Ph.D Candidate, Political Science
University of California, Los Angeles
Major Fields: American Politics
Political Methodology
Minor Field:  Race and Ethnic Politics

M.A., Political Science
University of California, Los Angeles
Major Field:  American Politics

Single Subject Teaching Credential
California State University, Bakersfield

B.A., Political Science
California State University, Bakersfield
Concentration in American Politics
McNair Scholar

B.A., English
California State University, Bakersfield

Spring 2016





Spring 2011


Winter 2007


Spring 2005




Spring 2005

Neighborhoods that Matter:  How Place and People Affect Political Participation, Committee:  John Zaller (chair), Lynn Vavreck, Lorrie Frasure-Yokley, Michael Shinn (Geography Department)

Description:  In this dissertation, I argue that features of neighborhood design that promote social interaction also promote political participation.  I call this the Place and People Model of Political Participation.  The dissertation’s key breakthrough is to measure the physical features of neighborhoods—whether homes have porches, streets are tree-lined, neighborhoods have natural gathering places—for a sample of respondents in a nationally representative survey.   With this data, I demonstrate that the design of residential places promotes neighborly exchanges that subsequently help increase individual political participation.  I show that place and people work together to influence individual engagement in multiple forms of participation, like voting, attending a march/boycott, joining a political group, and volunteering in a community project.  I further demonstrate that the effects of neighborhoods and neighbors on participation hold for all people regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.  All of which goes to show the critical role that place and people play in influencing individual political behavior.

“The Neighbor Effect:  Spillover Effects of an Experimental Intervention to Increase Turnout Amongst Voters in Low-Income Neighborhoods”

“Space, Social Networks, and Participation:  How Landscape Leads to Voting”

“The Role of Economic and Neighborhood Social Context on Civic and Political Participation in the 2012 Presidential Election”
Co-Authors:  Lorrie Frasure-Yokley (UCLA) and Stacey Greene (UCLA)

APSA, National Conference in Seattle, Fall 2011
“The Vicious Cycle:  The Exclusion of Low Socioeconomic Status Voters from Mobilization Efforts”

MPSA, Chicago, Spring 2012
“Mobilizing the Poor:  Spillover Effects of an Experimental Intervention to Increase Turnout”

MPSA, Chicago, Spring 2013
“Social Networks and Participation:  The Effect of Living Near a Voter on the Turnout Rate of Low and High Socioeconomic Status Voters”

APSA, National Conference in Chicago, Fall 2013
“The Neighbor Effect:  How Living Near a Voter Affects Turnout in Low, Middle, and High Socioeconomic Status Neighborhoods”

APSA, National Conference in Washington, DC, Fall 2014
“ Low Income Neighbors and Neighborhoods:  Spillover Effects of an Experimental Intervention to Increase Voter Turnout”

MPSA, Chicago, Spring 2015
“Place, People, and Participation:  How the Design Features of Neighborhoods Lead to Voting”

PRIEC, University of California, Riverside, Fall 2015
“Neighborhoods that Matter:  How Place and People Affect the Turnout of Poor and Racial Minorities”

APSA, National Conference in Philadelphia, PA, Fall 2016
“Neighborhoods that Matter:  How Place and People Affect the Participation of Poor and Racial Minorities”

Lecturer, University of California, Los Angeles
Course:



Lecturer, Pepperdine University
Political Science 104 American People and Politics, Carrie LeVan
(Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Summer 2016, and Fall 2016)

Teaching Assistant Coordinator, University of California, Los Angeles
Political Science 495 Teaching Political Science, Carrie LeVan (Instructor)
(Fall 2014)a
 
Instructor, University of California Los Angeles
GE 60CW-6 Participation and Equality, Carrie LeVan (Instructor)
(Spring 2013 and Spring 2014)
 
Teaching Fellow, University of California, Los Angeles
GE 60A America in the Sixties, Lynn Vavreck, Joel Aberbach, Jeff Decker, Robert Fink (Instructors)
(Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Fall 2013, and Winter 2014)
 
Teaching Assistant/Associate, University of California, Los Angeles
Courses:
    PS 40 Introduction to American Politics, Tom Schwartz (Instructor) Fall 2009
    PS 40 Introduction to American Politics, Lynn Vavreck (Instructor) Winter 2011
    PS 120A American Foreign Diplomacy, Deborah Larson (Instructor) Winter/Fall 2010
    PS 126 Peace and War, Deborah Larson (Instructor) Spring 2010

Research Assistant, University of California, Los Angeles
Collaborative Multi-racial Political Study (CMPS), Lorrie Frasure-Yokley (PI)
(Spring 2013-Current)

Research Assistant, University of California, Los Angeles
Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project (CCAP), Lynn Vavreck (PI)
(Fall 2010-Spring 2011)

Research Assistant, University of California, Los Angeles
“Suburban Change and the Schools:  The Effect on the Educational opportunities of Poor and Minority Students,” Lorrie Fasure-Yokley (PI)
(Summer 2009- Summer 2011)

“Low Propensity and Low Status Voters Response to Personal Canvassing”
-This dataset was collected with a randomized field experiment.  Voters were randomly assigned into control and treatment groups.

“Los Angeles County Voters:  Neighbors and Neighborhoods”
-This dataset was compiled by geocoding the Los Angeles County Voter History File and merging it with the 2010 Census Tract file

“Characteristics of Place”
This dataset was compiled by geocoding a nationally representative survey.  In addition, respondents’ neighborhoods’ architectural and physical features were coded using Google Maps images.

Dissertation Year Fellowship, UCLA Graduate Division
(2015-16 School Year)

UCLA Department of Political Science Fellowship
(Summer 2015)

UCLA Department of Political Science Fellowship
(2014-2015 School Year)

UCLA Department of Political Science Summer Fellowship
(Summer 2014)

Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship
(2011-12 School Year)

Graduate Summer Research Mentorship
(Summer 2009)

UCLA Department of Political Science Fellowship
(2008-09 School Year)

American Political Science Association

Midwest Political Science Association

Scholars Strategy Network
Member since November 2011

Women’s Caucus for Political Science

Peer Learning Facilitator, University of California, Los Angeles
(Summer 2013)
Duties included working with incoming freshman who were either low status, minority, or first-generation college students, in order to help prepare them for their first year at the university.  I served as a mentor, tutor, and counselor.

Delano High School, Delano, California
High School English Teacher
(2005-2008)