She received a PhD in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2013. Her work examines the gendered dynamics of American gun culture, policing and public law enforcement, and conservative politics. She is the author of Citizen-Protectors: The Everyday Politics of Guns in an Age of Decline. In addition to writing for popular audiences in venues such as the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post, her work also appears in Gender & Society, Social Problems and other scholarly outlets.