About Me

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I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Akron. I received my Ph.D. in Criminology from the Department of Criminology, Law & Society at the University of California, Irvine. I was affiliated with the Irvine Laboratory for the Study of Space and Crime (ILSSC), advised by Professor John. R. Hipp. I also received a B.S. in financial management and economics and a M.A. in Sociology from the University of Oklahoma. I also received a M.A. in Social Ecology from UC-Irvine.

My research interests are primarily in the realm of neighborhoods and crime, crime mapping and spatial analysis, social networks, and quantitative methods. My dissertation titled  Crime Changes and Spatial Patterns: Examination of Longitudinal Models of Crime across Multiple Cities in the U.S.,  focuses on crime changes and spatial patterns across multiple cities in the U.S., which mainly draws on social disorganization theory, routine activities theory, crime pattern theory, and urban sociology to explore how changes in neighborhood characteristics are associated with changes in crime longitudinally.  

My peer-reviewed papers has been published in top journals in the field of criminology, criminal justice, and sociology, including Criminology, Social Networks, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Police Quarterly, Policing: An International Journal, International Criminology, and The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).