Positions

University of Kentucky, Martin School of Public POlicy and Administration

Assistant Professor, 2018-present

Library of Congress, Article ONE SCholar in residence

June 2022-December 2022

Skills

Data Analyst, Quantitative and Qualitative Researcher, Communication Specialist, and Research Manager

Quantitative & Qualitative Research and Analysis

o   Expertise in data cleaning, storage, management, and analysis.

o   Expertise with linear regression and multivariate analysis

o   Proficiency in R, Stata, and Excel.

o   Experience with text analysis

o   Experience in survey design.

o   Experience in ethnographic work.

Research Managment

o   Projects both research-focused and initiative-focused seen from initiation to closing.

o   Management of projects led to both individual work (book project) as well as collaborative projects (refereed articles, education initiatives, weekly deliverables).

o   Held meetings with collaborators and stakeholders to ensure goals were achieved and deadlines met.

Writing/Production

o   Technical writing and writing for the general public on a variety of topic areas using quantitative research.

o   Proficiency with Microsoft Word to create readable and understandable documents.

Public Speaking and Presentation Skills

o   Presented to a variety of audiences with varying levels and skillsets in topic areas.

o   Took complicated topics and distilled them down for easier accessibility for audiences.

o   Expertise and proficiency in Microsoft PowerPoint, including writing presentations and ensuring presentation accessibility.

Mentoring

o   Worked with a wide variety of different individuals and groups to help improve performance and give guidance on projects.

publications

Peer-reviewed

“Gendered Agenda Building: How Women Politicians Curate Diverse Issue Agendas”. Forthcoming. Mass Communication and Society.(with Nichole Bauer and Ayla Oden).

“Sit Still, Talk Pretty: Partisan Differences Among Women Candidates’ Campaign Appeals.” 2023. Journal of Women, Politics and Policy. (with Maggie MacDonald and Whitney Hua).

"Negative Sentiment and Congressional Cue-taking on Social Media" 2023. PS: Politics and Political Science. (with Maggie MacDonald and Whitney Hua).

“Polarizing Pandemic Rhetoric: Senators’ Constituent Communication on Twitter” 2022. Congress & the Presidency. (with Tanya Gardner Roodhouse).

"Different Chambers, Divergent Rhetoric: Institutional Differences and Policy Representation on Social Media" 2022. American Politics Research. (with Sarah Ausmus Smith).

“When and why do MPs ask questions to the minister? A study of opposition behavior in the Danish parliament” 2022. Acta Politica. (with Christoffer Green-Pedersen, Peter Mortensen, Matt Loftis and Rebecca Eissler).

“Conditional Presidential Priorities: Audience-Driven Agenda Setting.” 2022. American Politics Research. (with Rebecca Eissler)

“Constituent Connections: Senators’ Reputation Building in the Age of Social Media.” 2022. Journal of Information, Technology and Politics.

“The Influence of Policy and Context on Teachers’ Social Media Use.” Forthcoming. The British Journal of Educational Technology. (with Spencer Greenhalgh and Josh Rosenberg).

“What’s in a Name? Policy and Media Agenda Setting” Forthcoming. The Agenda Setting Journal. (with Rebecca Eissler).

“Gendered Priorities? Policy Communication in the U.S. Senate.” 2021. Congress and the Presidency.

“Senate Representation on Twitter: National Policy Reputations for Constituent Communication.” 2021. Social Science Quarterly. 102(1).

“Tweeting for Hearts and Minds: Measuring Candidates’ Use of Anxiety in Tweets During the 2018 Midterm Election.” 2020. PS: Political Science and Politics. 53(4): 652-656.

“Minority Opposition and Asymmetric Parties? Senators’ Partisan Rhetoric on Twitter.” 2020. Political Research Quarterly.

“What Drives US Congressional Members’ Policy Attention on Twitter?”  2020. Policy & Internet. (with Libby Hemphill and Angela Schöpke‐Gonzalez)

“Deepening the Concept of ‘Compelling Arguments’: Linking the Substantive and Affective Dimensions of Attributes in Assessing the Effects of Climate Change News on Public Opinion.” 2020. The Agenda Setting Journal. 4(2). (with Maxwell McCombs, Hong Tien Vu and Paromita Pain).

