Joint Ph.D. University of Michigan, Social Work & Developmental Psychology
M.S., University of Michigan, Developmental Psychology
M.S., Social Work, Columbia University
B.A., Psychology, Clark University

I am a social scientist with joint doctoral training in developmental psychology and social work who studies how adverse environmental exposures shape human development. I am particularly interested in how contact with the U.S. criminal legal system affects developmental processes, with an emphasis on risk and resilience among children and adolescents who have experienced parental incarceration. My critical approach to resilience research involves recognizing the strengths and resources that families mobilize in contexts of accumulated adversity while also drawing attention to the ways in which demands for such resilience are inequitable.

Adverse childhood experiences
Risk and resilience
Adolescent development
Parental incarceration
U.S. criminal legal system

I have provided guidance on these issues at local, state, and national levels, and am currently affiliated with the Appalachian Justice Research Center’s Community Safety Research Collaborative. As part of this work, I am collaborating with local partners to identify community needs and recommendations related to the development of an alternative crisis response team in Knoxville. I also serve on the CEHHS Community Engagement Advisory Board, the Transitions in Care workgroup for the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) study, and the editorial boards of two academic journals.