She has been a visiting researcher at Oxford University, University of Notre Dame, and Copenhagen University. Her research interests concern the organization and behavior of actors in armed conflict, focusing particularly in the origins and dynamics of recruitment and violence. She is currently working on state repression and the protection of civil liberties. She has done fieldwork in Nepal and Burma/Thailand, as well as in archives in Malaysia, Singapore, and the UK. Her research has been published in International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, and Security Studies.