putterings
i am a peacebuilder, scholar, educator, and practitioner specializing in positive peace, infrastructures and cultures of peace, and spatial peace. i hold a phd in peace and conflict studies, where my research focuses on measuring positive peace and translating peace theory into tangible, community-level impacts.
i draw from traditions as diverse as Indigenous frameworks of relationality, Buddhist inter-being, Quaker silence, and contemporary peace research, where my work centers on the lived experience of belonging. i am passionate about making peace practical—offering tools communities can use to deepen trust, foster dialogue, and build systems that serve human flourishing.
through teaching, writing, and community engagement, i actively explore how societies can move beyond negative peace toward resilient, measurable, and enduring cultures of positive peace.
things that matter to me
peace education
there are a few areas of peace that i focus my efforts on. first, it’s really important to me folks understand what peace actually is. this is the most fundamental element of peace education. this is why i wrote my book, “A Time for Peace.” yes, it is time for peace. and also, so many of us have been struggling for so long that even the idea of peace can seem well out of reach . . . it can feel daunting. what helps me is remembering that every cultural and spiritual tradition already has an embedded culture of peace within it.
our work as peaceweavers is to simply draw them out.
spatial peace™
the next aspect of my work is really leaning-in to what i call spatial peacebuilding.
the data shows that the spaces and places we each move through can either help us connect with one another, or they can create barriers to this connection. architecture and lived space have long been recognized as having an innate influence on our behaviors and social patterns. and most of this happens without us being aware of it. 80–90% of our perceptions are unconscious. understanding the spatial dimension of peace is vital if we are serious about actually building it.
spatial peacebuilding is an vital tool to help us literally build peace. we need to have the kind of environments around us that foster connection, trust, and belonging.
i believe this is a deep part of the necessary work for us moving forward—our curation of places of peace.
the peace poles©
lastly, my work revolves around actually making sure we know how best to connect with those around us, and asking ourselves how we know we’re making an impact for the better. for decades, peacebuilders around the world could never really know if the work they work doing was helping or not.
was de-escalation occurring?
were people actually building trust?
and how do know peace when we see it?
my colleagues and i, seeing this gap, did our best to fill it. we created what we lovingly call the peace poles. these participatory action research quantitative measures serve as both the means and the ends in nurturing peace. we drew 103 measures from across the social and behavioral sciences to assess the current state of peace of a city and/or region. we did this to make sure that when we talk about building peace we really mean it, and we can show it.