I received my PhD from Department of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago (August 2019) and my BA in International Studies and French at Butler University (May 2013). I am currently a full-time lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Public Policy at Merrimack College. Working at the intersection of both Comparative and International Politics, I analyze political behavior in both established and transitioning democracies. Specifically, I investigate the political behavior of youth and civil society focusing on political participation, civic engagement, and political socialization. I also possess regional expertise in North Africa and the Middle East with a particular focus on elections, public opinion, and democratization. My research has been published in numerous journals including Democratization, Politics, Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics, and the Journal of North African Studies. I currently have research under review at Representation, PS: Political Science and Politics, and Social Sciences and Humanities. My current projects investigate the factors that impact political behavior across the Middle East and Africa using data from an original survey I fielded during the summer of 2018 in Tunisia, including two survey experiments. I also conducted over 100 qualitative interviews during my field research in Tunisia during the summers of 2014, 2015, and 2016.
My overall objective as an educator and a scholar is to empower young people and communities to act as powerful agents of change. I seek to bridge my teaching and scholarship by working with the public to create new opportunities for collaborative engagement on resolving local and global issues. My work with the American Political Science Association's Institute for Civically Engaged Research, the Publicly Engaged Scholars Forum at Merrimack College, and partnerships with numerous community stakeholders demonstrate this commitment to publicly engaged scholarship and teaching.