About Me

Assistant professor at UNC-Chapel Hill jointly appointed in Sociology and the School of Data Science and Society.

In 2024 I received a PhD from UC Irvine in Criminology, Law & Society with an emphasis in Race and Justice. I have been recognized with the 2023-24 Haynes Fellowship, the 2022-23 National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research Award, the 2022-23 UC Irvine Public Impact Fellowship, and the 2018-23 Social Ecology Arnie Binder Fellowship. I do fieldwork and manage data for the Shadow Costs project, which tests the impact of rehabilitation classes and monetary sanctions (funded by NSF, NIJ, RSF, and Haynes grants). I am also a member of the Irvine Laboratory for the Study of Space and Crime. My papers have won awards from the American Society of Criminology, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, and the Western Society of Criminology.

My active projects include:

  1. Reconsidering causal theories of neoliberalism - SSSP conference paper here

    2023 Society for the Study of Social Problems Theory Division Student Paper Award

    2024 Western Society of Criminology Miki Vohryzek-Bolden Student Paper Competition

  2. Evaluating the Shadow Costs of treatment programs
  3. Investigating how socioeconomic hardship affects desire for guns
  4. Assessing how gun ownership affects neighborhood socialization

Service

In my professional service I review for the American Sociological Review and Criminology, and have served as an Editorial Assistant for Sociological Perspectives. My service to UC Irvine includes work as a Peer Mentor and Graduate Representative for the Criminology, Law & Society department, and as a Graduate Representative to the School of Social Ecology. In my service to the community, I provide statistics tutoring for inmates at California State Prison Solano, consult with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and work with the Federal Defenders of the 1st Circuit.

Prior Experience and Interests

Before academia, I built models and developed strategies for technology and infrastructure companies as a consultant and data analyst. I earned my bachelors in 2014 at Harvard - with a major in Social Studies and minor in Psychology - and wrote a senior thesis on how police and gun owners idealized gun ownership.

Outside of work, I enjoy culinary experiments (like creating my own beef jerky recipe), being active, and the challenge of playing progressive metal drum parts.