Biography
I was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where I am now a PhD candidate in Political Science at Emory University. I expect to defend my dissertation in the spring of 2022. I am currently working as a pre-doctoral research fellow with The Carter Center for the 2021-2022 academic year. I am also teaching online as an adjunct professor at MTSU in their MA program in International Affairs for the fall 2022 semester. I had the honor of serving as a teaching fellow at the Arrendale State Prison for Women as part of the Dean's Teaching Fellowship during the 2020-2021 academic year. I received an MA in Political Science from Emory University in August 2019. My research focuses on human trafficking, human rights, gender, and conflict. I am trained in a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods and I enjoy fieldwork. My dissertation explores the how the international system responds to human trafficking and under what conditions public support for anti-trafficking work can be galvanized. My fieldwork has taken place in locations including Nepal and Mexico, researching how access to information is associated with a person's likelihood of being trafficked. Examples of other projects include research on state bias in human trafficking reporting that is published in BJPS, a survey experiment regarding the determinants of public support for anti-trafficking policy, a co-authored paper on how gender and race influence legislative outcomes (published in PRQ), and a project that evaluates NGO anti-trafficking program outcomes in Latin America. Please review my CV for a list of current projects. I am passionate about making political science a more diverse and inclusion discipline, one accessible to students from all backgrounds with an emphasis on first-generation low-SES students (a background I share). I aim to make academia an environment that celebrates neurodiversity, and I'm collaborating with the Emory Autism Center on several projects. I have worked with undergraduates at Emory University in several capacities: as a teaching assistant, a co-instructor for upper-division courses, and as a mentor for the 1915 Scholars program.
Prior to pursuing a PhD at Emory University, I worked for Free for Life International, an anti-trafficking NGO, from 2013 - 2015 and I have continued my involvement with this nonprofit. I am grateful to continue my involvement with this organization by serving as a board member (and served as the Chairperson on the board of directors from 2018 - 2019). I also co-lead FFLI's scholarship and mentorship program for survivors of human trafficking. Additionally, I am leading the development of a trafficking prevention curriculum designed for autistic individuals and their support systems. Please visit www.freeforlifeintl.org to learn more about the work. My experience as a practitioner informs much of my research agenda.
Additionally, I have worked as an adjunct professor at Middle Tennessee State University, where I had the pleasure of serving as the faculty advisor for the undergraduate Model UN program. I earned my MA at Middle Tennessee State University in 2013, where I studied International Security and Peace Studies and worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and volunteered as a mock trial coach. The highlight of my MA experience was completing a research practicum in Mexico City with Transparencia Mexicana, Mexico's national chapter of Transparency International. I hold a BS in International Relations, also from Middle Tennessee State University. In my personal time I enjoy traveling, reading biographies and mysteries, volunteering in my community and church, weight lifting, and rock climbing.
I was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where I am now a PhD candidate in Political Science at Emory University. I expect to defend my dissertation in the spring of 2022. I am currently working as a pre-doctoral research fellow with The Carter Center for the 2021-2022 academic year. I am also teaching online as an adjunct professor at MTSU in their MA program in International Affairs for the fall 2022 semester. I had the honor of serving as a teaching fellow at the Arrendale State Prison for Women as part of the Dean's Teaching Fellowship during the 2020-2021 academic year. I received an MA in Political Science from Emory University in August 2019. My research focuses on human trafficking, human rights, gender, and conflict. I am trained in a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods and I enjoy fieldwork. My dissertation explores the how the international system responds to human trafficking and under what conditions public support for anti-trafficking work can be galvanized. My fieldwork has taken place in locations including Nepal and Mexico, researching how access to information is associated with a person's likelihood of being trafficked. Examples of other projects include research on state bias in human trafficking reporting that is published in BJPS, a survey experiment regarding the determinants of public support for anti-trafficking policy, a co-authored paper on how gender and race influence legislative outcomes (published in PRQ), and a project that evaluates NGO anti-trafficking program outcomes in Latin America. Please review my CV for a list of current projects. I am passionate about making political science a more diverse and inclusion discipline, one accessible to students from all backgrounds with an emphasis on first-generation low-SES students (a background I share). I aim to make academia an environment that celebrates neurodiversity, and I'm collaborating with the Emory Autism Center on several projects. I have worked with undergraduates at Emory University in several capacities: as a teaching assistant, a co-instructor for upper-division courses, and as a mentor for the 1915 Scholars program.
Prior to pursuing a PhD at Emory University, I worked for Free for Life International, an anti-trafficking NGO, from 2013 - 2015 and I have continued my involvement with this nonprofit. I am grateful to continue my involvement with this organization by serving as a board member (and served as the Chairperson on the board of directors from 2018 - 2019). I also co-lead FFLI's scholarship and mentorship program for survivors of human trafficking. Additionally, I am leading the development of a trafficking prevention curriculum designed for autistic individuals and their support systems. Please visit www.freeforlifeintl.org to learn more about the work. My experience as a practitioner informs much of my research agenda.
Additionally, I have worked as an adjunct professor at Middle Tennessee State University, where I had the pleasure of serving as the faculty advisor for the undergraduate Model UN program. I earned my MA at Middle Tennessee State University in 2013, where I studied International Security and Peace Studies and worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and volunteered as a mock trial coach. The highlight of my MA experience was completing a research practicum in Mexico City with Transparencia Mexicana, Mexico's national chapter of Transparency International. I hold a BS in International Relations, also from Middle Tennessee State University. In my personal time I enjoy traveling, reading biographies and mysteries, volunteering in my community and church, weight lifting, and rock climbing.