Research

I organize my research around two complementary lines of inquiry: (1) threat-evasive migration from and within Latin America, and (2) the consequences of broader societal change in the region. Positioned at the intersection of demography, migration studies, and global sociology, my mixed-methods work spans original data collection—including panel surveys, respondent-driven sampling (RDS), and in-depth interviews—and the analysis of census microdata, spatial violence indicators, national surveys, and immigration enforcement data.

Consequences of Social Change in Latin America

In a second line of research, I examine how large-scale social shifts—particularly religious change—are reshaping civic and political life in Latin America. This work draws on two decades of repeated cross-sectional data from the AmericasBarometer surveys to analyze patterns of disaffiliation, institutional trust, and democratic participation. It also sparked a broader interest in the sociology of religion as a subfield. To explore this further, I designed and led a national survey of 473 graduate students from top sociology departments to assess how religion is perceived, studied, and positioned within the future of the discipline.