research & Publications

My research explores how individuals interpret their social environments through political and cultural information across various scales of experience—local and global, in-person and digital, institutional and grassroots. I examine how people understand themselves within social environments, navigate these spaces, and ultimately challenge, disrupt, or conform to the normative forces that shape society. While my work currently centers on transgender issues, my questions extend into political communication, critical race studies, disability justice, and other resistance frameworks that challenge dominant modes of meaning-making and academic inquiry.

current projects:

  • LGBTQ+ migration within the United States and European Union is shaped by shifting political landscapes and the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ policies. This research examines how media, interpersonal networks, and community-based resources influence perceptions of safety and guide mobility decisions, offering insight into how individuals navigate belonging, community construction, and political decision-making in an increasingly polarized sociopolitical environment.

  • This research examines how misinformation shapes public discourse, policy, and cultural understandings of transgender people in the United States. In an era of escalating anti-trans legislation, disinformation campaigns play a central role in justifying and advancing restrictive policies. My work investigates how such narratives circulate through media, political institutions, and public debate, and how they contribute to broader efforts to marginalize trans communities.

  • Pervasive ambiguity around gender refers to an affective and cognitive state of disorientation in which individuals struggle to interpret gendered meanings and navigate shifting social norms. Building on theories of anomie and social ambiguity, this research conceptualizes gender ambiguity as a transitional experience of sociocultural change and introduces a validated scale for analyzing how individuals register and respond to transformations in gender norms.

  • Labs for Liberation and the Digital Apothecary reimagine the lab space as a site for collaborative theory-building, applied research, and justice-centered design. Rooted in the legacies of disability design cooperatives, feminist science labs, Black queer houses, artist salons, and activist spaces, this work explores how hybrid digital and physical labs can foster practices that support marginalized communities.

    More information on Digital Apothecary: https://www.digitalapothecary.org/

    More information on Labs for Liberation: https://labsforliberation.org/

  • This research investigates how social hierarchies and exclusionary behaviors operate within online gaming communities, with a focus on the speedrunning subfield. Drawing on Bourdieu’s concepts of fields, habitus, and cultural capital, the study examines how harassment, gatekeeping, and informal policing shape legitimacy and status within speedrunning, a niche gaming community often seen as meritocratic and progressive, yet still embedded in broader gaming cultures marked by competitiveness and toxicity.

  • This research examines how the rise of digital streaming platforms and social media has transformed the role of music critics within the contemporary music economy. Historically positioned as cultural intermediaries and arbiters of taste, critics now navigate an environment shaped by algorithmic recommendations, fan-driven promotion, and shifting notions of aesthetic value. My research investigates how critics negotiate authority and influence within evolving networks of media, audiences, and industry forces.

Publications

Forthcoming:

“You Can Always Tell”: Determining the Impact of ‘Transinvestigator’ Visual Misinformation on Attitudes Towards Transgender People” Bulletin for Applied Transgender Studies Special Issue

“Getting Gender (Far) Right: Anti-Trans Political Discourse in Transnational Context.” Routledge Handbook of Communication and Transnationalism, edited by Shinsuke Eguchi and Jungmin Kwon. New York: Routledge. (first author, with Nash Jenkins and Thomas J Billard)

“Combating Anti-Transgender Misinformation: A Sociological Approach” Journal for Applied Communication Research (second author with Thomas J Billard)

In Review:

“Politics for A Latter-Day: Reconceptualizing Political Participation through the LDS Seneca Ward Relief Society In the United States”