I study intergroup relations and conflict
I study how social boundaries get drawn and fought over — race, ethnicity, class, disability, nationality. A lot of that is a measurement problem. Discrimination and bias are things people try to hide, so you have to find creative ways to see them. The question I keep coming back to is pretty simple — why do people treat those who are different from them so badly, and can anything change that?
This is personal for me. I grew up poor, in a blended, mixed-ethnicity family carrying a lot of multigenerational trauma. I saw discrimination up close — especially along class and ethnic lines. Trailer parks, public housing, never a stable home. That's what drew me to class-based discrimination, which is surprisingly understudied given how much class shapes life chances. I run the Fundamental Needs Lab to focus on this.
I've documented discrimination based on disability, ethnicity, gender, nativity, race, and religion — in the U.S., the Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. I've lived and done fieldwork in all these places. Spending time in different societies helps you see how people decide who gets fair treatment, and how much history and institutions shape those judgments.
I use computational text analysis, machine learning, and large language models — usually alongside experiments — to study these things at scale. Experiments are core to what I do, but I see them as one part of a broader measurement strategy. More recently, I've been testing whether AI itself can be an intervention — whether AI-driven personalized persuasion can actually reduce prejudice.
My work appears in over 40 journals, including the American Journal of Political Science, the American Political Science Review, the British Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, Nature, Nature Human Behavior, Political Analysis, Public Administration Review, and PNAS. I also write for public audiences in outlets like The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, The Diplomat, and South China Morning Post.
This work has been covered by NPR's All Things Considered, CBS News, The Asahi Shimbun, The Atlantic, The Economist, and many other outlets. It's been cited by organizations like the ACLU and in U.S. House testimony and State Department reports. This research has been supported by funding from the American Political Science Association, the Swedish Research Council, the Research Council of Norway, and the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research.
I'm actively involved in the scholarly community in the Asia-Pacific, serving as Associate Editor at the Australian Journal of Political Science and on the editorial boards of the Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, the Japanese Journal of Political Science, and other journals. I'm also Secretary of the Australian Society for Quantitative Political Science.
Across all of this, my goal is to understand how social boundaries translate into unequal treatment — and when, if ever, they can be softened or overcome.
Beyond academia
Before entering academia, I worked across politics, research, journalism, education, design, and data science. These experiences continue to shape how I think and teach.
When I'm not working, I'm usually with my family, exploring new places, practicing yoga, shooting photos, cooking, or playing basketball. I'm endlessly curious about the Asia-Pacific and the former Soviet Union, and I find joy in visiting universities around the world to see how others approach learning and community.
I root for North Melbourne, Manchester United, the Denver Nuggets, and all good basketball.
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