Her research is broadly concerned with theories of democracy and citizenship, and her work examines how both citizens and the state seek to manage everyday conflicts in ways that conform to, reinforce, and challenge democratic values of autonomy, equality, and community. Heather earned her Ph.D. in Political Science at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University and was an associate of Maxwell’s Program for Advancement on Research in Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC). In 2008-2009 she was a doctoral fellow at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.