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I am an Associate Professor of Political Science at Clark University, where I am also affiliated with the program in Women’s and Gender Studies, the Center for Gender, Race, and Area Studies, and the Latin American and Latino Studies Concentration. I earned an MA and a PhD in Political Science from Brown University. I also hold a BA from Tufts University and an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Before pursuing my doctorate, I spent six years as a legislative staffer in the U.S. Congress, including three years each in the Senate and the House of Representatives. I worked on a wide range of issues, from foreign policy and defense to fisheries to retiree healthcare and pension reform. This experience continues to shape my understanding of politics and public policy. 

My research interests include Latino politics, gender and politics, immigration policy, immigrant socialization and participation, and identity politics in the U.S., with a focus on the influence of race, class, and gender. My book, The New Americans?: Immigration, Protest, and the Politics of Latino Identity, was named the Best Book of 2017 by the American Political Science Association’s Latino Caucus. In the book, I analyze how protest and the immigration debate influence Latinos’ sense of belonging in the U.S. The book focuses primarily on an unprecedented wave of protests that occurred in the spring of 2006, in which millions of Latinos mobilized across the U.S. in opposition to a far-reaching immigration proposal. In 2019, I received the Early Career Award from the Midwest Political Science Association Latina/o Caucus. My research has also been published or accepted for publication in a number of journals, including Public Opinion Quarterly, Politics, Groups, and Identities, the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, American Politics Research, the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, and Politics and Religion.

I am a Contributing Editor for Politics, Groups, and Identities and serve on the American Political Science Association’s Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas in the Profession.

My research has been featured in local and national press outlets including the Boston Globe and the Washington Post. I am currently researching a range of projects, including press coverage of immigrants and immigration in the U.S., the relationship between racial resentment and sexist attitudes, the relationship between an American identity and immigration policy attitudes across racial/ ethnic groups, the role of religious beliefs and race/ ethnicity in shaping public opinion about in vitro fertilization and abortion, and the role of religion in influencing Latino political behavior. 

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