Information About Me

I am currently an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Turku (Turun Yliopisto) in Finland. I am a first-generation scholar who received my Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where I studied American politics, comparative politics, and methodology.

My research focuses on three broad and intersecting areas: (1) gender, representation, and political behavior; (2) populism, radical political parties, and anti-minority sentiment in Europe and the U.S.; and (3) political attitudes related to the criminal justice system. A central thread across these themes is a focus on how institutions, ideologies, and social identities shape attitudes and behavior—particularly in ways that marginalize underrepresented groups.

I have published over 45 peer-reviewed journal articles in outlets including Political Behavior, Electoral Studies, Party Politics, Political Research Quarterly, American Politics Research, Comparative European Politics, Contemporary European Politics, Politics & Gender, Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, European Journal of Gender & Politics, Victims & Offenders, Journal of Experimental Criminology, Crime & Delinquency, and Policing: An International Journal. My research has examined topics ranging from radical right and radical left voting behavior, gender gaps in political knowledge and attitudes, and partisan polarization in views on policing, to how language influences attitudes toward abortion policy and sex work.

I am also the co-author of two books: Political Entrepreneurship in the Age of Dealignment: The Far Right Populist Alternative for Germany (AfD)  (Palgrave, 2024) and the 8th edition of The European Union: Politics and Policies (Routledge, 2025).

Some of my recent work is connected to a Research Council of Finland-funded project that investigates how survey question wording influences public attitudes toward reproductive healthcare and abortion policy. As part of this grant, I designed and led a nationally representative quasi-experimental survey. This work has resulted in publications in Politics & Gender and Journal of Women, Politics & Policy.

In addition to my research, I regularly teach advanced methodology courses, quantitative, qualitative, comparative, and experimental, at the upper Bachelor's, Master's, and Ph.D. levels. I also incorporate students into the research process whenever possible. Several undergraduate and doctoral students I have mentored have gone on to co-author peer-reviewed journal articles. I have also published on pedagogy and doctoral supervision, with recent articles on teaching quantitative methods and improving supervision strategies in Journal of Political Science Education and European Journal of Social Science Education and Research.