following major research directions:

1. Ecocentric Educational Futures (Primary Pillar)

Analyze and publish from my unused qualitative environmental-education dataset.
Develop empirical models testing components of the dehumanist ecocentric onto-epistemology introduced in my dissertation.
Conduct multi-site studies on K–12 ecocentric school redesign, survivability pedagogy, and climate-adaptation curriculum.
Divest my dissertation into multiple, respective manuscripts intended for publication.
Examine conditions under which philosophical and queer ecological frameworks translate into measurable classroom practices.

2. LGBTQ+ Cultural Studies, Human Rights, and Queer Ecology in Education

Advance scholarship on queer grief, eco-queer futurity, and LGBTQ+ teacher identity.
Build a conceptual study on positionality and its interactions with teacher education.

3. Equity, Multicultural Education, and Justice-Centered Teacher Preparation

Expand mixed-methods investigations into multicultural curricular structures and anti-oppressive pedagogie.
Continue investigating bidirectionality and its implications for teaching and teacher education.
Continue work with pre-service teachers on identity, reflexivity, critical consciousness, and solidarity-driven allyship.

4. Bridging Theory and K–12 Practice

Building upon twelve years of urban K–12 teaching experience and extensive practitioner-facing research, I am committed to ensuring that philosophical and theoretical work directly supports teachers, administrators, and school communities. My future work will:

Develop practitioner-aligned ecocentric curricular toolkits resilient to neoliberalism.
Produce accessible multimedia guides on climate education, queer ecology, and critical multicultural teaching.
Engage schools in collaborative action research that translates theory into sustainable, meaningful pedagogical transformation.

My goal is not only to advance scholarship within curriculum theory, environmental education, and queer studies, but to close the persistent gap between academic knowledge production and real-world classroom action.

Conclusion

Across all strands of my work, I seek to advance a research agenda that is philosophically generative, empirically rigorous, ecologically urgent, and pragmatically useful to K–12 educators. By integrating environmental philosophy, queer theory, multicultural education, and curriculum studies, my research argues for schooling that is attuned to planetary realities, committed to human rights, and responsive to the lived experiences of diverse learners and teachers.

My scholarship is guided by a simple, constructivist conviction: education must prepare us not only to live in the world as it is, but to survive—and ethically respond to—the world as it is becoming.