Welcome! I am currently a Dean’s Research Associate (Postdoc-to-Assistant Professor) in the Department of Political Science at Michigan State University. In August 2024, I received my PhD from the Department of Government at Cornell University. I am also a Research Affiliate with the Gender and Security Sector Lab and the Eliminating Violence Against Women Lab.
Previously, I was a Research Fellow in the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School; a Predoctoral Fellow with the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego; a USIP-Minerva Peace and Security Scholar; and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.
My research agenda examines the political causes and consequences of gender-based violence, with an emphasis on women’s political behavior and development in conflict-affected countries. More specifically, my dissertation considers:
How gender-based violence shapes political behavior
The role of gender-based violence on state development
Women’s public services and justice preferences
In other work, I study the role of domestic and international actors on violence and the intersection of gender, public opinion, and civic engagement. Across my research, I use large-scale administrative data, original survey experiments, in-depth interviews, and historical case studies to examine how gender and violence shape interactions with the political world.
My work has been published in International Studies Quarterly, PS: Political Science & Politics, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and has been featured in major media outlets including The Washington Post. My research has received support from the American Political Science Association, National Science Foundation, and the Empirical Study of Gender Research Network, among others.
In recognition of my contributions to access, diversity, and equity in academia, I was selected as a Bouchet Scholar by Cornell University and a New York University Faculty First-Look Scholar in 2023. I served as the graduate student representative on the APSA Women, Gender, and Politics Research Section Executive Committee from 2023-2024. If you are interested in learning more about graduate school, research, and funding opportunities, please reach out.
I am a proud first-generation, Mexican-American woman with roots in the South. I am from a small, rural town in Central Florida where I spent most of my life. I love spending time with my family and loved ones, road trips along the East Coast, and representing the distinct communities that made me.
