I am a doctoral candidate in the Sociology Department at the University of Arizona.
Broadly speaking, my research interests lie at the intersection of culture, science and the economy.
My dissertation research, supported by the National Science Foundation and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, investigates selection and legitimation in the advertising industry.
In other research projects, I analyze patterns of informal collaboration between scientists (with Erin Leahey and C. Lee Giles); test the causal priority of  the integration of the global economy vs. the global society (with Albert Bergesen and Omar Lizardo); and examine the cultural, organizational and demographic factors that contribute to the growth and decline of American megachurches. My research incorporates a range of quantitative and qualitative methods, including advanced statistics, network analysis, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), in-depth interviewing and ethnographic fieldwork.