Leonardo is a second-year Master’s student at FGV-EBAPE in the Institutions, Politics, and Government track under Professor Cesar Zucco. His dissertation investigates whether right-wing candidates in Brazil change their moral discourse when running for office in poorer states where voters value redistribution and equality. He holds a bachelor’s (summa cum laude) from the University of California, Los Angeles in Political Science (departmental honors) and International Development Studies. Leonardo is currently preparing to apply for a PhD in Political Science in the United States.

Jiahuan is a research fellow at the political violence lab, and a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of California, Merced. Previously, she earned a Master’s degree in public policy from the University of California, San Diego. Her current research focuses on media bias and collective memory. Generally, her research interests are in political institutions and political economy in comparative contexts.

Shengkuo Hu is a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the University of California, Merced and a 2020/2021 University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation Dissertation Fellow. His primary research interests are political violence, human rights, and institutional changes. Particularly, he focuses on the effect of incentives and constraints created by government or non-government institutional changes on political violence and human rights conditions at both the international level and sub-national level.

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Nihan Karagul is a research fellow at Political Violence Lab and a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at UC Merced. She is interested in international conflict-driven migration, international non-governmental organizations, and state capacity. Previously, she worked in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in two different duty stations as an information management associate. In the meantime, she was a fellow researcher in the Migration Research Center at Koc University, Turkey. She earned her MA and BA degrees from Middle East Technical University, Turkey.

Chika Kenneth

Chika Kenneth is a Nigerian, pursuing a PhD in Political Science at the University of California, Merced. She is a research fellow at the Political Violence Lab with a focus on climate change and political violence. She is interested in political institutions with a broader focus on comparative politics and international relations.

talia lorch

Talia Lorch is pursuing a J.D. at NYU School of Law. She is a 2020 graduate of Dartmouth College where she majored in Government and Psychology and joined the Political Violence Lab in 2018. At the lab, she serves as a research fellow, primarily on the Media Bias research team.

benjamin krick

Benjamin Krick recently graduated with his master’s degree from the University of Utah in International Relations and Comparative Politics. Motivated by a background in Middle East Studies and Arabic, he has researched the empirical determinants of government repression. Currently, he is engaged in work examining patterns of forced displacement and refugee movement.

erik morinaga

Erik grew up on the island of Oahu, enjoying his time at the beach or in the mountains. He enlisted in the Marine Corps as an infantry rifleman and did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. After six years of active service, he studied at Windward Community College and the University of Pennsylvania, while spending his summers wild land firefighting in Wyoming. Now he is completing his masters degree at Princeton University’s School of Public & International Affairs and looking forward to continuing his public service doing international relations work in the federal government.

katha sikka

Katha Sikka is a Research Fellow at the Political Violence Lab. She is currently a M.A. student in Political Science at Columbia University and a 2020 graduate of Cornell University with a B.A. in Government and minors in (1) Creative Writing and (2) Law and Society. Her interests lie at the intersection of gender, social movements, and the police.

teagan zuniga

Teagan Zuniga is from Modesto, California. She recently graduated from the University of California, Merced with her B.A. in Political Science, and she is continuing her studies at this institution as a PhD student. She currently studies political violence and forced displacement.

Jialing zhou

Jialing ZHOU is a PhD student in Political Science at University of California, Merced. Her current research focuses on media influence in international affairs. Generally, she is interested in international media, public opinion and authoritarian politics. Previously, she earned her M.A in Global Studies from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen).