I am an Assistant Professor of Public Policy in the Department of Political Science at Purdue University with expertise in global environmental governance. My research integrates international relations scholarship and cognitive theory to study actor motivations, policy and institutional design in global climate change politics and diplomacy. Future-thinking, moral reasoning, and emotions, such as hope, are among the mental processes I study in the context of international climate negotiations.

I also explore governance challenges at the science-policy and science-society interfaces that impact societies’ responses to climate change. These challenges include the use of scientific knowledge in policy and governance decisions, the role of ideologies in advancing or preventing effective societal responses to climate change, and meaning-making processes related to the Anthropocene and social tipping points.

I hold a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Ph.D. in Global Governance from the University of Waterloo (Canada). Before joining Purdue, I was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University. I am a member of a number of interdisciplinary scholarly networks, including the Resilience Alliance and the Beijer Young Scholars.