Current Projects
"The Quality of Educational Experiences of Transfer Students in STEM at Rowan University"
Funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, this study seeks to account for the quality of educational experiences of transfer students enrolled in a science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics course of study at Rowan University.  Through focus group interviews conducted with 35 transfer students, the study accounts for and analyzes the prevalence and the importance of curricular congruence between Rowan University and the New Jersey community/county colleges from which students transfer.

"Strategic Harmonization: Managing Veganism and Competing Priorities"
This narrative-based study examines how 21 vegans in Greater Philadelphia prioritize their veganism as they interact with networks across which veganism is not a norm and is often resisted.  Rather than prioritize their veganism over other priorities, such as network membership, these vegans more often seek to harmonize their veganism with these other priorities in nonhierarchical fashion, employing strategies to achieve this harmony.  One prevalent strategy involves participants attempting to minimize attention on their veganism even as they assert their veganism.  Another prevalent strategy involves participants bringing vegan food to network gatherings to ensure their full participation in the gatherings. This pursuit of harmony suggests that vegans prefer to engage rather than disengage with networks across which consumption of animals is a norm.  The study considers the implications of such a pursuit for the success of food-based movements, and how identity is constructed through food.

Research Interests
Social Movements
Veganism
Animal Advocacy
Health and Environment
Transfer Students in Higher Education
Latin American Studies