Before my life as a professor, I grew up among the oaks of the Central Valley of California and the big pines of the Pacific Northwest. Although I’ve been on the east coast for over a decade, I consider Portland, Oregon my second home.
Social justice – especially about reproduction and family formation – is a big passion, and one I learned while attending Occidental College. After participating in pacifist and anti-war movements in college, I worked in nonprofit and reproductive justice organizations before attending graduate school. A passion for justice and equality drives much of my professional interests and commitments, especially working in solidarity with my students and in advocacy of a more open and just democratic world.
In my spare time, I love to create a perfect cup of coffee, hike with my pals, read things that aren’t political science (mostly long family narratives!), cook through Melissa Clark’s excellent Dinner: Changing the Game, and hang out with my mutt, Gilmore (yes, after the Gilmore Girls).