She explores political dimensions of migration and urban change, with particular attention to the intersections of race & ethnicity, gender, and class in shaping people’s senses of belonging. She is especially interested in people’s efforts to use story and visual culture to adapt space, and to alter their circumstances. Her publications can be found in American Anthropologist and North American Dialogue, among other journals and anthologies, and she is the project director of Gathering Grounds, an ongoing public anthropology project. She has a PhD in Anthropology from Northwestern University.