“The Politics of Prioritization:  Senators’ Attention in 140 Characters” 2019. The Forum. 16(2): 331-356. 

"U.S. Senators on Twitter: Asymmetric Party Rhetoric in 140 Characters" 2017. American Politics Research. 46(4): 695-732.

“New Avenues for the Study of Agenda Setting.” 2014.
Policy Studies Journal. 42: 71-86. (with Bryan Jones and Rebecca Eissler)

Book

“Tweeting is Leading: How Senators Communicate and Represent in the Age of Twitter.” 2021. University of Oxford Press.

Book Chapters

"Fear and Loathing on Twitter: Exploring Negative Rhetoric in Tweets During the 2018 Midterm Election" 2020. eds. Sean Foreman and Marcia Godwin. The Roads to Congress 2018. Palgrave Macmillan

“The Media and Policy”
2018. Ed. John Hird. Policy Analysis in the U.S. (with Maxwell McCombs)

“The Policy Agendas Project.”
2016. American Governance. (with Rebecca Eissler)

“On Punctuated Equilibrium Approaches”
2016. Contemporary Approaches to Public Policy. Ed. Philippe Zittoun and B. Guy Peters (with Bryan Jones and Rebecca Eissler)

“Local Government Agenda Setting”
2016. Handbook on Agenda Setting. Ed. Nikolaos Zahariadis. (with Peter Mortensen and Rebecca Eissler)

"From Crisis to Stasis: Media Dynamics and Issue Attention in the News”
2016. Ed. Shanto Iyengar. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. (with Amber Boydstun)

“Media and the Policy Agenda”
2016. Ed. Shanto Iyengar. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. (with Bryan Jones and Maraam Dwidar)

Works in Progress

“Sit Still, Talk Pretty: Partisan Differences Among Female Candidates’ Campaign Appeals.” Revise and Resubmit. (with Whitney Hua).

“Yass Queen F*ck it Up: Gendered Emotional Appeals on Facebook” Revise and Resubmit.(with Maggie MacDonald and Whitney Hua).

“Two platforms, Two audiences: Not all constituent communication is equal.”

“The Electoral Affect: A Time-Series Cross-Section of Elite Policy Attention on Twitter.”

conference presentations

2019

“From Rhetoric to Record: Measuring Expressed and Legislative Agendas in Congress.” American Political Science Association.

“Tough Choices in Congress: Communicating as a Policy Wonk or Constituent Servant.” Southern Political Science Association.

“The Tug of War: Presidential and Media Agenda Setting in Press Conferences.” With Rebecca Eissler. Southern Political Science Association.

2018

“Sit Still, Look Pretty? In Congress.” American Political Science Association.  

“Sit Still, Look Pretty? Gender Tweets in the U.S. Senate.” Midwest Political Science Association.

2017

“From Major to Macro: A Macro Model of Policy Topics”
Comparative Agendas Project Conference. Edinburgh

“Impact of Media Agendas: Pulitzer Prize Journalism”
With Amber Boydstun. Comparative Agendas Project Conference. Edinburgh

“The Politics of Prioritization: Party Influence on Senators’ Attention”
Midwest Political Science Association

“The Tug of War: Presidential and Media Agenda Setting in the First 100 Days”
Midwest Political Science Association

"U.S. Senators on Twitter: Partisan Rhetoric in 140 Characters”
Southern Political Science Association

2016

“Agenda Setting on Twitter: An Emerging Venue for Policy and Political Priorities”
Comparative Agendas Project Conference. Geneva, Switzerland

2015

“Individual Agendas: Communicating Domestic Violence Information in 140 Characters”
American Political Science Association

“Congressional Cues: Simultaneously Communicating Policy and Political Information in 140 Characters”
Comparative Agendas Project Conference. Lisbon, Portugal

"Representation and Health Outcomes”
With Rebecca Eissler and Eric McDaniel. Southern Political Science Association

