She has spoken out vocally against racism in STEM fields,[1] is a co-organizer of Black Birders Week,[2] and is president of the BlackAFinSTEM collective.

[6][7] Perkins holds a Master of Science in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology from North Carolina State University.

[5] As of 2025, she is a PhD student at NC State's Center for Geospatial Analytics, where she examines the spatial data gaps in environmental participatory projects to better understand conservation and nature gaps in urban neighborhoods.

[8][9][10] Some of her current interests are in the intersection of environmental justice and conservation where she aims to study and take a closer look to how human culture and bias have impacted avian habitat destruction in cities.

[11] Some of her latest projects and work are conservation efforts that aim to target climate change in a urbanized cities and metropolitan areas.