Her research addresses economic development, human rights, natural resources, property rights, climate change, conflict, and the relationship between de jure and de facto institutions. She has worked as a dissertation researcher at the UN World Institute for Development Economics Research; as a Legal Fellow in the Business & Human Rights Program at Amnesty International USA; for the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Ethical Globalization Initiative; as a Legal Fellow for the New York Civil Liberties Union; and as an organizer with other environmental and social justice organizations.