Horseshoe crab advocacy, plastic pollution activism, and climate action

My love of horseshoe crabs and tidal ecosystems began as a child on Connecticut's Thimble Islands with my Dad and continued through visits to Napatree Point Conservation Area, Watch Hill and Westerly beaches in Rhode Island, and the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine.

Now, living on the edge of Long Island Sound in Black Rock, I have made horseshoe crab protection a central theme of my work. In tandem, I raise awareness about the perils of plastic pollution and conduct regular independent beach clean-ups at nearby Seaside Park. Though Soundly Caring has its own horseshoe crab rescue and education component, I’m a Project Limulus-trained Citizen Scientist. Through this initiative, I tag horseshoe crabs and record and share data with marine biologists who run the program at Sacred Heart University and serve as their Seaside Park Beach Captain.

These passions also manifest themselves through my art practice at kHyaland, special ongoing projects like “Toy Ocean: Out to Sea,” and my professional work in sustainability.

In 2023, I formally began to document my work during the horseshoe crab spawning season here, along with other shoreline adventures and observations of this amazing habitat that needs our care.

Related endeavors:

• Difference Maker, The Carbon Almanac Network

• Lead Writer / Researcher, Sustainable Fashion Online Resource Guide

• Project Limulus, Citizen Scientist and Seaside Park Beach Captain

• NYC Department of Sanitation, Sanitation Foundation, Trash Academy certified

• Grassroots Activist, Beyond Plastics

• Certified Climate Reality Leader, Climate Reality Leadership Corps

• Member and Cleanup Captain, Save the Sound

• Member and Speaker: Women and Climate

• Member: Ash Creek Conservation Association, Plastic Pollution Coalition, Climate Reality Project, Sierra Club, Sustainable Connecticut, Creatives For Climate, Clean Creatives, Horseshoe Crab Recovery Coalition, BEEport

• Creator of the pink weather-obsessed climate action superhero, The Weather sKwirl™

• Founder of the world’s only Plastic Horse Rescue

• Teaching, talks and residencies