My research examines how disputes over sovereignty, land and identity shape elite strategies, public attitudes, and democratic possibilities. As part of this, I center the often overlooked territories of the United States of America in the Caribbean and the Pacific. In my book-style dissertation project, I examine the mechanisms through which three key dimensions of limited sovereignty—autonomy, dependence, and displacement—shape democratic governance in Puerto Rico. As a Graduate Student Fellow with the Puerto Rico Public Opinion Lab—the first representative panel survey of residents of Puerto Rico—I have developed original measures to capture each of these dimensions and their political consequences. 

In co-authored work, I explore political imagination and possibility among residents of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as the politics of U.S. imperialism and foreign policy.

My work is supported by fellowships and grants such as the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Program and the Rapoport Doctoral Dissertation Grant. As an alumna of the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute and the Summer Research Opportunities Program, I have a strong commitment to mentoring. This is reflected in honors like the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Outstanding Mentorship Award.

I received my B.A. in Political Science from University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, and my M.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan.