Welcome.

I am an assistant professor at Texas State University in the Department of Political Science in the Masters of Public Administration Program. I previously served as a post-doctoral research fellow in the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University. I earned my PhD in Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The central goal of my career is to improve policy using a data-driven approach. I use policy and public administration theoretical frameworks, coupled with rigorous research designs, and advanced econometric methods, to answer policy-relevant questions. Substantively, my interests lie at the intersection of economics, public health, and the environment. I examine how economies react to shocks (e.g., hurricanes), and identify moderating conditions (e.g., entrepreneurship). My independent research has been funded by the Kenan Institute for Private Enterprise. My research has appeared in leading journals, such as the Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Economic Development Quarterly, the Journal of Regional Science, and JAMA Pediatrics,.