I am the director of the Center for the Study of Global Issues (GLOBIS) and an associate professor in the Department of International Affairs within the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) at the University of Georgia. I am also the Co-Founder and Methodology Research & Design Lead for the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI). I received my PhD in political science from Binghamton University in 2012. 

My work focuses primarily on the measurement, causes, and consequences of governments' human rights practices. I have participated in several projects working to produce valid and reliable quantitative data on human rights worldwide, including the CIRI Human Rights Data Project, the Worker Rights in Law & Practice Data Project (WorkR), and the Sub-National Analysis of Repression Project (SNARP). This work led to the co-founding of HRMI, a global initiative that produces data through collaboration between human rights advocates, practitioners, and scholars. HRMI’s data and visualizations are freely available on the HRMI Rights Tracker.

Beyond my work on measurement, I have published research on the political economy of human rights abuse, as well as how human rights practices are affected by non-governmental organizations, economic sanctions, and US troop deployments. More detailed information on my research, teaching, and recent activities can be found at the links above and below.   

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