She earned her M.A. from the University of British Columbia and her PhD from McGill University. Her research focuses the role of media in the policy process across a wide range of policy areas including immigration, social and environmental policy. Her research on media and public policy can be found in the Canadian Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Social Policy, the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, among others. She has also published work on Canadian and comparative political institutions, including the Senate, the Supreme Court and Cabinet in Comparative and Commonwealth Politics, Canadian Parliamentary Review and Canadian Public Administration. Dr. Lawlor currently holds a SSHRC Insight Development grant for her collaborative project, “Third Party Campaign Spending: Weak Policy, Weakened Engagement?” with Dr. Erin Crandall (Acadia University).