My research interests encompass three intersecting themes:

(1) family and fertility covering areas in intimate and intergenerational relationships as well as  young people and children

(2) inclusion and identity such as disabilities, race-ethnicity, ethnoreligious groups, migrants and displaced peoples, gender, and LGBTQ+

(3) methods, including but not exclusively covering quantitative analysis, life course perspectives and longitudinal analysis, and demographic approaches.

My work considers inequalities in determining what barriers or protective factors might explain divergences in outcomes such as wellbeing; additionally, my research sheds light on family and relationship processes or events, for example how preferences, opportunities, and behaviours could shape union formation. Furthermore, my work frequently engages with the public and governmental sector to provide direct community impacts. Some recent and current projects include investigating dating and relationships among LGBTQ+ university students, wellbeing of deaf children, mixed relationships in NI, and understanding group differences in outcomes among youth interacting with the justice system and among adult men in prison.

I am interested in supervising students working on any of these topics.

I received a B.A. in sociology with highest honours from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology with a specialization in demography from the University of Texas at Austin. I also completed a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Postdoctoral Fellowship in Family Demography and Individual Development at the Population Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University.

Current PhD Students:

LeAnne Zarroug “Which strategies do Black women use to navigate and nurture relationships while studying within predominantly white environments?” (first supervisor)

Yufei Yang “Childhood Trauma Among Chinese Youth: Through the Lens of Family and Gender” (co-supervisor, secondary)

Chloe Cherry “Social media and its effect on adolescents: A secondary data analysis of household panel data.” (secondary supervisor)

Jiaqi Li "From Shared Parental Leave to Shared Parenting: Making it Happen in China" (third supervisor)

Md Salah Uddin “Forced Migration of Rohingya Refugees to Bangladesh: Examining the consequences, challenges, and policy option of external humanitarian aid mobilization within the refugee and host communities” (first supervisor)

Ruijie He “The Intersectional Impact of Gender, Family Structure and Socio-Economic Status on Higher Education in China: A mixed methods study” (co-supervisor, primary)

Maryam Naz “Changing Fatherhood in Pakistan” (first supervisor)

Former PhD students:

Brad Campbell “Investigating the role of identity and migration in  creating and sustaining levels and patterns of segregation in Northern Ireland between 1991 and 2011” (second supervisor)

Claire Cole “Teenage cannabis use: A family systems perspective” (second supervisor)

In regards to teaching, I currently convene the following modules that span both UG and PGT teaching:

SOC3028: Modern Families: Intimate and Personal Relationships

SQM2001: Theory Counts

SOC9057: Intermediate Quantitative Analysis

I particularly enjoy teaching students aspects around family as they consider patterns and trends across different societal and social location contexts. Moreover, I find the process of demystifying and simplifying quantitative methodologies to social science students incredibly rewarding. I have also enjoyed previously teaching modules on demography, survival analysis, and race/ethnicity, gender, and class.