I am the Research Director at MIT GOV/LAB, in the Department of Political Science at MIT.

I have two streams of research, one that focuses on governance and a second that focuses on foreign policy. At MIT GOV/LAB, I work on projects that examine trust, bureaucracy, and the use of digital technology to improve the citizen-government relationship. I study how governments’ interactions with citizens (through improved service delivery, information provision, or signals of good intent, etc.) affect citizens’ trust in and compliance with the government. Our most recent projects examine how generative AI and online deliberative technologies can strengthen democracy.

In foreign policy, I study how group compositions affect group decision-making in foreign policy. Foreign policy decisions are often made with small groups of advisors, and I examine how experience, positions, and biases in small groups can lead to differences in conversations. I use computational modeling and text analysis of U.S. foreign policy conversations to study these questions.

I use quantitative methods in my research and specialize in policy evaluation using randomized controlled trials. I served as a Methods Specialist with the Office of Evaluation Sciences at the U.S. General Services Administration and conducted research on taxation and public service delivery in Malawi as a part of the EGAP Metaketa Initiative. Prior to my doctoral studies, I was a program manager at Sister Cities International for U.S.-Chinese-African trilateral municipal cooperation projects.

I hold a BSFS in Comparative Studies and an MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University. I received my PhD in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2021.