I am an assistant professor in the School of Criminology & Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. My research interests include criminal record stigma, desistance, and how people evaluate positive credentials alongside criminal records.

I received my Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University at Albany and hold a MA and BA in Sociology and Criminal Justice from the University of Delaware. Before returning to graduate school, I was a research associate at the Urban Institute for three years, where I was involved in data collection, project management, and qualitative and quantitative data analysis.

My dissertation research was funded as a 2016-2017 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Graduate Research Fellow and I was awarded the University at Albany’s Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2018. I am a recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Young Experimental Criminologist Award (Academy of Experimental Criminology) and the 2021 Ruth Shonle Cavan Young Scholar Award (American Society of Criminology).

Most recently, my colleague Rod Brunson and I received funding support from the National Science Foundation for our project Navigating Mainstream Institutions and Non-Traditional Alternatives Post-Incarceration. Data collection with formerly incarcerated men and women is currently underway with our PhD students, Oscar Navarro-Alvarez and Ayanna Miller-Smith. 

In 2022, Ben Struhl (co-PI), Stefan LoBuglio (consultant) and I will be starting up a new NIJ grant with PhD student Abigail Ballou. In All Reentry is Local, we are working with the MA DOC and Hampden County Sheriff’s office to evaluate a novel “step-down” reentry program. Program participants within about a year of release from state prison transfer to the county jail to finish serving their sentence and step down to lower security levels while receiving enhanced services.