Welcome!

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Merced and a Faculty Affiliate at the Center for Analytic Political Engagement. Previously, I have held positions at The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, ITAM, Innovations for Poverty Action in Mexico, and the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies. I hold a Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego.

I study the politics of violence and illicit criminal orders, with much of my research focusing on criminal organizations and their interactions with the state. I explore these themes through original data and multi-method designs combining quantitative, qualitative, and formal approaches. I am the co-founder and Lead Investigator of the Mapping Criminal Organizations (MCO) project, which seeks to generate systematic data on criminal groups in Mexico. 

You can find my CV here.