Welcome!

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at Emory University.

My research focuses on judicial politics, bureaucratic politics, immigration law and policy, and political institutions.

My dissertation research explores how institutional contexts influence the relationship between judicial identities and judicial decision-making. I specifically consider how judges with family histories of immigration make decisions within the immigration court system, and how the hierarchial structures of this court can limit judges’ abilities to extrapolate their knowledge from their experiences into their interpretations of case facts and relevant law. I also consider how the decisions of judges with immigration backgrounds are going to differ based on the racial identity of the judge. I finally consider how the institutional context of this court both encourages individuals with immigrant backgrounds to apply for a judgeship and influences which kinds of individuals get hired.

My research has won the 2024 APSA Law and Courts Best Graduate Student Paper Award and the 2025 SPSA Pi Sigma Alpha/Malcolm Jewell Best Graduate Student Paper Award.

I am also committed to building collaborative research communities. I was the sole organizer for the law and courts working group at Emory, I am a member of Jeffrey Staton’s Immigration Law Lab, and I am a founding member of the Women in Political Science at Emory (WIPS-E) group. Socially, I am known for organizing a department soccer team for the 2023-2024 academic year and hosting many game nights.

Prior to joining Emory University, I received my B.A. in Political Science from Trinity University in 2020, where I received the Heart of Trinity Student Service Award for my impact on the campus body. I am an alum of the McNair Scholars Program, which prepares underrepresented individuals to enter graduate education.