Madeline Sides [she/her]
Madeline Sides is a PhD researcher in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University studying in the Transition Design doctoral program. Her dissertation research concerns the work of restoring degraded living systems like forests, rivers, wetlands, and meadows.
Madeline’s experiences with ecological restoration work in her home region of Northern California have shown her the immense and meaningful changemaking potential that these practices offer.
Madeline brings ecological restoration practices into conversation with design by interrogating theories of change and imagining new ways of designing for restoration. Her research asks how we can realize socially just and ecologically sound futures through the practices of ecosystem restoration and relational repair.
In her professional practice, Madeline leads research and strategy work for companies in life sciences, food, and healthcare using qualitative and quantitative approaches to untangle complex problems.
Before pursuing design research and a PhD, Madeline earned BS and MS degrees in engineering from Stanford University and practiced as a mechanical design engineer and entrepreneur.