My background

My path to academia began long before graduate school. I grew up in Colombia and immigrated to the United States as a young adult, arriving with little English, few connections, and limited financial resources. Like many immigrants, I had to learn to navigate unfamiliar educational, political, and social institutions while adjusting to a new language and culture. These experiences later shaped the questions that define my research agenda.

Education has shaped who I am. I began college at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona, where mentors introduced me to opportunities that had previously seemed out of reach. There, I discovered political science and grew curious about political inclusion, representation, and public opinion. I transferred to the University of Arizona, where I completed degrees in Political Science and Law, graduating summa cum laude, and began conducting research on Latino politics, descriptive representation, and political behavior. This work ultimately led me to doctoral training.

Today, I am a doctoral candidate in Political Science at the University of Michigan. My research examines how information environments shape political attitudes and behavior, with particular attention to Latinos in the United States. I study how social ties, media use, language, and misinformation influence political beliefs, participation, and candidate support. This work reflects my interest in how immigrant and transnational communities navigate political information across national and digital boundaries.

My dissertation, Rumors Across Borders, develops a theory of transnational information environments to explain how cross-border social ties influence the political information people encounter and how that information shapes political attitudes. Drawing on surveys, interviews, and social media data, I examine how information travels through transnational networks and how those networks contribute to variation in political beliefs among Latinos.

Beyond research, I remain committed to mentorship and expanding access to higher education. As a first-generation college student, I benefited enormously from mentors who helped me navigate unfamiliar academic institutions and opportunities. That experience continues to shape my approach to teaching and mentorship: I strive to make the hidden curriculum of higher education more transparent and to support students from diverse backgrounds as they pursue their own goals.

The questions I study are ultimately connected to the experiences that first brought me to political science: how people navigate institutions, how information shapes opportunity, and how diverse communities participate in democratic life. Those questions continue to guide my research, teaching, and public engagement, and they also connect my work back to the path that led me here.