I am a working towards a Ph.D. in Political Science and Graduate Certificate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University Kansas. I have a Master of Arts in Political Science (2011) from the University of Kansas, a Master of Arts in International Studies (2006) from the University of Washington, and a Bachelor of Arts in World Politics (2003) from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

In 2007-2008, I was awarded a Fulbright Research Fellowship to Latvia where I examined the exploitation of women, focusing on sex tourism and trafficking. I studied Russian for three years with a Foreign Language Area Scholarship (FLAS) from the US Department of Education Title VI Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of Kansas. I speak Latvian, Russian, and have reading knowledge of Spanish. Currently, I am working as a Teaching Assistant for the Department of Political Science at the University of Kansas.

In my free time I like to read obscure East European authors, travel to places most people have never heard of, and volunteer at local women's shelters. I am also an avid runner, recently started doing yoga and enjoy Latvian folk dancing when the opportunity presents itself.