Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice at the University of South Alabama. I earned my PhD in political science from the University of Iowa. I also serve as Senior Research Associate for the USA Survey Research Center and as a Faculty Affiliate with the Center for Public Policy. 

I study the political lives of poor and low-income Americans. I am broadly interested in political behavior, public opinion, and public policy, with a focus on social and health policy. Most of my research asks how and why experiences with means-tested programs like SNAP and TANF shape political participation and attitudes toward government. This process is called policy feedback. I am also interested in how individual characteristics and state policy contexts condition these effects. 

My research has been published in Policy Studies Journal, Political Research Quarterly, JAMA Health Forum, Electoral Studies, Social Science Quarterly, and Political Psychology, among others, and has been supported by a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant from the American Political Science Association and the National Science Foundation. I also have a co-authored book published with the University of Pennsylvania Press.