I am a Research Fellow in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit at the International Food Policy Research Institute.

My research is on policy implementation and how governance systems, institutional incentives, and citizen engagement and voice shape how policies and programs unfold on the ground, particularly in the domain of food security in low- and middle-income countries. Increasingly, I study how climate change is reshaping both the policies needed to support rural communities and the conditions under which they are implemented.

Experience working in government continues to shape how I approach research. I aim to answer questions policymakers are confronting in real time, communicate findings clearly, and design research informed by institutional and political realities of implementation. This work is grounded in sustained engagement and research partnerships across West Africa and South and Southeast Asia, particularly in Nepal, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Mali.

My work has been published in Journal of Political Economy, Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Rural Studies, Democratization, and Studies in Comparative International Development, among other academic journals. It has also been featured in The Economist, NPR, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Forbes.

• Providing citizens with clear information about entitlements improved last-mile delivery and reduced leakage in food subsidy program in Indonesia. Link to paper.

• Introducing competition among local distributors strengthened service delivery quality in Indonesia’s food subsidy program. Link to paper.

• Local leaders value both transparency and local autonomy in delivering humanitarian programs in Mali, with implications for program design. Link to paper.

• Mapping severity of climate shocks and resources for local resilience with local leaders in Mali. Link to paper

• Group-based trainings to empower women within community governance in rural Nigeria. Link to paper.

• Policy implementation affects citizen support for policy reform in Indonesia. Link to paper.

• Global dataset on populism, enabling comparative research on the political and institutional effects of populist leaders. Link to paper.

• Local knowledge and staff motivation shape access to agricultural extension more than conventional measures of state capacity in Nepal. Link to paper.

• Practical implementation approaches to make anticipatory action programming more gender responsive in Nigeria and Nepal. Link to paper.

• Measurement tools and conceptual framework for measuring women’s voice in agrifood policymaking (WEAGov). Project website.