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 or summer of 2021. I am 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 civil conflict, human trafficking, violence against women, and corruption. I am trained in a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods and I enjoy fieldwork. My dissertation explores the strategic perpetration of human trafficking by political actors in conflict settings. 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 forthcoming 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. I am also on a team to evaluate the effectiveness of trafficking prevention curriculum delivered across much of Latin America. 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, practicing classical ballet, weight lifting, and 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 or summer of 2021. I am 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 civil conflict, human trafficking, violence against women, and corruption. I am trained in a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods and I enjoy fieldwork. My dissertation explores the strategic perpetration of human trafficking by political actors in conflict settings. 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 forthcoming 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. I am also on a team to evaluate the effectiveness of trafficking prevention curriculum delivered across much of Latin America. 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, practicing classical ballet, weight lifting, and climbing.