My name is Erika, and I created this website to share some of my (hobbyist) photography and, more recently, to promote health and wellness through my soon-to-be-posted writing.

When I was younger, my aunt, living with phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare disorder that causes an amino acid to build up in the body, lived with my family, which laid the foundation for my interest in health and advocating for others and their health. Additionally, my grandfather owned a butcher shop, which would later inspire much of my interest in (and research on) our food system and its connection to both individual and public health.

When I was in middle school, my family moved across the country to California, opening a whole new world to me. It was then that I experienced the realities of life in a big city. Much of this inspired me to study sociology & anthropology, leading me to study abroad in Eswatini, Africa, where I worked with the Eswatini Ministry of Health to support their HIV/AIDs response. Later, I studied public health, concentrating on behavioral science, health education, and epidemiology. The same year I graduated with my master's degree, I faced my own health challenges with biopsy-confirmed celiac disease. These challenges, however, further inspired me to work towards change.
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I believe in and know through my own lived experiences the importance of maintaining good health and its role in a good quality of life. I see the inequalities many still face, and I hope to help shift them towards a more positive, inclusive direction. I hear and witness stories of people and populations that try to achieve better health but always seem to end up where they began - most often not a personal problem but the result of a flawed system.

I set out to teach, inspire, and advocate for others and their health. I am equally driven to keep learning more. Ultimately, my long-term goal is to improve public health through healthy food access, policy changes related to nutrition, and education related to diet and its connection to mental health.

I am a public health professional residing in the NYC metro area. I have a deep love for animals (especially my pug!), traveling, connecting with others, photography, music, reading, writing, and the ocean. Thanks for your time!