Welcome! I am an assistant professor of political science and director of the Political Economy of Agriculture and Rural Societies (PEARS) lab at the University of California, Merced. I received my PhD in political science from Harvard University and have previously been a National Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

My research is in comparative political and economic development, with a focus on technology, democracy, state capacity, and agriculture, among other topics. Most of my research is on India, though I also work comparatively. Methodologically, I have an interest in natural experiments and, increasingly, applications of computer vision to social science data, ranging from satellite imagery to historical archives, including how to integrate 'AI' with causal inference. 

My research has been published in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Economic History, and International Organization and received multiple awards from the American Political Science Association. I am working on a book that investigates how a 20th-century agricultural revolution transformed politics in India and other developing countries. Here is a link to my CV. Thanks for visiting!