I am an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut as well as a Visiting Democracy Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

I conduct policy-relevant research on terrorism, insurgency, cyber warfare, mass violence, and popular uprisings. More specifically, my work typically combines both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand how armed organizations behave. For instance, my book, Divided Not Conquered: How Rebels Fracture and Splinters Behave (Oxford University Press, 2022), explores why militant groups divide, how splinter factions emerge, and how they eventually behave. In other research projects, I explore why armed groups make and sustain alliances, why and when terrorists innovate, how states and nonstate groups operate in cyberspace, why mass killings occur and persist, and why militants recruit certain kinds of members. 

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My work has been published in journals such as International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Security Studies. I have worked with or consulted for a variety of governmental and nongovernmental organizations. I also previously held fellowships at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University and the Krulak Center at the Marine Corps University.