Overview
I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at Cornell University. I study how inequality shapes and is shaped by social networks. My work employs innovative quantitative approaches to study complex data structures in interdisciplinary areas. I have extensive experience in managing over 24 independent US datasets. I have three lines of interrelated research.
The first line of my research is on social capital and how it interacts with social inequality. A second line of my research examines the sequential relationship between social disadvantage, network dynamics, and health. In a series of papers, my collaborators and I use multiple longitudinal network data to demonstrate how pre-existing social disadvantage is associated with less favorable network features in later life, how contextual factors directly influence network churn independent of socioeconomic status, and how increased network resources contribute to functional health from a cross-cultural perspective. Along this line of research, I also study how social networks together with the criminal justice system exacerbate social inequality. Using population-based longitudinal network data, I collaborate with Benjamin Cornwell to find that incarceration has long-term destabilizing effects on personal networks.
The third line of my research examines business networks and the role of geographic distance in their formation and evolution. Drawing on socio-centric network data on venture capital investment, I collaborate with Cristobal Young to demonstrate the geographic distribution of VC investment ties since 1995. We discuss the mechanisms through which physical proximity matters for the formation of a high-stakes business network.
Research Focus
- Social Networks
- Social Inequality
- Aging and Health
- Computational Social Science