My research springs from the question of how to make democracy work better in the context of large-scale environmental problems, primarily climate change.
My work considers how civic organizations and social movements stimulate political participation and form coalitions, with a focus on the climate justice movement. I have studied efforts to engage people in small-dollar campaign finance and environmental activism, how environmental attitudes affect behavior, and how Members of Congress learn their constituents’ opinions. My current research examines state- and federal-level coalitions of environmental and labor groups advocating policies to address climate change.
After receiving my Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, I was a Postdoctoral Associate in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. Prior to academia, I worked as a climate policy researcher at the World Resources Institute. I received my B.A. in Political Science from Haverford College.