Ben is a freshman studying biology and cultural environmental studies at the University of Alabama. He works with Dr. Arial Shogren’s lab group to study the biogeochemistry of Alabama’s river systems and edits works of Southern history with UA’s undergraduate research journal, the Crimson Historical Review. With the APPL, Ben is excited to collaborate on the Foodscapes and Chili Pepper DNA project. Having grown up around the rivers, creeks, and forests of Alabama, Ben is broadly interested how humans’ relationship to the environment can serve to entrench systems of social power.