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 summer of 2020. 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 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 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. 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 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 summer of 2020. 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 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 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. 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 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.