I grew up in Princeton Junction, New Jersey, and first became interested in political science in high school. I continued to develop my interest in the social sciences while completing my undergraduate education at the University of Pennsylvania. After two years of working following college, I received a university-wide assistantship from the University of Georgia to pursue a Master's of Public Administration. While there, I realized I wanted to continue my education with a PhD in political science. I also interned at the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Summer 2007, where I spent the summer preparing research on emergency supplemental appropriations and interviewing bureaucrats from the Federal Emergency Management Agency about organizational dysfunction following Hurricane Katrina.

At Berkeley, I was privileged to work with dedicated faculty who helped me hone my research interests. In my spare time, I enjoy hanging out with my family, hiking and exercise, photography, film, listening to music, slowly becoming snobbier about food, and watching humorous videos on the internet.