He was awarded his Ph.D. in history from Purdue in August, 2015. Based on archival research in Austria, Hungary, Romania, and Serbia, his dissertation, “Expanding Europe: German Borderland Colonization in the Banat of Temesvár, 1716-1847,” explored issues of migration, assimilation, and inter-ethnic relations on the Habsburg frontier. The manuscript received a “Distinguished Dissertation Award” from Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts and the biennial “Dissertation Prize for 2016” from the Center for Austrian Studies. His article, “Cultivating an Orderly Society: Physical and Mental Landscapes on the Habsburg’s Southern Frontiers” was published in the Austrian History Yearbook in 2017. Most recently, his article, “’Flüchtlinge’ oder ‘Auswanderer’? Migration aus dem Osmanischen Reich in das Banat im 18. Jahrhundert” was published in Aufnahmeland Österreich. Über den Umgang mit Massenflucht seit dem 18. Jahrhundert.