My research broadly focuses on the intersection of knowledge, practice, and education relating to sexuality, gender, and violence.

For my dissertation, I am examining how consent operates culturally - without the law as a formal mechanism of social control - in BDSM communities. Using a feminist sociological lens, I am interested in how understandings of consent are constructed, shared, and enacted; the connection between consent and sexual joy; and the repercussions for consent violations in BDSM communities where legal response to harm is not desired, sought, nor expected.

I have an ongoing project with a UCSB undergraduate, Sammy Mattis, examining portrayals of BDSM in film and television following the public explosion of interest in kink that emerged post-Fifty Shades of Grey.

Additionally, much of my work has focused on activist efforts within university systems to combat sexual violence and harassment (SVSH) and better support survivors. Following my participation as a graduate research intern for UC Speaks Up - a qualitative study of consent cultures, SVSH, and institutional resources on multiple UC campuses - I am working on several co-authored publications, several of which focus explicitly on the experiences of graduate students.

Finally, I am currently collecting submissions for a survey project entitled #metoogradschool, where I solicit both quantitative and qualitative data on the experiences graduate students have with SVSH while in their graduate programs. The survey is open to anyone who is enrolled in or has completed a post-graduate degree AND has experienced SVSH while a graduate student. You can find the survey at tinyurl.com/metoogradschool.