Her research focuses on homelessness, housing insecurity, homeownership, and neighborhood effects, both internationally and domestically. She currently studies how landlords’ business practices contribute to housing outcomes among lower-income and formerly homeless individuals, and explores models of stable, supportive housing for formerly homeless individuals. Her research also addresses how neighborhood and housing outcomes vary across racial and ethnic groups, and how they perpetuate intergroup inequalities. She received her B.S. degree in Rural Sociology from Cornell University and her PhD in Sociology from Penn State University. She has previously taught at Georgia State University and Cleveland State University.