Biography

I received my Ph.D. in Political Psychology from Aarhus University, Denmark, in 2018, and completed my postdoctoral fellowship in Harvard’s Department of Psychology, where I was mentored by Steven Pinker.

My goal as a social and evolutionary psychologist is to elucidate violent cognition and the dark sides of human group living. Specifically, my research program spans three main areas: the link between misogyny and mass violence; so-called ‘mandemics’— the disproportionate propensity for certain men to commit mass shootings and suicide; and the psychological underpinnings of violent extremism. Currently, I am developing a novel assessment tool to identify individuals who are at risk of hurting themselves or others, which will make a critical, translational impact on human well-being and inform more nuanced public health and safety efforts.

My Ph.D. dissertation, which examined public reactions to terrorism from an evolutionary psychological perspective, received the 2019 Best Dissertation Award from the International Society for Political Psychology (you can read a summary of my dissertation here). Recently, I was the recipient of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society’s Postdoctoral Award for my work on misogynistic extremism and incel psychology.

I feel most at home in the classroom, where my objective is to foster an understanding of how the mind shapes our lived (and shared) experience; to instill an appreciation for psychological science; and to challenge our own
assumptions and biases. I’m excited to contribute to the educational mission of URI’s Department of Psychology and am eager to involve students in research projects. If you’re interested, please get in touch!

In my spare time, you will find me attending concerts, playing pool, or road-tripping with my best friend – a chunky corgi named Bowie (after the great David, of course).