I am political scientist and mixed method researcher with expertise in international public opinion research, local elections and governance, state capacity, and the connections between misinformation and violence incitement. I have regional specialization on India and am currently a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania. I am also a research consultant at the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Community Change, and Senior Fellow at Tech Global Institute. I am also a contributor to the Trust and Safety Teaching Consortium at Stanford University and active member of the Integrity Institute.
My academic research focuses on representation and responsiveness at the level of local elected governments in rural India (gram panchayats) using fieldwork and cross-referenced surveys and behavioral measurement. Specifically I examine the implications of the high-information context of local elections in India on vote choice, accountability mechanisms, and government responsiveness to citizens’ routine requests. My academic work has been published in Electoral Studies, Party Politics, and Perspectives in Politics, and has been supported by funding from the National Science Foundation, the American Political Science Association, and Pitzer College. Ongoing research examines elections, governance, and public opinion at the local level in India and the United States with projects on local bureaucratic responsiveness in India; misinformation in local elections and governance in the U.S.; and perceptions around climate policy implementation in the U.S.
In 2019, I joined the Civic Integrity Team at Meta where I conducted international survey research, fieldwork, and large-scale qualitative research on online content that may contribute to violence and incitement and hate in the Global South. My research included fieldwork and remote research in India, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Bangladesh, among other countries, and shaped policies that reduced the spread of harmful content and rumors in the global south. See my portfolio here for details. Since leaving Meta, I have conducted research as a Research Adviser and independent consultant with non-profit and research organizations focused on democracy, elections, and disinformation including National Democratic Institute, Community Change, and The Global Institute.