My scholarship connects my own life experiences of growing up in a low-income family to empirical evidence. My research agenda to serve economically-disadvantaged children, families, and schools, is energized by this sense of purpose.

My research is motivated by the combination of my personal and professional experiences, during which I observed how misalignment across systems (e.g., child welfare and education) can exacerbate family challenges and lack a necessary grounding in developmental science. Accordingly, my research examines the developmental consequences of children’s experiences of poverty and early adversity, and how children’s contexts fluctuate over time. My work also—experimentally and descriptively—explores how features of schools and school-based interventions can support children so that they can more fully experience the benefits of school. In particular, a prominent line of my research has included studying the medium-term impacts of the Quality Preschool for Ghana intervention on children’s developmental and educational outcomes. Outside of academia, I have apprenticed in federal policy settings (e.g., Office of Community Services, an office of the Administration for Children and Families) where I leveraged developmental science to inform anti-poverty policy and practice decisions.

Prior to doctoral studies, I worked for six years as a Research Associate at the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work serving as a program evaluator for the AdoptUSKids project. When I am not at work, I enjoy hiking and traveling, exploring creative self-expression through fashion, and trying to match my dog’s state of relaxation.