I finished my PhD in Geography at UTK in December 2019 under the direction of Drs. Micheline van Riemsdijk (now Uppsala) and Derek Alderman. My dissertation research focused on refugee resettlement in the southeastern U.S. in the wake of Trump-era policy cuts to the third-country resettlement program. 

The project analyzed refugees’ experiences in this context, and explored the role of faith-based third-sector resettlement volunteers to understand how integration works for resettled refugees. While at UTK, I served as a GA and GTA in a range of classes, and also held positions as VP and President of the esteemed GeoGrads organization. 

After graduation, I taught at Arkansas Tech University before joining the tenure-track faculty at Northwest Missouri State University as an Assistant Professor of Geography where I teach classes in human geography and research methods. I’ve recently received a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation (https://www.russellsage.org/news/rsf-gates-foundation-pipeline-grants-awarded-emerging-scholars-2021;https://www.russellsage.org/awarded-project/integration-resettled-refugees-us-midwest) to support fieldwork research on refugee resettlement in the Midwest. When not at work, I spend my time obsessing over my cat (new cat mom here), reading, and trying new recipes. I’m outside any chance I can get — and while I’ll always miss the green mountains of east TN, the rolling hills out here in the prairie aren’t too shabby, either.