My expertise is in conflict data, specifically in data methodologies and measuring the risk of political violence. I have nearly two decades of experience in crisis research, including nearly a decade of experience in senior leadership positions at organizations focusing on conflict data and analysis. 

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I am Affiliate Faculty at the Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy at the University of Denver. There, my research — supported by the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation as a Distinguished Scholar — focuses on how to improve conflict early warning models. Additionally, I am (fractional) Chief Research Officer at the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University where I lead research on tracking and mitigating political violence in the US. I also regularly consult on projects, helping clients to make the best use of data to understand global crises, via Crisis Lens. Lastly, as part of the Board of Trustees, I support Videre Est Credere in its work supporting local communities around the world to document human rights violations, to demand accountability, and secure justice.

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Previously, I was the 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 — which has previously been supported by the US Institute of Peace as a Peace Scholar — has been cited widely, including by media outlets around the world.