I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona and a principal researcher for the Political Terror Scale, an index of state violations of physical integrity rights.

My research focuses on conflict processes between individuals and the state, including individual violence against the state, namely terrorism, and state violence against individuals, namely human rights violations.   I develop novel ideas in these areas, including the sources of lone wolf terrorism, the politicization of measuring human rights violations, how identity politics shapes tolerance of repression, and how local political institutions affects individuals’ choices between loyalty, voice, or exit.  I use several empirical methodologies, including experiments, observational data, geographic data, and archival work.  Though I am interested in general conflict processes, I am especially interested in conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

I am currently a Principle Investigator for PTS – the Political Terror Scale.  PTS produces annual scores for each country in the world on the level of state violations of personal integrity rights based on reports by the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Prior to my PhD at Emory, I completed a Master’s degree in Political Science and Political Economy at the London School of Economics and Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics at the University of North Carolina – Asheville. My full CV is available here.

I was born in the U.S, but we moved to Bordeaux, France and then London, England while I was a toddler.  We moved to Israel when I was 8 years old, and I resided in Israel until 2010. In Israel I served in the Israeli Defense Forces for three and a half years and then went to live on a Kibbutz by the Dead Sea for six years.  During my time at the Kibbutz I worked with the local youth as an instructor and manager of after school activities; I managed a museum about the Dead Sea Scrolls and volunteered for the local search and rescue unit.

I moved to the U.S. in 2010 to pursue a career in Wilderness Therapy – an adventure based therapeutic intervention designed to assist teenagers with behavioral disorders and substance abuse – where I worked as an instructor and supervisor for a year and half. I then began my undergraduate studies at the age of 27.  I knew I would pursue what I would discover to be my first degree in political science and economics upon enrollment. During my time in Asheville I was an active member of the local Jewish community, where I taught Sunday School to kindergartners for four years.  I completed the double-major in three years with distinction (summa cum laude) and then traveled to London to pursue my second degree, which was also completed with distinction.

When I’m not in front of my computer, running through data and reading, I enjoy being outside and traveling.  I like to run, bike, rock climb, swim, snowboard and do yoga.  When I can, I like traveling to new places.  In recent years I’ve traveled to China and Laos, Costa-Rica, North India (mostly in Jammu and Kashmir), Jordan, Switzerland and France and in my first year in the U.S. I traveled around the country in my car for two months.