I grew up in north-central Alabama in unincorporated St. Clair County, nestled in the foothills of Appalachia. After graduating high school, I attended the University of Montevallo in central Alabama where I received my bachelor’s degree in political science and history in 2011.

Later that year, I began my doctoral studies at the University of Georgia. During my time there between 2011 and 2016, I was a graduate assistant for numerous professors, including Susan Haire, Rich Vining, Teena Wilhelm, Keith Dougherty, Scott Ainsworth, and Charles Bullock. I taught some introductory courses during my time at UGA, was a graduate fellow to Keble College at Oxford University, and worked as a teaching assistant for game theory three times at the ICPSR summer sessions. In 2016, I received my Ph.D. from UGA as a major in law and courts and a minor in formal modeling.

Later that fall, I started as an assistant professor at Auburn University at Montgomery in the Political Science and Public Administration Department. During my time at AUM (2016-2024), I was tenured and promoted in 2021; established and ran a public opinion polling center; was the director of the university’s Southern Studies Conference (2023 and 2024); organized the university’s annual Constitution Day events (2016-2023); and taught numerous graduate and undergraduate courses on American politics, judicial politics, research methods, applied game theory, southern politics, state politics, constitutional law, and more. 

In the fall of 2024, I began my service at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where I am an associate professor (with tenure) and the Anthony Moroux Endowed Professor of Political Science. As a member of the UL-Lafayette faculty, I continue to teach and conduct research in the areas of American politics, judicial politics, law, and research methods. The UL-Lafayette campus is beautiful with its majestic southern live oaks, along with its resident alligators in the campus swamp. 

In my free-time, my passion is hiking and backpacking the southern Appalachian range in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. When at home, I enjoy reading, music, food, and the arts, especially as a new resident of southern Louisiana and Acadiana. I enjoy trying my hand at new recipes in the kitchen, home-brewing, and have recently installed a workshop in my garage where I have been trying to learn woodworking from re-runs of Norm Abram and The New Yankee Workshop. 

My other great passion in life is my dogs. I have two amazing black and tan coonhounds, Bob Lincoln and Mr. Wilson. They provide me with endless entertainment, joy, and companionship. Their favorite pursuits, in more-or-less this order, are howling, assorted ham products, butt-scratches, and naps.