About Me

I am completing my Ph.D. in the Department of Political Science at Stony Brook University, where I am co-recipient of the class of 2019 Milton Lodge Award for outstanding graduate student researcher in political science. Broadly speaking, my research interests are in political behavior, political communication, and political psychology in American politics. Specifically, my research focuses on the following question: do people’s social surroundings influence their political values, opinions, and behaviors? My dissertation consists of three papers which each consider the nature of social influence in different political contexts and through a variety of methodological approaches. My work suggests that people's values, much like their opinions and behaviors, are not immutable, but rather a function of social cues. The findings from my research reinforce the idea that people are not practicing politics in a vacuum—their social context has an important influence on their politics.