Biography
I was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where I am now a candidate for a PhD in Political Science at Emory University. I expect to defend my dissertation in the spring of 2021. 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 book-length dissertation explores the strategic perpetration of human trafficking by political actors in conflict settings. My recent fieldwork has taken place in Nepal and Mexico, researching how access to information is associated with a person's likelihood of being trafficked. Other current projects include research on state bias in human rights reporting, 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 (recently published in PRQ), and a project that explores how governance capacity predicts state-trafficker collusion. Please review my CV for a full 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 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 from 2013 - 2015 and continue my involvement with this nonprofit. Free for Life International is an NGO dedicated to the identification, assistance and restoration of human trafficking victims and survivors. 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 April 2018 - July 2019). I also help lead Free for Life International's higher education scholarship program and mentorship program for survivors of human trafficking. Please visit www.freeforlifeintl.org to learn more about the work.
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, and practicing classical ballet.
I was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where I am now a candidate for a PhD in Political Science at Emory University. I expect to defend my dissertation in the spring of 2021. 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 book-length dissertation explores the strategic perpetration of human trafficking by political actors in conflict settings. My recent fieldwork has taken place in Nepal and Mexico, researching how access to information is associated with a person's likelihood of being trafficked. Other current projects include research on state bias in human rights reporting, 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 (recently published in PRQ), and a project that explores how governance capacity predicts state-trafficker collusion. Please review my CV for a full 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 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 from 2013 - 2015 and continue my involvement with this nonprofit. Free for Life International is an NGO dedicated to the identification, assistance and restoration of human trafficking victims and survivors. 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 April 2018 - July 2019). I also help lead Free for Life International's higher education scholarship program and mentorship program for survivors of human trafficking. Please visit www.freeforlifeintl.org to learn more about the work.
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, and practicing classical ballet.