Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina.

My research sits at the intersection of political violence, authoritarian politics, and political methodology, with a focus on the micro-dynamics of repression and dissent under authoritarian rule. My work so far examines three related questions: why and how states’ intelligence needs drive infiltration and shape repression; how principal–agent problems influence repressive behavior; and how connections among political actors’ condition their incentives for violence.

Given my interest in studying geo-relational behavior, I also work in political methodology and develop network- and spatial-based tools that improve inference in political research.