research & Publications

My research examines how people make sense of their social worlds through political, cultural, and mediated forms of information. I am interested in how individuals understand themselves within complex social environments and navigate the forces that shape everyday life across multiple scales, from local communities to global networks, online spaces to embodied encounters, and institutional structures to grassroots movements. My work explores how people negotiate, challenge, and sometimes reproduce dominant systems of meaning, power, and belonging. While my current research focuses on transgender experiences and queer mobility, my broader interests include political communication, critical race studies, disability justice, and other frameworks that illuminate resistance, social transformation, and alternative ways of knowing.

CV

Publications

Articles:

The parent trap: The roles of parent status and pervasive ambiguity about gender in public opinion on transgender rights in the United States.” Journal of Children and Media (first author with Taylor Agajanian, Ifra Javid, and TJ Billard)

“Pervasive Ambiguity About Gender: Quantifying the Cognitive and Affect Experience of Disorientation Related to Changing Understandings of Gender in Society” Sex Roles (second author, with TJ Billard and Nash Jenkins)

“Combatting Anti-Transgender Misinformation: A Sociological Approach.” Journal of Applied Communication Research 54 (1): 90–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2025.2573946. (Second author with TJ Billard)

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

Book Chapters:

“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)

current projects:

  • LGBTQ+ mobility within the United States and European Union is increasingly shaped by shifting political landscapes, uneven distributions of rights and recognition, and the circulation of information about place, safety, and belonging. My dissertation examines how media, interpersonal networks, and community-based infrastructures shape decisions about where to live, stay, and move. Drawing on interviews with LGBTQ+ individuals, I explore how people navigate competing place imaginaries, assess opportunities and constraints across locations, and construct a sense of belonging amid political uncertainty. More broadly, the project investigates how communication processes shape mobility, community formation, and everyday strategies of navigating an increasingly polarized social world.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.