I am a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Political Science at The Pennsylvania State University and a Minerva Peace and Security Scholar Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Beginning in Fall 2024, I will be an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University.

I study political violence and civil conflict processes with a particular focus on the intersection of violent political behavior and the socio-organizational aspects of rebellion. I investigate the ways in which rebel organizations’ interactions—both violent and non-violent—with their allies, rivals, civilian populations, and the broader domestic and international public shape patterns of civilian victimization, recruitment into rebellion, and the internal dynamics of rebel groups. I use a variety of quantitative methods, including network analysis, text-as-data, time-series analysis, quasi-experiments, and survey experiments.

My work has been published in Comparative Political Studies, International Interactions, and Terrorism and Political Violence, and is currently undergoing R&R at the Journal of Conflict Resolution. More information about my published work and ongoing projects can be accessed here.

Please contact me at ibo6@psu.edu.

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