I’m a sociocultural anthropologist and ethnographer of journalism, state violence, and borders, with a geographic focus on Mexico and the Mexico-U.S. borderlands. I am currently an assistant professor of anthropology at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. From 2021 to 2024, I taught at the University of San Diego, where I helped to create the USD non-tenure track faculty union (the first union in USD history!).

I first moved to Mexico in 2008 and have been conducting research there since 2012. My first project is an ethnographic examination of the work and lives of Mexican reporters in one of the most dangerous places in the world to practice journalism. I am currently conducting ethnographic research in the rural California-Baja California borderlands, with the goal of drawing attention to local perspectives and lived experiences of a region that is both highly mediatized and frequently misunderstood.

My teaching and mentoring practice emphasizes accessible scholarship, inclusive learning spaces, and the connection between knowledge and action. Students in my courses learn to work independently and collaboratively in different genres and medias as they analyze pressing social concerns and devise potential solutions.

In addition to research and teaching, I’m an experienced Spanish to English translator. Since 2020, I have volunteered for Respond Crisis Translation, an organization that provides translation services for migrants and the NGOS, lawyers, and human rights groups that advocate for them. 

I’m also proud to serve as an ambassador for the OpEd Project, which seeks to amplify underrepresented voices and perspectives in the public sphere.