Sociologist, Postdoctoral Scholar, Data Scientist

I am interested in how social inequalities influence young people’s access to and returns from social capital in networks and across social domains such as school, family, and mentorship. Professional opportunities are shaped by the distribution of tangible and intangible resources available to people through social connection and embeddedness. My current research focuses on how these factors affect adolescents as they transition into adulthood. I also study social capital in collaboration networks in music, and positional segregation (a.k.a “stacking”) in sports.

• Google Scholar

Research

Adolescence and Social Capital

1. Intersectional bonds: Delinquency, arrest, and changing family social capital during adolescence
2. Exploring Gendered Stereotypes: Sports Participation and Adolescent Closeness to Mothers
3. Paternal Closeness in Adolescence: The Association of Sports and Gender
4. The Ties That Bond?: Social Capital in Families

Collaboration and Networks

1. Collaborating with Competitors: Exploring Network Mechanisms that Drive the Benefits of Collaboration in Music.
2. Cultural Ties in American Sociology

Sports

1. Athlete activism and the role of personal and professional positionality: The case of Naomi Osaka
2. Do Status Characteristic-Based Stereotypes Influence Opportunities in Monoracial Settings? The Case of the National Hockey League
3. A Shame of Inches: Teams with Black Head Coaches are Penalized more in Division 1 College Football.
4. The White House’s Response to Black Athletes’ Protests: Critically Analyzing Social Processes Between Leadership in Sports and Government.

Other Publications

1. Pandemic Job Separation and Psychological Distress: Modeling Chains of Adversity.

Teaching

Substantive

• SOC 202 Introduction to Sociology
• SOC 205 Jobs and Work

Methods

• Peer Scholars Program - Social Network Analysis
• Asynchronous - Social Network Analysis

Example Teaching Material

Two Mode Networks

This is an activity I created using Harry Potter data. It is designed to teach students how to map two mode networks and projecting the duality between characters and groups. I collected the data from the Harry Potter Wiki.

First, mapping characters’ relationships to groups in the serries.

Second, I have studnets take a look at the symbolic connections between students who share group affiliations.

Third, I have student stake a look at the symbolic connections between groups who share students. An obvious “good” and “bad” divide here!