Kalaina Thorne is PhD student working in the Hughes Lab. Her research interests are at the intersection between environmental and social systems sustainability, particularly the psychological and cultural dimensions of environmental connections, attitudes and values. Before joining the Hughes Lab, Thorne completed a master’s degee in Environmental Science and Policy at Northeastern Universityand worked as a sustainability science intern at The Nature Conservancy. Her current research looks at homeowner perceptions of mangroves as they expand into the Northern Gulf of Mexico, and she also works on the NSF CIVIC project, co-developing salt marsh experiments with young adults in the Climate Corps program while also studying the psychological impacts of an urban environmental educational program.