I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Global Studies at the University of Tennessee at Martin. I am an International Relations scholar with a primary focus on conflict studies and international security. My research examines how states with limited administrative or coercive capacity shape conflict dynamics through alternative governance strategies, specifically, how the strategic delivery of public services builds state legitimacy and, in turn, reduces the likelihood of civil conflict in fragile and conflict-affected states. I study these dynamics empirically through the politics of vaccination campaigns in sub-Saharan Africa, drawing on large-scale quantitative analysis and qualitative fieldwork in Senegal and Kenya to connect institutional design to lived political outcomes. I am also an Affiliate of the Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University, where my research engages questions of polycentric governance and multi-level learning in conflict-affected settings.

My work has been published in the Journal of Peace Research, International Interactions, and Population and the Environment I have also contributed a solicited policy report for The Stimson Center and an op-ed for Political Violence @ A Glance (now archived) on the relationship between environmental variability and civilian targeting in Africa. I have a manuscript currently under review at the Journal of Modern African Studies examining how legitimacy-building through health delivery depends on multi-level governance dynamics between international organizations, state actors, and local communities, tracing the mechanism qualitatively through the DRC's management of successive Ebola outbreaks. 

I co-organize the Junior Scholars in Quantitative Conflict Research Workshop, a virtual community for PhD students, postdocs, and early-career faculty working on conflict using quantitative methods. The workshop offers feedback on works-in-progress, practice job talks, and networking opportunities in a supportive and rigorous environment. Learn more about the workshop here.

My dissertation, From Syringes to Stability: The Legitimizing Power of Vaccinations in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (Indiana University, 2025), establishes the empirical foundation for my research agenda. Drawing on an original panel dataset covering vaccination coverage for fifteen pathogens across more than 190 countries from 1980 to 2022, I show that reaching specific immunization thresholds produces measurable increases in state legitimacy in subsequent years, and that those legitimacy gains are associated with a meaningfully decreased likelihood of civil conflict. This project has developed into an active publication pipeline, with manuscripts currently under review and in preparation for submission.

This website contains information about my research and teaching. My Google Scholar profile can be found here. My LinkedIn profile can be found here. My ORCID and ResearchGate profiles can be found below.