I entered the University of Cincinnati as an undergraduate in 1995. In 1999 I graduated with honors in sociology and earned a scholarship to graduate school in the Sociology Department at UC. For my thesis work, I extended an internship project that I started as an undergrad at the campus Women’s Center into an in-depth quantitative analysis of women’s undergraduate experience at the University of Cincinnati. When the project was completed, I presented a copy to the Women’s Center for use in program development and outreach.

After defending my MA thesis in 2002, I worked as Director of the Community Resource Center at a branch campus of UC in rural Ohio- Clermont College. Here, I provided crisis intervention and support services for students and was an adjunct professor of sociology and women’s studies. During this time I realized that I loved teaching and missed research. After four years at Clermont I left this position to study for my PhD at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada.

I chose the program at Windsor for its specialization in social justice, and because a number of faculty at Windsor use their academic work in service to the community. Studying at Windsor has given me the opportunity to work with a number of prominent researchers. Barry Adam, for example, has made a prolific career studying social movements, social theory, sexuality, and HIV/AIDS. In addition to his University Professorship at Windsor, Dr. Adam holds a position as Senior Scientist and Director of Prevention Research at the Ontario HIV Treatment Network. I also have the privilege of working with Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Social Justice and Sexual Health. Dr. Maticka-Tyndale studies sexuality and sexual health, including HIV prevention, in Canada and abroad (Kenya and Nigeria) and was recently named a "Fellow" of the Society of the Scientific Study of Sexuality.

My dissertation research explores the gay marriage movement in the US from a social movement perspective, identifying the forces at work in shaping its successes and failures. Specifically, I will undertake a comparative regional analysis of the gay marriage movement in Massachusetts (located in one of the most liberal regions in the US and the first state to legalize gay marriage) and the gay marriage movement in Kentucky (located in one of the most conservative US regions, this state fails to recognize many aspects of equal rights for gays and lesbians, including the right to marry). This will be a qualitative project combining historical and documentary analyses of the movements for and against gay marriage in both states, with interview data from activists and legislators highlighting strategies used by proponents of gay marriage to challenge the opposition.

Broadly speaking these are my research interests: social movements and social change, social inequality, social constructions and implications of race, class, gender, and sexuality, historical/comparative sociology, and qualitative methods. I have also worked in the areas of moral regulation and moral panic, law and governance, and HIV/AIDS education.