I am a Visiting Assistant Professor of Global Studies at Swarthmore College. My research lies at the intersection of comparative political economy and political behavior, with a substantive focus on migration, development, and identity politics, and a regional focus on South Asia. 

My dissertation examines the consequences of internal migration for citizen-state relations and democratic governance in developing countries. It explores how reliance on migration as a self-insurance strategy shapes citizen political engagement, how political elites respond to out-migration among local electorates, and the implications this has for governance and political accountability.

In addition to developing a book project based on my dissertation, I am working on two collaborative projects that (i) explore how exposure to slow-onset disasters shape state-society relations in weak institutional contexts, and (ii) evaluate the effects of electoral gender quotas on the provision of public services.

All of my projects are based in India and employ a variety of methodological approaches, including longitudinal and panel designs, surveys, survey experiments, and immersive ethnographic fieldwork. My research has received funding from the American Institute of Indian Studies, American Political Science Association, University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India, and Vanderbilt's College of Arts and Science.

I recently earned my Ph.D. in Political Science from Vanderbilt University. Before graduate school, I worked at a survey research organization in New Delhi, where I supervised public opinion surveys across more than ten Indian states. I also hold an M.A. in Development Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and a B.A. (Hons.) in Political Science from Hindu College, University of Delhi.