Department of Sociology and Criminology

Professional Bio

My research examines the nature and consequences of social well-being as it exists separately from mental, physical, and economic well-being. Specifically, I am interested in how the development and perception of social connections in adolescence influences substance use and other health behaviors throughout the life course and across physical space.

Current Projects

I have ongoing collaborations examining policing intervention strategies, causal matching methods, secondary data availability, the association between adolescent community relationships and substance use, and the impact of the structure of spatial social media networks on county-level health outcomes. My master’s thesis examined the relationship between the intersection of loneliness and social isolation and prescription painkiller use among adolescents.