I am a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Immigration Policy Lab at Stanford University. I received my PhD in Political Science with distinction from Yale University in May 2018. I study refugee crises and humanitarian aid, working in comparative politics and political economy, with a regional focus on the Middle East.
In my work I apply a variety of methods, including experiments and quasi-experiments, qualitative field work, and survey research, to study refugee crises; collective action; conflict and political violence; and humanitarian aid.
In my research on refugee crises, cooperation, and public goods provision, I study how social network structure affects refugee communities’ responses to collective problems.
In related research, I study the relationship between humanitarian aid and violent conflict. I explore the conditions under which humanitarian aid to refugee populations exacerbates, alleviates, or has no effect on conflict.
A number of media outlets have covered my work, including The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, BBC World Service, The Daily Star (Lebanon), and La Croix (France).
I hold a BA from Bates College and an MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School.
Before starting graduate school, I worked for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Syria in 2007 and 2008. From 2008 to 2011, I worked as the Founding Executive Director of A Plate for All, an NGO running food and nutrition programming for Iraqi refugees in Syria. I have also worked in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. State Department in the Middle East Partnership Initiative, and as a researcher for Samantha Power’s 2008 book “Chasing the Flame.”
My research has been supported by Yale University’s MacMillan Center International Dissertation Research Grant, Yale University’s Georg Walter Leitner Program in International and Comparative Political Economy Grant, the Yale University Dissertation Fellowship, the POMEPS Travel-Research-Engagement Grant, the Harvard Kennedy School Dubai Initiative, and the Harvard Kennedy School Center for International Development.