Doctoral Dissertation, May 2024
Running as Resistance: Movement Mobilization and Women’s Candidate Emergence, 2016-2018
My doctoral research leverages a collective action framework to explore the relationship between feminist political organizations and the surge in women’s candidate emergence following the 2016 U.S. election. Specifically, I conduct a frame analysis to examine the strategies used by EMILY’s List’s to mobilize Democratic, pro-choice women to run for office between the 2016 and 2018 U.S. elections. Through this work, I explore the relationships between grassroots activism, electoral politics, and democratic representation, offering novel insights into how movement strategies can influence women’s candidate emergence in American politics.
Research areas: American politics, social movements, discourse analysis, civic and political engagement, and democratic representation.

Master’s Thesis, December 2018
Covert Connections: How ANES Subtle Sexism Measures Predict Attitudes Toward Abortion Access
My master’s thesis utilized 2016 American National Election Studies (ANES) Time Series Study data to examine the relationship between measures sexism and attitudes towards abortion access. The study found that subtler forms of sexism – specifically, the denial of discrimination against women and resentment toward women’s demands for equality – are better predictors of opinions on abortion access than measures of overt sexism. This research provided critical insights into the intersection of sexism and policy preferences, demonstrating how deeply ingrained gender role ideologies can shape public opinion on access to abortion.
Research areas: Reproductive rights, public opinion, secondary data analysis.

Report on the Status of Women and Girls in Sonoma County, 2022-2023, Commission on the Status of Women, Sonoma County, CA
– Secured a competitive $25,000 grant from the California Commission on the Status of Women to develop an initiative aimed at supporting the economic recovery of women affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
– Managed a partnership with the Center for the Advancement of Women to produce a comprehensive Report on the Status of Women in Sonoma County, utilizing data from the Commission and U.S. Census.
– Played a key role in guiding and overseeing the project with the Center, including directing project progress, reviewing and editing drafts, and resolving challenges throughout development.

Research Assistant, Jan. 2019 to May 2020, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
– Served as a research assistant on a project examining the diffusion of ideas in political discourse.
– Employed digital data harvesting methods to gather and organize all known publications related to subaltern studies and Straussian theorists.

Research Assistant, Jan. 2017 to May 2018, Yale University, New Haven, CT/Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
– Assisted scholars from Stony Brook and the Critical Realism Network at Yale University on a research project focused on methodological pedagogy.
– Implemented digital data harvesting techniques to systematically collect data on graduate-level research methods courses across sociology departments in the United States and assess how often universities offer the critical realist approach.
– Developed expertise in the critical realism approach, which examines how societal structures and power relations contribute to social issues such as hate, civil rights violations, bias, prejudice, and discrimination.

Research Assistant, May 2016 to Aug. 2016, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
– Conducted and managed the literature review for a study investigating the dynamics between gender and financial contributions to political campaigns in the United States.
– Reviewed information and clearly communicated findings from qualitative and quantitative studies, resulting in the synthesis of 70 articles.
– Earned co-authorship for substantial contributions to the research project, leading to the publication of “Buying A Voice: Gendered Contribution Careers Among Affluent Political Donors to Federal Elections, 1980-2008” in Sociological Forum, May 2018.
– Prepared PowerPoint materials and co-presented with my colleague on our research at the 2017 American Sociological Association meeting in Montreal, Québec.

Project Coordinator, Jan. 2014 to May 2014, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA
– Served as Project Coordinator for the Sonoma County Women’s Oral History Project (SCWOHP), a collection of stories and artifacts from the Sonoma County women’s movement during the 1960s and 1980s.
– Organized and indexed all project-related documents, data, and memorabilia to ensure their accuracy, accessibility, and long-term preservation.
– Managed the project’s archival process at the U.C. Berkeley Bancroft Library for future research and education.