My expertise is in conflict data: the methodologies used to collect and measure it, and how it can be applied to assess the risk of political violence. I have nearly two decades of experience in crisis research, including nearly a decade in senior leadership positions at organizations focused on conflict data and analysis. That combination of methodological depth and applied leadership is the foundation of Crisis Lens, the consultancy I founded to help organizations working across conflict, humanitarian response, governance, and peacebuilding assess risk and turn evidence into strategy.

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Through Crisis Lens, I consult on projects spanning conflict and risk analysis, early warning and anticipatory action, and program and policy evaluation, helping clients make the best use of data, both quantitative and qualitative, to understand global crises and act on what they find.

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I am also a Non-Resident Visiting Scholar at the Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy at the University of Denver, where I lead Project RENEW (Recognizing Emerging Needs in Early Warning), examining the data, governance, and data literacy gaps that need to be addressed to improve conflict early warning models. As part of this work, my research on improving early warning models outside conflict zones is currently supported by the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation as a Distinguished Scholar. Separately, as a member of the Board of Trustees, I support Videre Est Credere in its work helping local communities around the world document human rights violations, demand accountability, and secure justice.

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Previously, I held roles including Chief Research Officer at the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University, where I led research on tracking and mitigating political violence in the US, and inaugural Director of Research & Innovation at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Database (ACLED). Among the work I directed while there includes: leading their global expansion of disaggregated data collection, analysis, and crisis mapping; spearheading their first early warning products, including conflict forecasting tools; and leading the establishment of their gender portfolio. I also led data literacy initiatives, ranging from trainings, both remotely and in person around the world, supporting: the capacity-building of local partners around data collection, management, and analysis; to best practices around conflict risk and emergency response for international multilateral institutions, humanitarian organizations, and INGOs.

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I have a Ph.D. in government & politics from the University of Maryland – College Park, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in human and political geography at the University of Sussex in the UK. I have held previous academic affiliations at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas – Austin, the Center for Research on Gender & Women at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and teaching globalization at the University of the People. My research, previously supported by the US Institute of Peace as a Peace Scholar, has been cited widely, including by media outlets around the world.