2014

“#Corresponding Conversations: Public Issue Priorities and Elite Issue Priorities on Twitter”
Comparative Agendas Project Conference. Konstanz, Germany

“Pulling Back the Curtain: Does Twitter Offer A New Window Into Established Policy Communities?”
Midwest Political Science Association

"Minority Representation and Minority Health"
With Rebecca Eissler and Eric McDaniel. Midwest Political Science Association

“The Evolution of Twitter Messages Before, During and After the May 20th Tornado in Moore, Oklahoma”
With Joe Ripberger, Carol Silva and Hank Jenkins-Smith). American Meteorological Society Conference

Project Management experience

university of texas

Graduate Director — 2017

Policy Agendas Project

Director of Undergraduate Research — 2015-2017

Policy Agendas Project

Graduate Research Assistant — 2016-2017

Professor Rhonda Evans

aarhus university

Visiting Researcher — 2015

Political Parties and Issue Strategies

Causes and Policy Consequences in Agenda Setting

university of oklahoma

Graduate Research Assistant — 2013-2014

Center for Applied Social Research

Teaching experience

university of Kentucky

Assistant Professor

Policy Process and Implementation

Policy Analysis

university of texas

Undergraduate Education Director

Policy Agendas Project

Teaching Assistant

Research on the U.S. Congress

Professors: Bryan Jones and Sean Theriault

Intro to American Government

Professor: John McIver

Congress

Professor: Sean Theriault

Guest Instructor

U.S. Congress

Food and Politics

The U.S. Congress (graduate seminar)

university of oklahoma

Teaching Assistant

American Government

Professor: Jim Sheffield

EDUCATION

University of Texas at Austin

Ph.D., Government,  2018

M.A., Government, 2014

Fields: American Politics, Public Policy

University of Aarhus

Political Science Guest Researcher, 2015

University of Oklahoma

B.A., Political Science, 2011

B.A., Journalism, 2011

Expertise

Communication

Digital Politics, Social Media Campaigns, Public Affairs, Crisis Communication, Political Brands

American Politics

Political Institutions, Legislative Politics, Political Communication, Representation, Social Media in Congress

Public Policy

Congress, Government Relations, Policy Process, Policy Outcomes, Decision-Making, Policy Analysis

additional training

Content Analysis in the Social Sciences
University of Texas, 2017

Supervised Teaching in Government
University of Texas, 2017

Visions in Methodology
University of California-Davis, 2016

Summer Statistics Institute
Text-as-Data, Multi-level modeling, Time Series University of Texas, 2013-2014

Media & Communication experience

Texas Tribune
Research Intern, 2012

News21: Voting Rights in America
Student Fellow and Blog Editor, 2012

Congressional Quarterly
Legislation Action Team, 2012

The Oklahoman
Copy Editor, 2011

OklahomaWatch
Legislative Research, 2011

National Journal
Online and Multimedia Team, 2010

The San Francisco Chronicle
Sports Copy Desk, 2010

Office of Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Jari Askins
Media Relations, 2009-2010

KGOU/KROU
Operations Assistant, 2008-2009

Democratic National Convention
ABC/CBN, 2008

Referee service

Policy Studies Journal, American Politics Research, Urban Affairs Review, Social Science Quarterly, Public Administration Review, American Political Science Review, Political Research Quarterly, The Agenda Setting Journal

fellowships and awards

Fellowships

2020
Article One Fellowship, Library of Congress

2017-2018
Graduate Studies Continuing Fellowship

2015-2016
Teaching Assistant Fellowship

2012-2013
Malcolm McDonald Fellowship

2010
Reynolds Fellowship

2010-2011
McMahon Scholar Fellowship

Awards & Grants

2022
APSA Centennial Center

2022
UK Research and Creative Activities

2020
Center for Effective Lawmaking

2019
Dirksen Center Grant

2017
SPSA Professional Development Award

2016
Visions in Methodology Conference Grant

2015
Aarhus University Guest Research Grant

APSA Professional Development Award

2014-2017
Pickle Chair Travel Award