Her primary research interests include self-determination, secession, civil war, leadership in rebellion, and non-violent resistance. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in 2007 and has been a Fulbright Scholar and a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Her work has been published by Oxford University Press, American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Conflict Research, International Studies Quarterly and Perspective on Politics.