Biography

My research interest is Ukraine. To include UAVs, machine learning, trade between combatants, and the logistics of war.

I have a Master of Arts in International Security and Conflict Studies from Dublin City University School of Law and Government. I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina School of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology. (GO GAMECOCKS!)

For more than a decade I have visited, lived in, and worked in Ukraine. Currently I am the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Ukraine Assistance Organization. We provide in-home and in-village healthcare to Ukrainians. My life is split between South Carolina and Ukraine. When the full scale invasion started I had to do more to help Ukraine. Which is one of the reasons I am pursuing a PhD.

The goal of my PhD is to provide society with better mechanisms to view facts and data about Ukraine, and for these mechanisms to translate and be useful in any conflict. Beyond finishing my work towards a doctoral degree, I am interested in promoting the academic study of Ukraine beyond a few chapters in a Russian studies class or as part of a Russian studies degree. Universities need to study Ukraine, its contributions, its culture, separate from Russia. It should be viewed as part of “New Europe” and not as a post Soviet footnote.