About

Growing up in Florida, my father was in the Army and my mother taught English as a second language, both of which led me to have a deep appreciation for service, community, and cultures from all over the globe. 🙂 As an undergraduate at the University of Florida, I focused on Southeastern archaeology, but developed a growing interest in sociology while volunteering at local homeless shelters. These experiences led to my interests in large scale societal changes, risk of social isolation, and cultural variation in social expectations. Ultimately, I chose to pursue sociology and got my master’s and PhD at North Carolina State University with concentrations in family/life course and globalization/social change.

I entered the academic job market during the Great Recession and was very grateful to land at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). I am now an Associate Professor of Sociology and Gerontology in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health and the UMB/UMBC Doctoral Program in Gerontology. I served as Undergraduate Program Director from 2013 to 2024. In 2022, I relaunched and renamed the Center for Health, Equity, & Aging (CHEA) and became its director. I also created and direct our Student Mentoring and Research Training (SMaRT) Scholars Program, which gives students opportunities to conduct research with faculty.

Most recently, my team received funding from the National Institute on Aging to establish the Southern Population Aging Research Center (SPARC), which I co-direct. Through SPARC, we support research focused on improving the lives of older adults in the U.S. South. This work is especially meaningful to me given my upbringing in the region!

I love traveling to learn about places and people and am fortunate enough to have visited East Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, Europe, the Middle East, and South America (photos below).