I am an Assistant Professor of International Studies at Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu. I joined the faculty at HPU in 2017 and teach courses in Political Science, International Studies, and Diplomacy and Military Studies. I received my PhD in Political Science from the University of Kentucky in 2015.  

My research focuses on terrorism and political violence with a regional specialization in South Asia.  I have a regional interest in South Asia, but a broad interest in terrorism, conflict, International Relations of Asia, development, nationalism, gender, and the Islamic world. 

I have taught several courses including: International Relations of Asia, Graduate Seminar in International Relations, Intro. to Politics,  Comparative Politics, World Politics, Culture and Politics of the Developing World, an upper level specialized courses on ISIS and terrorism in the Islamic world,  terrorism & political violence, the politics of South Asia, and research methods (qualitative and quantitative).  


Prior to starting my PhD I worked as an Anti-Money Laundering Analyst at UBS bank in Stamford CT. I also worked as an English teacher in Nanping, Fujian Province, China. I have also interned for the Countering Violent Extremism initiative at the East-West Institute in New York City.