I am a Ph.D. candidate, trained in Political Science (M.A. Political Science, American Politics w/distinction), in the interdisciplinary Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at the University of California- Santa Barbara (UCSB). I am currently on the job market. I live in Goleta, CA and work at UCSB which are located on unceded Indigenous Chumash ancestral lands and waters.

Creating effective policy solutions for the 21st century requires understanding the contemporary and historical roots of political conflict. My research examines how policy change shapes identity and political behavior. Students leave my classes with experience applying data and contemporary research to issues they care about and confident they can facilitate the solutions we need!

Research: I study the role public policy plays in empowering identity groups that can be mobilized. My book-style dissertation investigates this question by combining quasi-experimental and qualitative research methods to identify the causes and consequences of policy conflict in the American West. I show that changes in federal land use policies created grievances among institutionally privileged groups and elites mobilize these grievances into anti-establishment behaviors. These policy changes make historically powerful groups and communities receptive to nostalgic appeals today. My job market paper examines the effects of federal land policy changes on governance nostalgia- a longing to restore a locality’s perceived ability to influence government processes and outcomes- as well as anti-establishment beliefs and behaviors via support for constitutional sheriffs, Republican Party sorting, and Tea Party support in rural communities in the West.

I am particularly interested in understanding how historical group power and conflict over policy shape public opinion, political behavior, and environmental outcomes more broadly. My research sheds light on how contemporary actors within institutions and interest groups can tailor their behavior and policies to address historically rooted social and environmental conflict.

Teaching: We need passionate students who can think and act politically to create policy solutions to complex ecological and social problems like climate change and polarization. Centering complex, salient problems in my courses engages students and helps them learn to evaluate the interconnected causes of distributional and environmental problems. Then, having students apply data and research to those problems and issues they care about creates authentic learning opportunities and generates ownership in their learning. To get my students to these higher order goals, I use responsive teaching and scaffolding which builds supportive learning environments.

I have mentored Honors thesis projects, speak fluent Spanish, and look forward to meeting you!

Please consider financially supporting the yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini, Northern Chumash’s efforts to preserve their language and land back fund via their ytt Northern Chumash Nonprofit and/or find out whose ancestral lands and waters you work and live on.