I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California - Merced. 

My work examines how vulnerability (real or perceived) shapes sociopolitical and economic outcomes. I am particularly interested in documenting, understanding, and assessing the persuasive potential of historically-oriented political appeals by politicians ranging from Donald Trump to Volodymyr Zelensky. 

My work is published or forthcoming at journals including the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, The Economic Journal, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, and PLOS ONE. It has also been featured in popular press outlets like the Washington Post: Monkey Cage and The Conversation.

I am a Research Affiliate at the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) and the Center for Analytic Political Engagement (CAPE), and a Visiting Research Fellow at The Center for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict at Harris Manchester College, Oxford University. Prior to joining UCM, I was a Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow (2022 - 2023) in the Government Department at Cornell University. I completed my PhD in Political Science at the University of Michigan, an MSc. in Economic History (Research) at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a B.A. in Economics and History at Middlebury College. I am also an alumnus of the United World Colleges initiative.