Gardiner is a doctoral student in the division of Society and Environment working in the disciplines of human geography and the environmental humanities. His research interests include disaster studies, environmental justice, disability studies, queer ecology, and environmental media. He is particularly invested in studying the interactions between disability rights and emergency management policy as they manifest in practice.
Gardiner’s personal and environmental nonfiction has been previously published in Edge Effects, Blue Mesa Review, Burrow Press Review, and elsewhere. He was the 2024 recipient of the Natural Hazards Center's Annual Hazards and Disasters Graduate Student Paper Competition for his paper, Vulnerable Populations/Responsible Individuals.