I am a social scientist whose research to date has focused on aid and social protection in fragile, conflict and violence affected states. My research interests and record are interdisciplinary in nature, simultaneously falling under peace and conflict, political sociology, and social policy sub-fields. While I have published works that employ qualitative methods, I am partial to mixed methodologies and am currently building expertise in computational data science, using text analysis and linked data in particular.
I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Mannheim Center for European Social Research (MZES) at the University of Mannheim, one of Germany’s premier institutions for social science and a global center of excellence for quantitative methodologies. I am currently funded by the Baden-Württemburg Stiftung (Foundation) and am pursuing a project within the sociology department of the center that focuses on “European societies and their integration”. My project, entitled “Barriers and Bridges: The Architecture of Social Cohesion” examines how built-environment variables in European cities influence intergroup contact and produce divergent social-cohesion outcomes.
My current projects include working papers on authoritarian politics and aid, social protection programs, and social cohesion. I also recently authored a reference book with Bloomsbury Academic aimed at the general public, which was just released in February 2026. I am also currently developing my book project on state behavior toward humanitarian aid for publication in an academic press. My future research agenda aims to further my current work on social cohesion and social protection, which have relevance for authoritarian politics and the legacies of conflict and other shocks.
I completed my PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) where I was supported by the LSE Studentship Funding Scheme and where I was subsequently a Fellow. Since 2019 and while completing my PhD, I worked as a research consultant on World Bank projects examining social protection programs in fragile and conflict-affected states. Prior to joining academia, I worked as a conflict and development researcher for a government contractor with US government agencies, the World Bank and the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security.
I completed my master’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service where I concentrated on sub-state conflict and political regimes. I also completed a certificate in Refugees, Migration & Humanitarian Emergencies from the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown. In Montreal, I obtained a BA Honours degree in Geography at Concordia University in 2009 and have since acquired over fifteen years of cumulative experience in the global development and humanitarian sectors.
I have native fluency in both French and English, speak intermediate Spanish, and strive to learn local languages whenever given the chance, though my German is currently pitiful. I have spent most of my life outside of my native countries and have lived and worked in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Africa. I am currently permitted to work in the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union.