I received my PhD from the Political Science Department 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 established and transitioning democracies. Specifically, I investigate the political behavior of youth 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, democratization, and foreign policy. My research has been published in the journal Democratization, Politics and the Journal of North African Studies. I currently have research under review at Electoral Studies, PS: Political Science and Politics (revise and re-submit), Studies in Comparative International Development, and the Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics (revise and re-submit). My current projects investigate the factors that impact youth political participation across the MENA region with a specific focus on Tunisia's new democracy using data from an original survey I fielded during the summer of 2018 in Tunisia. My survey includes two experiments used to assess the impact of differential social norms and descriptive representation on voting behavior. I also conducted over 100 qualitative interviews during my field research in Tunisia during the summers of 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018.