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On the connection between food insecurity and mental health — what the data says, why hunger is never only a physical problem, and why the conversation is overdue.
Food security Mental health EssayAbout
A brief introduction, in my own words.
I am a doctoral candidate in Public Affairs and Community Development at Rutgers University – Camden, a research associate at the Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs, and an adjunct faculty member in Sociology at Salem Community College. My research unfolds along two parallel tracks.
In my academic work, I take a mixed-methods approach to examine how nonprofit organizations sustain themselves within shifting political environments — what allows some to endure, adapt, and remain accountable to their missions, and what pushes others into decline.
My public scholarship moves in the opposite direction: rather than asking how institutions survive policy, it asks how policy lands on the ground. I study the reflections of public policy across everyday domains — transportation, community health, public safety, and food insecurity — to understand what it actually feels like to live inside the decisions made on our behalf.
You can find the more formal work in Publications, the public-facing projects and reports alongside it, and occasional notes on reading, teaching, and fieldwork in the Notebook.
Writing
Publications & Public Scholarship
My work appears in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, and also in local reports, policy briefs, and community-facing projects.
2022
An assessment of the institutional approach to immigration: Post 9/11 and securitized governance of immigration in the United States
Master's Thesis, Middle East Technical University.
Examines how immigration governance in the United States was reshaped after September 11, 2001, tracing the institutional shift toward a securitized framing of immigration policy and its consequences for migrants and the agencies that manage them.
2021
A failed negotiation? A closer look at the EU–Turkey deal of 2016
Journal of International Relations Studies, August 2021.
Revisits the 2016 EU–Turkey agreement on migration, analyzing its negotiation, implementation, and limitations as a case study in how migration crises are managed across competing political jurisdictions.
2020
An analysis of the underlying causes of the increase in Mexican immigration to the United States after the 1970s
International Journal of Afro-Eurasian Research, December 2020.
Traces the structural and economic forces that drove Mexican migration to the United States from the 1970s onward, situating individual migration decisions within the larger arc of bilateral policy and regional economic change.
2026
2025–2027 Community Health Needs Assessment — AtlantiCare
Report, February 2026.
A comprehensive assessment of community health needs across AtlantiCare's service region, synthesizing public data, stakeholder input, and community voices to identify priorities for health systems planning in southern New Jersey.
2025
The intersection of social work and libraries: A southern New Jersey perspective for expansion
Report, March 2025.
An exploratory study of how public libraries in southern New Jersey are increasingly functioning as sites of social service delivery, and what it would take to formally expand social work capacity within library systems.
2024
Outlining the transportation priorities and recommendations of communities in Camden County
Report, December 2024.
A community-informed analysis of transportation needs across Camden County, translating resident priorities into concrete recommendations for local and county-level decision-makers.
2023
Transportation accessibility in southern New Jersey: Barriers, effects, and considerations
Report, December 2023.
Examines the barriers residents face when accessing transportation across southern New Jersey, the downstream effects on employment, health, and daily life, and the considerations that should guide future investment.
2023
Seeking work in southern New Jersey
Report, December 2023.
A regional study of what it actually takes to find and keep work in southern New Jersey — the frictions, supports, and structural conditions shaping the job search for residents of the region.
Across these projects I draw on mixed-methods research strategies and grounded theory — combining interviews, focus groups, surveys, and administrative data to build analyses that stay close to the communities and institutions the work is meant to serve.
Applied / Community
Evaluation of the Growing Healthy Pantries (GHP) Toolkit
2025
Evaluation of a toolkit designed to strengthen food pantry operations and the nutritional quality of food distributed to clients.
Research Project
Cumberland County Overdose Fatality Review Team — Community Profile & Data Snapshots
Ongoing
Community-level profiles and data snapshots supporting the county's overdose fatality review process, translating complex data into accessible products for local decision-makers.
Research Project
Burlington County Overdose Fatality Review Team — Community Profile & Data Snapshots
Ongoing
Parallel community profile and data work supporting Burlington County's overdose fatality review team, grounded in local context and county-specific patterns.
Applied / Community
Evaluation of CCIB's NSF National Research Traineeship — Codes For Life (C4L)
Ongoing
External evaluation of the Center for Computational and Integrative Biology's NSF-funded National Research Traineeship program, examining program design, participant outcomes, and interdisciplinary training.
Research Project
Camden Food Security Collective Evaluation
Ongoing
Evaluating the impact of the Collective Impact design and Collective-initiated programs on food security outcomes across Camden City.
Applied / Community
AtlantiCare Community Health Assessment 2025–2027
2025–2026
Comprehensive community health needs assessment for AtlantiCare's service region, drawing on public data, stakeholder engagement, and community input to inform health systems planning.
Research Project
The Clayton Model Pilot and Expansion — Years 2–5
2022–2026
Multi-year evaluation of the Clayton Model's pilot and expansion phases, tracking implementation, outcomes, and scalability over a four-year window.
Research Project
Environmental Justice in Waterfront South: Barriers and Residency
Ongoing
Examining the environmental-justice conditions, residency patterns, and structural barriers faced by residents of Camden's Waterfront South neighborhood.
Applied / Community
Evaluation of the Camden Coalition's Medical-Legal Partnership at the Cooper Center for Healing
Ongoing
Evaluation of a medical-legal partnership embedded in a clinical care setting, assessing how integrated legal services shape health and well-being outcomes for patients.
Applied / Community
Inspira Health Community Needs Assessment 2025–2027
2025–2026
Community health needs assessment for Inspira Health, synthesizing quantitative data and community voices into actionable priorities for the region.
Research Project
Perceptions of Violence and Safety in Three Southern New Jersey Counties
Ongoing
A cross-county study of how residents of southern New Jersey perceive violence and safety in their communities, and how those perceptions relate to local conditions and policy.
2025
Politically restrictive environment and implications for immigrant non-profit space
Paper presentation, Northeast Conference on Public Administration (NECoPA), Kean University, October 2025.
2024
Health equity framework in addressing the disconnection between migration and social determinants of health
Paper presentation, The Migration Conference 2024, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, July 2024.
2024
Health equity framework in addressing the disconnection between migration and social determinants of health
Paper presentation, RU Rising Stars Conference, Rutgers University – New Brunswick, March 2024.
2023
Food security in NJ: Solutions and successes in three target cities
Poster presentation, REACH Conference, New Brunswick, NJ, December 2023.
2023
An analysis of food insecurity, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts among Mexican adults
Paper presentation, Research Week, Rutgers University – Camden, May 2023.
2023
Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNA): An examination of four southern New Jersey counties — Atlantic, Gloucester, Cumberland, and Salem
Poster presentation, Research Week, Rutgers University – Camden, May 2023.
2021
The identity odyssey in No-No Boy by John Okada
Paper presentation, Undergraduate Conference, Hacettepe University, February 2021.
Notebook
Unfinished thoughts & reading notes.
A slower, less formal place. I post occasionally — usually when something I'm reading, teaching, or working on won't leave me alone.