Welcome!

I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado, Denver, and I have a Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. My research examines inequality and Indigenous politics in Latin America, focusing on how state development and land policies shape who participates in politics and on what terms.

My research asks why Indigenous peoples relate to and engage with the state in such different ways. My book project centers on the Mapuche in Chile and examines how state-facilitated resource extraction shapes when Indigenous people reject national identification, mobilize for self-determination, or participate within state institutions. I also have a paper on how land policies affect Mapuche voter registration, and I am leading a community-engaged survey of Mapuche political participation with the Centro de Políticas Públicas at the Universidad Católica de Temuco. This work has been supported by UC Berkeley’s Global, International, and Area Studies, UC Berkeley’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the American Political Science Association.

I also study gender and politics, an interest that began with research on gender-based violence and the security sector. During my master’s at UC Berkeley, I wrote a thesis on the prevalence of peacekeeper-perpetrated sexual abuse and exploitation, and I was a research affiliate at Cornell’s Gender and the Security Sector Lab. Across this work, I am interested in how institutions and the rules that govern them shape women’s safety and political participation. That includes a new project, on how polling place rules shape women’s participation in Chile.

I graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University with a B.A. in government in 2018, and I am an alumna of the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute (RBSI), class of 2018. I am committed to increasing diversity and equity in political science and enjoy mentoring students who are considering graduate school. If you have questions about graduate school or academia, please reach out.

When I am not working, you can find me trying a new exercise routine, playing with my pets, or reading fiction.