A bit more About me

I was born, raised, and did all of my education through my MA in San Jose, CA. I left to do my doctoral work at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH, in 2000 and have never looked back. I moved to the Palouse, which is the name of the region containing both UI and WSU, in 2004. It was here that I finished writing my dissertation, met wonderful people and put down roots. It also happened to be a great time to be on the job market in this area. I was fortunate to get the position of assistant professor in Justice Studies and began teaching here in 2005. I can truly say that UI and the Palouse have grown on me and become my home.

I am passionate about my work and my research. I have always been interested in crime and criminology – even in high school. Unlike the majority of college students – I knew what I wanted to do from day one. Criminology is about so much more than just breaking the law – it’s about how law is created, the social and political aspects of controlling behavior, about power structures, economics, moralities and how people interact. It takes many fields and merges them with one focus. You can take just about any area of study, whether its computer science, biology, or architecture and see where they fit into the study of crime and criminology. My work and study has primarily focused on hate crime, victimization, social inequalities, and corrections but my path in this field is constantly changing so who knows what projects I will be working on next.

In my spare time, I work with both the Washington State Democratic Party and Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development. I am a huge proponent of a true democratic system, which I would someday like to see. One of the greatest influences on my non-academic was Democracy School. It was an amazing experience and shocking to me, as the things we learned are never talked about in academia or society. It radically changed my view of society and the world and has begun to spill over into my academic life as well. If you get the chance to go through it, take it.

I have also been heavily influenced by my family and friends and their own journeys through life. I was brought to the Palouse because my partner wanted to go to grad school at WSU. It has been an interesting journey with him, as we make our home on the Palouse. We have three awesome cats, who are constantly reminding us to take time off, as they insist on getting attention. They truly are joys in our lives.

I love the outdoors, and try to camp and garden as much as possible. I also love the ocean, which I don’t get to as much as I would like. I find nature to be uplifting and calming. If there is one thing I would do more of, its spend time in the forest, which Idaho has some of the most beautiful – even if they are a bit charred right now. I hope over the next few years to get to see more of Idaho’s wilderness.

Finally, I have been heavily influences by my time in the martial arts. I have a 2nd degree brown belt in Shotokan Karate as part of the International Shotokan Karate Federation, am the advisor for the UI Shotokan Karate Club and have met some of the most amazing people through my time here. Master Gichin Funakoshi’s life work is an inspiration to me. He was a man of Tao, humility and sought the true perspective of things, full of life and awareness.