Photo credit: Benn Craig, Belfer Center

I am a PhD candidate in the Political Science Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I am also a pre-doctoral fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. In Fall 2020, I will start as an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of San Diego.
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My research seeks to understand the domestic drivers of states' international behavior, with a focus on China and the Asia-Pacific. My dissertation develops and tests a theory that explains when and why local leaders in China participate in foreign economic coercion. My research has been supported by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, the Confucius China Studies Program, and the Center for International Studies at MIT.
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I am from the Big Island of Hawaii and received a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Journalism from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I also received a Master's degree in International Affairs from Yale University and was previously a Peace Corps Volunteer in Fuling, China.


Photo above: Xi'an, Shaanxi

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