Welcome! I am a PhD Candidate in the Department of Government at Cornell University. I am also a Research Fellow in the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School; a Predoctoral Fellow with the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego; the Gordon Morgan Fellow at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; and a USIP-Minerva Peace and Security Scholar this academic year. I am also a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a Research Affiliate with the Gender and Security Sector Lab and the Eliminating Violence Against Women Lab. Prior to this, I was an American Political Science Association (APSA) Public Scholar and an APSA EPOVB Early-Career Fellow. In Fall 2024, I will join the Department of Political Science at Michigan State University as a Dean’s Research Associate.
My research agenda examines the political causes and consequences of gender-based violence, with an emphasis on women’s political behavior and development in conflict-afflicted countries. More specifically, my dissertation considers:
How gender-based violence shapes political behavior
The role of gender-based violence on state development
Women’s public services and justice preferences
In other work, I study the role of domestic and international actors on violence and the intersection of gender, public opinion, and civic engagement. Across my research, I use large-scale administrative data, original survey experiments, in-depth interviews, and historical case studies to examine how gender and violence shape interactions with the political world.
My work has been published or is forthcoming in International Studies Quarterly, PS: Political Science & Politics, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and has been featured in major media outlets including The Washington Post. My research has received support from the American Political Science Association, National Science Foundation, and the Empirical Study of Gender Research Network, among others.
In recognition of my contributions to access, diversity, and equity in academia, I was selected as a Bouchet Scholar by Cornell University and a New York University Faculty First-Look Scholar in 2023. For the 2023-2024 Academic Year, I serve as the graduate student representative on the APSA Women, Gender, and Politics Research Section Executive Committee. If you are interested in learning more about graduate school, research, and funding opportunities, please reach out.
I am a proud first-generation, Mexican-American woman with roots in the South. I am from a small, rural town in Central Florida where I spent most of my life. I love spending time with my family and loved ones, road trips along the East Coast, and representing the distinct communities that made me.
Education
Ph.D., Government, 2024 (expected)
Cornell University
M.A., Government, 2021
Cornell University
B.A., International and Global Studies, 2018
University of Central Florida
Research and Teaching Interests
Gender and politics
Political violence
Comparative political behavior
Latin American Politics
Comparative political institutions
Field research methods