I’m an Assistant Professor of Sociology at New Mexico State University. I earned my Ph.D. from the Department of Sociology at the University of Colorado Boulder, where I was an affiliate in the Institute of Behavioral Science for the CU Population Center.

Research

My work question multiple conceptualizations of violence, immigration, and policies regulating migration and asylum. My areas of research and teaching expertise include international migration, race and ethnic relations, the social dimensions of immigration policies, U.S.-Mexico border relations, undocumented migration, and qualitative research.

My research focuses on two main areas: the impacts of state power on migrant and border lives, and the production and reproduction of violence, especially on the U.S-Mexico border. I specialize in ethnographic methods, but I have also been trained in various quantitative analytic approaches. In addition to standard ethnographic techniques, my work has engaged in participant photography, where research participants document their social environment. I have also used drone and camera images as photographic evidence to create interacting mappings that record sites, forms, and conditions of migrant camps.